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PAGE 7—September 25,1980
BY JIM LACKEY
WASHINGTON (NC) - This summer’s extensive
Capitol Hill hearings on school prayer probably brought
out no new arguments on either side of the emotional
debate. Pro-school prayer witnesses repeated their
testimony that banning prayer in public schools denied
their right to free exercise of religion, while those opposed
argued that some schemes for restoring prayer to public
schools would violate other rights and might lead to
sectarian rivalries.
But the five days of hearings before the House
subcommittee on courts and civil liberties chaired by Rep.
Robert Kastenmeier (D-Wis.) did bring out two major
points:
- The Supreme Court has not ruled voluntary prayer in
public schools unconstitutional; it only struck down
mandatory forms of school prayer in its landmark school
prayer cases of 1962 and 1963.
- Efforts to limit federal court jurisdiction in an area
such as school prayer can work both to the advantage and
disadvantage of those who seek such limits.
The question of what the Supreme Court actually did
in 1962 and 1963 came up early in the hearings when
some members of the subcommittee cited widespread
misunderstanding of the court’s rulings. While the
decisions have been perceived widely as almost a total ban
on praying on public school property, the court did
nothing of the sort, agreed most participants.
For the record, in 1962 the court ruled in Engle v.
Vitale that use of a state-written and state-mandated
prayer (the “Regents’ Prayer”) in the public schools was a
violation of the First Amendment’s ban against
establishment of religion. Then in 1963, in the Schempp
case, the court ruled that the recitation of the Lord’s
Prayer or readings from the Bible during opening school
exercises also violated the First Amendment.
In the latter case, the court stressed that the
Constitution neither advances nor inhibits religion and
that the court was only ruling against mandated prayer
schemes.
Thus a federal appeals court in 1976 upheld a
Massachusetts law requiring teachers to announce a
“moment of silence” for prayer or meditation at the
beginning of the school day. The court said the law could
not be ruled unconstitutional simply because the moment
of silence provided an opportunity for public school
students to pray in class.
Despite the agreement on the constitutionality oi
voluntary prayer, school prayer proponents continued to
press the subcommittee to approve an amendment
introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.)
that would remove federal court jurisdiction in cases
involving voluntary school prayer.
While its opponents said the measure would serve little
useful purpose because it was aimed at something which
the Supreme Court has never ruled unconstitutional,
proponents of the Helms amendment said it still was
needed because some courts have misinterpreted the
Supreme Court and have struck down voluntary school
prayer measures as well as mandatory prayer programs.
One witness, Robert P. Dugan Jr., public affairs
director for the National Association of Evangelicals,
called the Helms amendment a “mild corrective action”
which would simply allow the states to implement
voluntary school prayer without feear of federal
interference.
But two other witnesses, including one well-known
school prayer proponent, argued that those who favor
school prayer might not like what might result from the
Helms amendment.
Without mentioning Ronald Reagan by name. Rep.
Robert Drinan (D-Mass.), Congress’ lone Catholic priest,
said new Supreme Court justices appointed by a new
president would be powerless under the Helms
amendment to broaden the right to pray in public schools
because the justices would not be permitted to take on
new school prayer cases.
And in testimony which came as something of a
surprise, staunch school prayer advocate Rita Warren told
the subcommittee that after listening to earlier testimony
she had changed her mind about the Helms amendment.
She said that had the Helms amendment been in effect,
the federal appeals court could not have ruled the
Massachusetts moment-of-silence measure constitutional.
President Carter, meanwhile, repeated at a Sept. 2
“town meeting” in Independence, Mo., his position that
“there ought to be a place and a time in school for
voluntary prayer.” But he has refused to endorse the
Helms amendment and he has been urged by officials in
the Justice Department to consider vetoing it should it
pass because of its potential for eroding the supremacy of
the Constitution.
Family Conference Report
WASHINGTON (NC) - Catholic participation in the
White House Conference on Families (WHCF) was
detailed in a letter sent to the U.S. bishops.
Auxiliary Bishop J. Francis Stafford of Baltimore,
episcopal moderator of the Catholic Committee on the
White House Conference on Families, sent each bishop a
report on his committee’s efforts. ,
The Catholic Committee has been involved in the
White House conference since President Carter announced
plans in 1977. The WHCF, which was designed to
promote a nationwide discussion on families in the United
States, is nearing its completion.
The committee is made up of the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops, U.S. Catholic Conference, National
Conference of Catholic Charities, National Catholic
Educational Association and National Council of Catholic
Women. Msgr. Francis Lally is chairman of the committee.
The bishops also received a copy of the Catholic
Committee’s statement to the WHCF task force which was
issued in August. Bishop Stafford thanked those bishops
who were personally involved through diocesan agencies
and as delegates.
“Fully four years ago, a group of Catholics met in
Washington to prepare, at the request of then Gov. Jimmy
Carter, a document on the impact of federal programs on
American family life,” the report said.
