The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing Thursday (July 30) to consider the nomination of Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) to be Secretary of the Army. In a guest post here last month, BJC Director Brent Walker raised serious questions about the nominee's "troubling church-state record."
[H]e has supported numerous bills and legislation to allow the display of the Ten Commandments in public property, and to exploit confusion on the issue of prayer in public schools, including the infamous “Istook Amendment” that would amend the Constitution to essentially gut the Establishment Clause. Rep. McHugh also opposed a legislative provision
Rep. McHugh’s apparent indifference to church-state separation is especially troubling, given the well-documented controversies over religion in the military, such as religious discrimination and proselytization in the Air Force Academy, inappropriate sectarian activity by military chaplains, religious messages being incorporated in official briefings to former President George W. Bush, and others. that would have required the Secretary of Defense to report instances of improper proselytization of service academy cadets to Congress.
I know McHugh's nomination has been widely praised and is not expected to yield a difficult confirmation. This is an issue, though, that deserves attention. We need to know the nominee's attitudes regarding church-state separation, and his understanding of the Constitution's limits on government as it relates to the recruitment, training and functioning of the military.
