House and Senate to Amend Charitable Choice Legislation to Prohibit Discrimination and Proselytizing

September 25, 2002

Source: The Boston Globe

On September 25, 2002 The Boston Globe reported that a "coalition of civil rights groups and liberal House Democrats has mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign to block President Bush's faith-based initiative in the Senate unless the bill explicitly prohibits religious charities from discriminating when hiring. Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat, is leading the unusually personal effort by House lawmakers to influence the language in a Senate bill that is aimed at spurring charitable giving and increasing grant money for both community and religious groups that deliver social services. After Sept. 11, Senate majority leader Thomas A. Daschle promised the president that the initiative, a centerpiece of Bush's domestic agenda, would get a vote in the Senate. But he has not been able to get Senate Democrats to agree on the number or content of amendments. Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, is preparing to offer one that would bar discrimination and proselytizing."