“Looking back at this now we see that it is still very
much up-to-date. We have only begun to scratch the
surface in a most complex and important area of our lives,
one that needs all the attention it can get from all
segments of our society.
“Let us pray that we can continue this dialogue
throughout the Catholic Church’s Decade of the Family,”
the report stated.
The Catholic Committee worked with the WHCF staff
and with Catholic delegates to the regional and national
hearings and encouraged Catholic groups to testify.
“The result was that at each hearing the National
Advisory Committee members present recognized that the
Catholic Church from all segments - education, social
services, the neighborhood, etc. - was well represented,”
the report said.
Minority reports on abortion, tax credits for private
education, parents’ rights and a recommendation
regarding the Health and Human Services Office for
Families were developed and submitted to the WHCF with
the help of the Catholic Committee.
Bishop Stafford said he would report on the White
House Conference on Families at the November bishops’
meeting.
Report Says Rights Abused
WASHINGTON (NC) -- The civil rights of citizens and
non-citizens alike often are abused in the effort to enforce
immigration laws, according to a major new report by the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
CHURCH CLEANUP - Members of St.
Patrick’s Parish in Brady’s Bend, Pa., shovel the
five inches of mud from the floor of their church
left there by a recent flash flood. The flooding
which hit three western Pennsylvania counties left
at least seven people dead. (NC Photo)
The report says that U.S. citizens often are subjected
to unconstitutional searches and seizures during efforts to
round up illegal aliens.
It also says aliens subject to deportation are given less
due process than are defendants in criminal proceedings.
The report, released Sept. 15, is the result of a series of
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commission to explore the current immigration system
and the impact of immigration law.
The commission is an independent federal agency
whose members are appointed by the president.
While much of the report received the unanimous
backing of the commission, members were split over
proposals to penalize employers for hiring illegal aliens,
also known as undocumented workers.
The report says that a majority of the five-member
commission opposes such penalties be.^use of the
potential that employers might discriminate against
minority groups whose members might be mistaken for
illegal aliens.
But two commission members filed dissenting
statements saying an “employer sanction law” should be
passed to make it more difficult for aliens who enter the
country illegally to find employment.
Hispanic groups strongly oppose employer sanction
laws because of fears that “foreign-looking” U.S. citizens
might be denied jobs by potential employers.
Commissioner Stephen Horn said he would support an
employer sanction law if it was accompanied by the
creation of a “secure and counterfeit-proof social security
card” which could be used by employers to prevent the
inadvertent employment of undocumented aliens.
And another commissioner, Frankie M. Freeman,
maintained that it was premature for the commission to
oppose employer sanction laws until they are thoroughly
analyzed.
The report, titled “The Tarnished Golden Door: Civil
Rights Issues in Immigration,” also called for more
vigorous efforts at steming the flow of illegal aliens by-
negotiating agreements with countries such as Mexico
whose citizens are a major source of aliens in this country.
‘Looking only at the impact of clandestine aliens once
they are in the United States while failing to deal with
factors that have compelled them to migrate would do
little or nothing to alleviate the problem or achieve
equitable and effective solutions,” the commission said.
The report also called for enforcement of the Fair
Labor Standards Act and other labor laws “to ensure that
neither citizens nor aliens are required to work under
unfair working conditions and to minimize job
displacement.”
COME SI CHIAMA? - “Francisco Mugavero”
is the answer Bishop Francis Mugavero of
Brooklyn might give to the question (“What is
your name?”) posed by Paul Ferrotti, chairman
of the Italian program at the diocesan Language
Institute at Cathedral College in Douglaston, N.
Y. During the six week program, students meet
for eight hours a day utilizing books, tapes and
conversation. The institute was established eight
years ago to meet the needs of priests, religious
and lay people who minister to the large Hispanic
and Italian populations of the diocese. (NC Photo
by Matthew Monahan)
Committee Approves Charity Tax Break
BY JIM LACKEY
WASHINGTON (NC) - The Senate Finance Committee
has approved a measure allowing taxpayers who do not
itemize to deduct their contributions to charity. The
proposal was added to the $39 billion tax cut bill
approved by the committee in August.
Originally, the committee had declined to include the
charitable contributions measure to the tax cut bill for
fear that it would inflate the tax cut to unacceptable
levels.
But committee members changed their minds Sept. 16
and decided to add the measure in committee instead of
waiting for the bill to reach the Senate floor for
amendment.
The decision came after Sen. Russell Long (D-La.), the
powerful chairman of the finance committee, said he had
promised the measure’s sponsors. Sens. Daniel Moynihan
(D-N.Y.) and Robert Packwood (R-Ore.) that they could
attack the measure to the committee-approved tax cut bill.
The committee rejected a long laundry list of other
special tax cuts that had been proposed as amendments to
the bill.
The bill now goes to the full Senate, where it faces an
uncertain future because of the Carter administration’s
opposition to an election year tax cut. And House Ways
and Means Chairman A1 Ullinan (D-Ore.) has indicated his
committee will not pass the tax cut bill even if it survives
the Senate test.
