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Brats's bill needs a great deal of work

Reader comment on item: No Saudi Money for American Mosques

Submitted by James Luce (Spain), Aug 24, 2016 at 08:30

David Brat—the most junior Virginian US Congressman—has a good idea but his proposed bill 5824 needs (as Mr. Pipes notes) a great deal of work. In addition to not prohibiting the funding of religious structures:

1. The bill prohibits expenditures by "foreign nationals", but not foreign states. A foreign national is a person. A foreign state is not. Thus, this bill does not prevent the Saudi Government from funding mosques or anything else.
2. The bill does not prohibit either foreign nationals or foreign states from giving money to US residents who are then free to promote any religion they chose.
3. The bill probably will be found to violate the Establishment Clause in that the Supreme Court has made it clear that the US government can neither encourage nor discourage any particular religion or religion in general.
4. The bill is ambiguous in that it in fact all countries of the world "limit" in some way or another the free exercise of religion. This includes the USA which prohibits Mormons from practicing polygamy, prohibits various indigenous religious practices that involve ingesting hallucinogens, and prohibits Muslims from stoning adulterers to death.
5. It is unclear why the bill has the Secretary of State "acting through the assistant secretary for democracy" or anyone else. What if there is no assistant secretary of democracy in place from time to time? The bill sounds as though the decision to designate a country is ultimately the prerogative of the assistant secretary.

In summary, Mr. Brat needs to have someone vet the language of his bill unless he's doing this simply as a publicity stunt.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (27) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Singapore to repatriate problematic imam [22 words]PezDispenserApr 3, 2017 11:14238109
First Amendment [231 words]Peter HerzAug 31, 2016 09:48232050
An amazing article [50 words]Sohel BahjatAug 28, 2016 13:42231888
first article basic law of saudi arabia [49 words]RonAug 27, 2016 10:25231824
Hillary Will Veto This Bill [114 words]DaveAug 25, 2016 16:39231741
You betcha that VA Rep gerry connolly will vehemently oppose the bill. [20 words]MarkAug 25, 2016 10:14231737
,,, Mosques being built with Lottery funds [85 words]M.D. AnthonyAug 24, 2016 20:10231723
2Hypocrisy continues [91 words]PrashantAug 26, 2016 05:42231723
1Honors the Spirit of the Establishment Clause [105 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
AdamAug 24, 2016 10:44231687
1Funding and regulating religions is strictly a matter of the states, not the Federal Government [139 words]Michael SSep 9, 2016 03:47231687
Expand this legislation [50 words]David KoralAug 24, 2016 09:19231683
Brats's bill needs a great deal of work [270 words]James LuceAug 24, 2016 08:30231682
Question to Daniel [63 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
stevenlAug 24, 2016 02:23231676
Pillars & Fundamentals [388 words]susana moskowitzAug 24, 2016 19:24231676
3Reminds me of the Ground Zero mosque... [67 words]LeslieAug 24, 2016 01:30231673
It's about time [31 words]Timothy HadleyAug 23, 2016 17:51231658
1Thanks for writing this article. [131 words]PrashantAug 25, 2016 01:23231658
Masajid [168 words]Iftikhar AhmadAug 23, 2016 14:36231648
Sharia law is being applied in G.Britain on local basis. [100 words]AlainAug 24, 2016 11:50231648
Why can't American Muslims fund American Mosques [219 words]John in Michigan, USAAug 24, 2016 14:00231648
2Congratulations, reader Iftikhar Ahmad [123 words]PrashantAug 25, 2016 01:12231648
3Dream on Mr Iftikhar Ahmed [50 words]dhimmi no moreAug 26, 2016 08:34231648
1sharia Laws [701 words]Iftikhar AhmadAug 27, 2016 12:00231648
2Advise from our dear Iftikhar about Sharia'a and breast feeding of the adult [40 words]dhimmi no moreAug 30, 2016 12:18231648
who says? [84 words]Mohammed Waza Khiddif id'UllahSep 15, 2016 05:51231648
2Islam is not the fastest growing religion [78 words]dhimmi no moreSep 17, 2016 11:41231648
2Ifthikar Ahmad's sole focus should be democracy in Islamic world [189 words]PrashantNov 28, 2016 14:45231648

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