On Wednesday, Feb. 4, Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) offered a substitute amendment during House debate to strip out language that gave faith-based organizations permission to infuse their federally funded programs with religion and to discriminate on the basis of religion when hiring. Woolsey’s substitute amendment failed to be adopted by a 50-vote margin (183-232). The Woolsey amendment contained two important legal points: (1) that all federal programs must be carried out in a lawful secular manner, and (2) that no federal grantee carrying out a federal program can use the funds to “discriminate on the basis of religion.” The Supreme Court in Bowen v. Kendrick, 487 U.S. 589 (1988) raised both points. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote the Bowen decision to be consistent with at least 104 years of constitutional prohibitions on using government funds to support inherently religious activity. The Woolsey amendment was aimed at adding the language from Chief Rehnquist’s decision, and removing existing bill language that was snuck into the last reauthorization very late at night. Before the vote in the full House, the Committee on Education and the Workforce considered H.R. 3030 in legislative session on Oct. 1, 2003 during which two amendments were considered and adopted by voice vote. In the committee the bill was amended to strip out other bad language that was adopted during the last re-authorization process. Chairman Boehner (R-OH) offered an amendment to codify previous regulatory practice ensuring that program beneficiaries and potential program beneficiaries are not discriminated against on the basis of religion. The CSBG is a multi-million dollar fund used to address the causes and conditions of poverty and to assist people in achieving economic self-sufficiency. Because CSBG passed without the Woolsey language, the bill allows faith-based federal grantees to use tax dollars to fund inherently religious programs that enroll some of America's most vulnerable citizens. From homeless shelters, to substance abuse counseling, your tax dollars could be working to convert vulnerable citizens at a time of crisis. Because there are no laws clearly regulating what faith-based organizations can do with their government funds, many problems have been recently reported in the news. In Michigan, the state had to pull a contract with a faith-based organization based in Marlette for allegedly forcing teen program beneficiaries to attend church services. Teen Ranch Inc, doesn’t deny using religion in its programs, but does deny forcing anyone to attend religious services. Teen Ranch is sent teens by court order and gets paid $130 per day by the state for each teen. Click here to read more. The Salvation Army has begun an effort to reassert its evangelical roots. The Salvation Army of Greater New York has stressed the importance of spreading the Gospel in their work. In fact, the division has ordered that job descriptions now clearly state the organization’s religious mission. The Salvation Army is also asking employees to fill out forms that state their religious affiliation and to sign a contract that they will follow the organization’s religious mission when carrying out their job function. The division has $70 million in state and city funding for its programs. Click here to read more. And finally, the House Committee on Government Reform’s subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources held a hearing on “Faith-based Perspectives on the Provision of Community Services” in Colorado Springs on Friday, Jan. 23. Five out the ten witnesses who testified at the hearing were representatives from Focus on the Family. Focus on the Family states on their website that there mission is, “To cooperate with the Holy Spirit in disseminating the Gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible, and, specifically, to accomplish that objective by helping to preserve traditional values and the institution of the family.” One group has claimed that Focus on the Family promotes “reparative” therapy for gay men and lesbians. Meaning, the organization uses intense therapy and religious piety as a means of “changing” homosexuals into heterosexuals. One witness at the Jan. 23 hearing is a gender specialist who may have spoke about the program.