The charitable contributions bill has strong backing
from religious and charitable organizations, especially the
National Conference of Catholic Charities. The
organizations say increases in the standard deduction in
recent years have caused fewer people to itemize their
deductions, thus lessening the incentive to give to charity.
Currently, only taxpayers who itemize can take the
deduction for charitable contributions.
In addition to opposing the overall tax cut, the Carter
administration also opposes the charitable contributions
measure because it says it would mean an annual loss of
between $3.6 to $4 million for the U.S. treasury when
fully implemented.
Proponents counter that the measure's stimulus for
charitable giving would more than offset the tax loss in
helping charitable organizations provide services now
being provided by the government.
A similar measure has been introduced in the House by
Reps. Barber Conable (R-N.Y.) and Joseph L. Fisher
(D-Va.).
To try to blunt administration opposition to the
measure, the corhmittee voted to phase in the charitable
contributions deduction over four years. Taxpayers could
deduct one-fourth of their charitable contributions in
1981, one-half in 1982, three-fourths in 1983 and all in
1984.
The overall tax cut bill also includes a proposal to
reduce the amount that married working couples pay
above what they would have paid in taxes had they
remained single.
BY JEFF ENDRST
UNITED NATIONS (NC) -- Unusually high
international tension, worsening economic malaise and
growing mistrust among the world’s nations are among the
key problems to be tackled by the 35th regular session of
the U.N. General Assembly.
The 153-member assembly began its scheduled
15-week session Sept. 16 at U.N. headquarters in New
York.
In his annual report to the membership, U.N. Secretary
General Kurt Waldheim said that the assembly “must
tackle with determination and vision the central issue of a
reliable system of international peace and security.”
Another main challenge is the fundamental question of
human rights which he said has been put aside or
deadlocked by political and economic expediency.
Waldheim said that since the United Nations represents
a teeming world in transition, “it is not surprising that the
improvements and heightened opportunities ... are offset
by much disorder and perplexity.”
He characterized the prevailing international situation
as alarming and unexpected and said practical methods
must be found “to make the United Nations machinery
more effective and more respected.”
Waldheim said it is a matter of general concern that
resolutions of various bodies go often unheeded. Thus, he
said, problems which should have been brought under
control persist, proliferate and pose continual threats to
international peace.
Moreover, he said, continued frustration breeds
extremism, and extremism in its turn tends to breed
irresponsibility and violence.
Regarding the case of American hostages in Iran,
Waldheim Tsaid the episode underlines the absolute
necessity of preserving codes of conduct for the
realtionships between nations.
“If we lose this basic minimum, we face a future of
international chaos,” he added.
“Interference, often by violent means, in the internal
affairs of sovereign states has far too long been a
deplorable feature of the international scene,” he said.
Waldheim welcomed a Scandinavian initiative designed
to have the assembly seek effective measures to “enhance
the protection, security and safety of diplomatic and
consular missions and representatives.”
Waldheim’s report also mentioned the insecurity of
nations amid the escalating arms race. He noted that
military expenditures will amount to $500 billion this
year, about 6 percent of the total world economic
production.
Waldheim stressed, however, that "disarmament cannot
be conceived in a vacuum.” He acknowledged that there is
“an intimate relationship” between disarmament and
security.
“If we believe that disarmament is essential, we must
also strengthen the belief that only through compromise,
restraint and the harmonization of national goals can
lasting and genuine international security be achieved,” he
said.
Waldheim said at a press conference recently that the
international community has “little reason to be happy.”
He noted that the North-South dialogue on a New
International Economic Order is stalemated.
He said that a U.N. review conference in Geneva,
Switzerland, in August on measures to tighten up the
1968 treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons
ended in disagreement between the nuclear and
non-nuclear nations.
Supporting the call for increased non-proliferation of
weapons at the meeting was the Vatican, which has
observer status with the United Nations.
On the hostage situation in Iran, on which he
commented before the latest four-point proposal
advanced by Ayatollah Khomeini, Waldheim said: “I do
not expect an early breakthrough in the efforts to solve
the crisis.”
The secretary general had no comforting words on
Afghanistan, Cambodia or the Middle East. In all three
cases, the assembly is overwhelmingly on record that
Soviet, Vietnamese and Israeli occupation troops
respectively, should withdraw so that a political process of
accommodation in the three areas could begin.
Waldheim said that political developments in Africa
give cause for serious concern. He is exploring ways and
means of organizing an international conference
comparable to that on the Vietnamese “boat people” last
year to tackle the long-simmering problem of about 5
million refugees in Africa.
Waldheim saw no immediate prospect for a
breakthrough which could lead to a peaceful transfer of
power to an independent Namibia. In the area of human
rights, he decried growing instances of arbitrary retention,
torture, hostage-taking and forced migration.
He said that a most distressing and continuing
phenomenon has been the summary execution of
individuals in many parts of the world “without regard to
the due process of law.”