This week the House and Senate are taking different approaches to their legislative agendas.  The House is spending its time on suspensions, such as naming post offices, while the Senate is looking to bring up some hot-button issues on the floor. 

Concerned Women for America Legislation Action Committee’s (CWALAC) focus this week is on the following legislation that might come up in Congress:

Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan: 

The Senate Judiciary Committee pushed back a vote on Kagan this week, and it is now scheduled for Tuesday, July 20.  

CWALAC joined with other conservatives to participate in local press conferences in Nebraska, Arkansas, and South Carolina to oppose Kagan’s nomination.  We sent alerts and postcards to our members in these states urging them to contact Senators Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska), Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas), Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and ask them to oppose Kagan’s nomination.   

We have been highlighting Kagan’s political background, and in particular her actions in the Clinton Administration, as e-mails and handwritten memos have surfaced that show Kagan pressuring the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to change its position on partial-birth abortion.  

DISCLOSE Act: 

During a key meeting with Senate staffers to discuss the “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act,” CWALAC staff learned this bill may be voted on by the Senate as early as next week.  

The DISCLOSE Act is designed to undermine the Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Citizens United case and stifle Americans’ right to political speech.  Essentially, the legislation increases red tape for small business owners and grassroots groups and will require every corporation involved in any kind of campaign activity to list all donors of $600 or more with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and would require the CEO of an organization and its highest donor to appear in ads and state their approval of the message.  CWALAC and other groups, from conservative to liberal, are opposing this legislation, and CWALAC staff expressed opposition directly to Senate staffers. 

Defense Authorization:

The Senate Armed Services Committee passed the Defense Authorization bill out of Committee with an amendment to repeal the 1993 law prohibiting homosexuals from serving in the military and also an amendment to allow abortions at military installations domestically and abroad (a similar amendment was defeated in 2006).  Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) have been leading efforts against the repeal and against abortion at medical installations. 

CWALAC firmly believes that now is not the time to begin social experimentation in our military.  Our armed forces are stretched fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Repealing the 1993 law now will create an undue hardship on our military and their families as well as on military readiness. 

After speaking to friends on Capitol Hill, we believe there is a possibility that the Defense Authorization bill could go to the floor before the August recess.  We will continue to update you as more information becomes available. 

Please continue to meet with your senators and ask them to oppose the Defense Authorization bill if it includes these harmful amendments that will hurt our men and women serving in the military.