Thursday Afternoon, October 5, 2023

UPDATE ON NDAA AMENDMENT

TO SHUT MRFF DOWN:

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE ON

COMMITTEE TO DECIDE MRFF'S FATE!

Under normal circumstances, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would have been passed by September 30, the last day of the government’s fiscal year, but with our Congress in complete disarray, this year’s NDAA is not surprisingly still far from the finish line — leaving the fate of MRFF still hanging in the balance.

Here's where things currently stand ...

Christian nationalist Rep. Mike Turner's amendment to SHUT MRFF DOWN by making it ILLEGAL for members of the military to communicate with MRFF is in the House's version of the NDAA.

The Senate also passed its own version of the NDAA, which does not contain any language regarding MRFF.

A conference committee made up of both House and Senate members now needs to reconcile the two bills, which is where Turner's amendment to SHUT MRFF DOWN must be removed!

The House has appointed its conference committee members, among whom is that paragon of civility and bipartisanship MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE!

The Senate has yet to appoint its conference committee members.

If Turner's amendment is allowed to remain in the final version of the NDAA and becomes law, it will obliterate MRFF's ability to protect and advocate on behalf of our service members facing religious discrimination, harassment, and aggressive proselytizing!

If you haven't already, there is still time to submit our petition letter opposing Turner's amendment to your representative and senators.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore CC BY-SA 2.0 (color altered)

MRFF OP-ED

ON DAILY KOS

Trending story on Daily Kos

Marjorie Taylor Greene on committee that will decide MRFF's fate ... what could possibly go wrong?

By: MRFF Senior Research Director Chris Rodda

Thursday, October 5, 2023

Here at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), we’ve been getting quite a few inquiries about the status of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the amendment from Christian nationalist Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, inserted into the House version of the bill, that would SHUT MRFF DOWN by making it ILLEGAL for members of the military to even communicate with us. So, here is an update on where we’re at.

Under normal circumstances, the NDAA would have been passed by September 30, the last day of the government’s fiscal year, but with our Congress in the complete disarray that it’s in, we have anything but normal circumstances, and, like other major legislation that is supposed to be passed by September 30, this year’s NDAA is still far from the finish line — leaving the fate of MRFF still hanging in the balance.

For those who haven’t been following this saga of how one Christian nationalist congressman with a grudge has put MRFF – and the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom for the service members we represent — in peril, you can catch up by reading my last post about it, or just keep reading here for the quick (OK, not really so quick) version.

Turner’s amendment, which was passed by the House Armed Services Committee on June 21 by being sneakily inserted into a large en bloc package of unrelated amendments, which were not read and voted on individually but voted on as a package with a simple voice vote, resulting in all the committee’s Democrats voting for it, and the ensuing claim that destroying MRFF is a “bipartisan” effort. 

On July 14, the House passed its version of the NDAA (H.R. 2670) with an essentially party-line vote of 219-210, with Turner’s amendment, which became Section 1045 of the bill, still in it. This is the text:

LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS RELATED TO MILITARY RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOUNDATION.

None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2024 for the Department of Defense may be used—

(1) to communicate with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, its leadership, or its founder; or

(2) to take any action or make any decision as a result of any claim, objection, or protest made by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation without the authority of the Secretary of Defense. 

This means that if a military commander even responds to an email from MRFF, or makes any decision as a result of being contacted by MRFF without the ludicrously unfeasible prerequisite of getting permission from the Secretary of Defense himself, that commander can be charged with violating the UCMJ and potentially face a court-martial! 

An amendment to single out and in effect shut down a particular advocacy organization simply because it is disagreeable to Rep. Turner’s, or any other Congress member’s, personal religious ideology has no place in any legislation passed by the United States Congress!

Turner’s I-don’t-like-MRFF-so-I’m-gonna-stick-it-to-them amendment is blatantly unconstitutional in several ways. It denies to MRFF and its clients the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and petitioning the government. It is also, by singling out one organization by name for punishment by means of legislation, analogous to a Bill of Attainder, which is explicitly prohibited by Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, on July 27, the Senate passed its own version of the NDAA — S. 2226.

The Senate version does NOT contain anything regarding MRFF.

Now, as I wrote in my last post, here’s where things get a little more complicated than Schoolhouse Rock!

As is the usual procedure, the Senate, Immediately after passing its own NDAA, turned around and passed the House’s version “with amendment.” This does not mean that the Senate has actually passed the House’s version. Far from it. The Senate’s “amendment” replaces the entire House version of the bill with the entire Senate version of the bill. In other words, there is now technically only one bill — H.R. 2670 — but the entire House bill, as returned to the House by the Senate, has been replaced by the Senate’s version. In effect, although the bill now has only the House’s bill number, there are still two versions of the bill, the House’s and the Senate’s.

A conference committee, made up of members from both the House and the Senate, now needs to reconcile the two versions of the bill. This should already have been done, and the final NDAA passed by September 30, but … well … Congress has gotten a bit behind with things.

