New rule would conflict with standard set by Obama Executive Order
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Huett or Cherilyn Crowe / Phone: 202-544-4226
May 10, 2011
WASHINGTON — The Baptist Joint Committee has filed written opposition to a proposed rule that would “severely undercut the U.S. commitment to religious freedom at home and abroad” by allowing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to use federal funds to acquire, construct or rehabilitate “structures that are used, in whole or in part, for inherently religious activities.”
The USAID is an independent agency that provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States. Among other things, it provides funding through grants and contracts to organizations, including religious ones, to carry out its mission.
The BJC has long supported the role of religious organizations in partnering with the government to provide needed services in ways that advance governmental interests but do so without the threat of government-sponsored religion. In comments to the director of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at USAID, Ari Alexander, BJC General Counsel K. Hollyn Hollman asked that the proposed rule be withdrawn.
The current rule, adopted in 2004, states that religious organizations may compete for USAID funding on the same basis as any other organization, but they must follow regulations which forbid using the funds to acquire, construct or rehabilitate buildings for religious purposes. Such regulations are consistent with constitutional standards used to enforce the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and allow religious organizations to compete for USAID funding without running afoul of the prohibition on the government funding of religious activity, Hollman wrote.
The proposed rule would create a regulation that invites USAID funding to be used for the advancement of religion. It would conflict “with U.S. Supreme Court standards, as well as the position of the Obama Administration in its efforts to strengthen the legal basis for federal policy governing the relationship between the government and the nongovernmental entities that receive government funding and administer government programs,” Hollman wrote.
The Obama Administration’s policies on government partnerships with faith-based organizations were clarified in a 2010 Executive Order issued following a year-long process in which a task force prepared and submitted recommendations for reform that were adopted by President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. BJC Executive Director J. Brent Walker served on this task force.
The notable changes to federal policy in the Executive Order sharpen distinctions about what is and is not allowed in a program that is directly funded by the government and strengthen compliance. Specifically, organizations are forbidden from engaging in “explicitly religious” activities in the course of a program that receives direct federal financial assistance.
Hollman said it is puzzling that the proposed rule would not implement the standard set forth in the Executive Order, but instead would mark a disturbing departure from the improvements in federal policy that the Order represents.
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