Written by Don Byrd
The U.S. House of Representatives inserted a controversial “religious liberty” amendment into the massive National Defense Authorization Act this week. The Russell Amendment (named for sponsoring Representative Steve Russell (R-OK)) protects religious organizations that contract with the government from nondiscrimination regulations. The Baptist Joint Committee and several other religious liberty advocates have expressed opposition to this provision, which would authorize taxpayer-funded religious discrimination.
An effort to limit its impact was narrowly defeated last night on the House floor in a reportedly “chaotic scene” in which “a handful of members [switched their vote] from yay to nay,” resulting in a 213-212 defeat and leaving the Russell Amendment intact.
As I wrote in an earlier post, receiving federal funds means playing by federal rules, including abiding by nondiscrimination regulations. Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize religious discrimination. Religious organizations are perfectly free to discriminate in employment and services, according to their faith, so long as they use their own funds to do so. Feeding at the public trough is no place to object to public regulation.
The House version of the NDAA must still be reconciled with the Senate version, which does not include a similar provision. Stay tuned.