Since Turner’s amendment to shut MRFF down is only in the House version of the bill, it is the conference committee that will decide its – and MRFF’s – fate.

The House, as dysfunctional as it is, actually has appointed its conference committee members, and, as expected, Marjorie Taylor Greene, (who was promised a seat on the committee by used-to-be-Speaker McCarthy in exchange for her vote on the House’s NDAA over her objections to its continued support of Ukraine), was among the Armed Services Committee members … even though she’s not on the Armed Services Committee … to be appointed.

The Senate has not yet appointed its conference committee members because … I guess … why bother? it’s not like the two bills — with the House’s “anti-woke” brigade having added a slew of culture war amendments to the House’s version at the last minute, to include book banning in military base schools, prohibiting federal funds from being used for training on diversity, equity, and inclusion, prohibiting federal funds from being used to rename the U.S. military installations named for Confederates, and prohibiting the DoD from paying for or reimbursing expenses for service members who must travel to another state to obtain an abortion due to being stationed in a state where abortions are now illegal – are going to be reconciled any time soon.

What does this mean for us at MRFF? An agonizingly long wait before we know whether or not Turner’s shameful scheme to shut MRFF down will be stopped.

THERE’S STILL TIME FOR YOU TO HELP!!! 

If you haven’t already, please take a minute and fill out our easy form to send MRFF’s letter to your representative and senators urging them to oppose Rep. Turner’s vile and vindictive amendment.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE FORM AND SEND THE LETTER.

Or, if you’d prefer to write your own letter, go to the bill’s page on Congress.gov, and click on “Contact Your Member” to the right side of the page under “Give Feedback on This Bill.”

And a big thank you to everyone who has already sent our letter or otherwise contacted your Congress members!

“For so long, your organization has been a sword and shield for those of us who serve, and because of your reputation, now, when people like me advocate for ourselves, we are taken seriously instead of being dismissed.”

— Long-time MRFF Client

"Letter to MRFF"

From: (Long-time MRFF client's name withheld)

Subject: Letter to MRFF

Date: October 5, 2023 at 11:19:38 AM MDT

To: Michael L Weinstein <mikeyw4444@icloud.com>

Mikey, and the rest of the MRFF,

I wanted to thank you, once again, for helping me with yet another church-state separation issue with the U.S. Military. As you know, I'm a longtime MRFF client, and you've provided me advice and counsel before. I mean both of those things, advice AND counsel. 

In the past, you have written letters on my behalf to accomplish change at my former postings where command has given preferential treatment to members of certain religions. When I didn't know precisely what my rights were, not to be evangelized or mistreated because of my religion, you were there to show my leadership how to be neutral stewards of their command. Without your counsel, I would have continued to be treated unequally, and as always I am thankful.

But this time, I'm thankful for your advice, not your counsel. Let me explain. 

A month or two ago, I reached out to you. It was (unfortunately) a conversation we have had before: Some evangelical organization leaving proselytizing materials all over the post I was stationed at. I figured the materials were a violation of the Establishment Clause and after showing you a photo, you confirmed that. I asked you what to do. You told me. And to be honest, I sat on your advice. Did I really want to go through all the hullabaloo all over again, involving chains of command and legal letters.

Then, today, a chance meeting occurred. The base-wide director of public facilities happened to be sitting just across from my table in the very building where the evangelical materials were posted. I took a chance. I told him "You know that poster over there is a violation of church-state separation, right?" What followed was a conversation very much like the ones you and I have had, only now I was in your shoes. 

At the end of our discussion, he walked over, removed the material and tossed it in the trash. He thanked me for informing him, and moreso, for preventing him from catching heat from the materials' presence. He didn't want to provide an inequitable environment for the troops, and didn't want to expose himself to accusations of bias. We didn't need letters and phone calls, just a talk. 

That conversation would not have been possible without your efforts. The deputy director knew of MRFF, he knew what your organization stood for. For so long, your organization has been a sword and shield for those of us who serve, and because of your reputation, now, when people like me advocate for ourselves, we are taken seriously instead of being dismissed. 

So, thank you for building that reputation. For spending so long fighting your fight so we can fight ours. But also, thank you for teaching me, empowering me to fight for myself. It felt good today to make a change - not totally on my own - but knowing you had my back.

Warmest Regards,

Longtime client

If you haven't already, please take a minute to submit our petition letter opposing Turner's amendment to your representative and senators.

This form submits a letter to Congress on your behalf, which

will be sent to your U.S. Representative in the House and your

U.S. Senators urging removal of Christian Nationalist Rep. Turner's

blatantly unconstitutional NDAA amendment and, additionally,

sends a copy to the entire Senate Armed Services Committee.

Previous MRFF coverage of

Christian nationalist Rep. Turner's amendment

A handful of MRFF's numerous run-ins with

Christian nationalist GOP Congress members

and Senators over the years