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PRESS RELEASE
Oct. 1, 2007
ATHEISTS UNITED CALLS ON CALIFORNIA SENATORS TO CEASE CONTINUED UNCONSTITUTIONAL ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE TAX MONIES TO CATHOLIC MISSIONS
Senators urged to withdraw earmark from pending Interior Department Bill
Contact: Atheists United Office: 323-666-4258;
Stuart Bechman, President: 805-405-3929
LOS ANGELES - Atheists United denounces the ongoing deceptive and unconstitutional attempts by California senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to funnel federal taxpayer funds to local Catholic missions, and calls on the senators to uphold their oaths of office in defending the First Amendment.
AU President Stuart Bechman states: "There are so many things wrong with this action. One, using earmarks to insert controversial funding in finance bills undermines the transparency and integrity of congressional actions. Two, providing taxpayer funds to repair or upgrade facilities owned by active religious congregations is a clear violation of church-state separation. Three, even if these first two issues didn't exist, Senators Feinstein and Boxer have proposed legislation to fund an organization that just recently built a $200 million shrine to itself in Los Angeles and agreed to settlements of $1.6 billion to settle charges of harboring child molestors in their hierarchy.
"Providing funds to maintain US historical treasures when there are no private interests or organizations available might be a noble endeavor for our Congressional leaders to consider. But that's clearly not the case here. Senators Feinstein and Boxer have repeatedly been attempting to circumvent the US Constitution to provide taxpayer funding to the Catholic Church under the guise of "historical preservation". Rather than trying to secretly funnel taxpayer funds to such an institution, shouldn't our senators instead be working to protect our communities and our children and calling for investigations into the immoral and probably illegal actions of this predator organization?"
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