Political pressure is building on a powerful House lawmaker to allow religious organizations to endorse political candidates and use their resources for partisan activities. Conservative lawmakers are trying to include the HR 235, the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act, into the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, HR 4520, which is currently in conference committee on Capitol Hill. This proposal has already been rejected twice in the House of Representatives. The so-called "Free Speech Restoration Act" section of the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004" (H.R. 4520) would revise current law, which forbids churches from endorsing candidates for public office, and replace it with watered-down language giving churches the right to intervene in electoral politics. The House Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously to remove the provisions after it became clear that the proposed change had no support. If included in the conference bill, religious organizations would be allowed to support or oppose candidates for public office without losing their tax-exempt status. Current law states that houses of worship, like other 501(c)(3) organizations, cannot legally engage in partisan political activities and retain their tax-exempt status. This provision has served as a valuable safeguard for the integrity of charities, religious institutions and the political process. The provision would lift these important safeguards and allow houses of worship to endorse and raise money for favored political candidates at the national, state or local level. HR 235 discriminates against nonreligious nonprofits by giving religious organizations rights that other 501(c)(3) groups would not have. It would also permit considerable expenditures of tax-deductible funds to publicize endorsement-sermons and other election-related presentations made during the religious services or gatherings through television, radio, and other media. This soft money loophole would hurt all nonprofits. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), which was passed in order to reduce influence of soft money on Federal elections and requiring the disclosure of the sources of election spending, would be contradicted if the Free Speech Restoration Act is slipped into the final bill. The sponsors of the bill claim that current law muzzles religious leaders from speaking out on issues of interest to their congregations. However, according a letter to Congress signed by seven different national and international religious organizations, “the reality is that religious leaders have an absolute right to use their pulpit to address the moral issues of the day.” In fact, the only significant limitation on these groups is that they cannot support or oppose candidates for office.