The Senate took up two nominations of significance this week, and the ramification of these votes will impact our family values!
First, the Senate voted on the nomination of Andrew Hurwitz for the 9thU.S Circuit Court of Appeals. He is known for his instrumental role in shaping the Supreme Court decision that opened the door to the killing of more than 50 million unborn babies to date. Known as “the architect” of Roe v. Wade, he crafted the decision that served as the basis for Roe. (Cloture vote was 60-31; nomination passed through by voice vote)
On Thursday, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Mari Carmen Aponte for Ambassador to El Salvador by a vote of 62-37.While her nomination failed in December 2011, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) pushed some of his colleagues to confirm her and got the following senators to support her: Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire), Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Dick Lugar (R-Indiana), John McCain (R-Arizona), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
Aponte had been previously nominated to serve as an ambassador but had to withdraw to avoid embarrassment to the Clinton Administration when her relationship with a Cuban who may have had ties to Cuban Intelligence came to light.
She provoked a controversy in El Salvador, the same country in which she has been nominated to serve as an ambassador, when she wrote an editorial in a Salvadoran paper this past June.In that editorial, she preached to Salvadorans on the need to accept and support the “gay” lifestyle, despite the fact the homosexuality runs counter to their own culture.
Finally, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) held a hearing this week on The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). While the hearing was completely skewed towards the homosexual agenda, with four witnesses testifying that they face “discrimination and teasing” at work, Craig Parshall, the Senior Vice-President and General Counsel for the National Religious Broadcasters – and our only witness! – did a great job of explaining why ENDA is not good legislation.
Discrimination against anyone is clearly wrong.However, it’s wrong to expand the civil rights protections based on a changeable sexual behavior while infringing upon the freedom of conscience and religion rights of many other Americans.