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DRONE WATCH: Brennan Vote Delayed

by Duane Shank 02-14-2013

As the drone debate continues, the Senate Intelligence Committee is delaying a confirmation vote on John Brennan as CIA Director. Brennan most recently was President Obama’s counter-terrorism advisor, and in that capacity the administration’s point person on drones. The Washington Post reports:

“A Senate confirmation vote on John O. Brennan as CIA director has been postponed for at least two weeks as lawmakers step up pressure on the Obama administration to provide more information about its drone campaign against terrorism suspects.

“In particular, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that she is seeking seven Justice Department memos related to the administration’s targeted killing program, in addition to four the committee has been allowed to view.”

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An Amazing Journey

by Duane Shank 02-14-2013

From the Senate staff to the 2008 campaign to the White House, Joshua DuBois has been President Obama’s top faith advisor. Last week, DuBois resigned as the director of the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. On CNN Belief Blog, he shares reflections on his journey and what is ahead – writing a book, launching a new social enterprise, teaching and speaking. DuBois concludes:

“As a committed African-American Pentecostal, I never thought I could become such dear friends with so many in the faith community – Christians and Muslims, Hindus and Jews, conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats – who care first about God, and second about their neighbors, and seek to live this care out into the world. I would hope to honor those friendships, continue to serve this good president, and let my life and work be a song of worship in the exciting days ahead.”

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Out of Control Partisanship

by Duane Shank 02-14-2013

Like former Sen. Chuck Hagel, Richard Lugar is a moderate-to-conservative Midwest Republican. Lugar was defeated in a primary election last year by a tea party candidate, and this week gave his first public speech since leaving office in January. According to the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette, he spoke of the out of control partisanship that now controls Washington politics, specifically noting  the “politicization of national security policy” in the debate over Hagel’s nomination as Secretary of Defense. 

“Hagel’s “main transgression is that he is a Republican who has questioned policies that are sacred among most conservative senators,” Lugar said. “These include whether the surge in Iraq was worth the lives lost, whether the current high levels of defense expenditures make strategic sense, whether nuclear forces can be reduced further and whether there are non-military options in dealing with Iran.”

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House Passes Bill Requiring FEMA to Deliver Storm Aid to Houses of Worship

by Rose Marie Berger 02-14-2013

Following more than 200 houses of worship being denied FEMA aid following Superstorm Sandy, on Feb. 13, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 592 with a vote of 354-72, to clarify that houses of worship are “eligible for certain disaster relief and emergency assistance on terms equal to other eligible private nonprofit facilities, and for other purposes.” From The Hill:

Supporters of the bipartisan bill, H.R. 592, said federal aid to houses of worship is not a violation of the Constitution when that aid is meant to be used broadly for a range of affected entities. In those cases, federal aid need not be withheld from houses of worship that are, like many others, seeking to repair their buildings from storm damage.

"There is no intrinsically religious purpose in providing disaster assistance," said Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), a supporter of the bill.

Read more HERE.

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Senate Passes Violence Against Women Act - Now To House

by Aimee Kang 02-12-2013

The Senate passed the Violence Against Women Act, picking up 16 additional Republican support and passing the bill 78 to 22.

Created in 1994, VAWA exists to help programs and services of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. While it typically gets reauthorized easily, Congress failed to do so last year because of provisions in the Senate bill that included protection for LGBT, Native American and limited provisions to undocumented immigrants.  The VAWA bill that was passed today includes protection for LGBT and Native Americans but protection for undocumented immigrants was not included. A few amendments were added on to the bill which includes a provision targeting human trafficking and a provision to ensure child victims of sex trafficking are eligible for grant assistance. 

The bill now heads to the House where it is unclear how they plan to proceed. As Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement:

“Delay isn’t an option when three women are still killed by their husbands of boyfriends every day.  Delay isn’t an option when countless women still live in fear of abuse, and when one in five have been victims of rape.  This issue should be beyond debate—the House should follow the Senate’s lead and pass the Violence Against Women Act right away.” 

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Violence Against Women Act Passes

by God's Politics Editor 02-12-2013

The Associated Press reports,

“By a robust bipartisan majority, the Senate voted Tuesday to renew the Violence Against Women Act with new assurances that gays and lesbians, immigrants and Native American women will have equal access to the act's anti-domestic violence programs.

“The 78-22 Senate vote to reauthorize the two-decade-old act that has shielded millions of women from abuse and helped reduce national rates of domestic violence turns the focus to the House, where Republican leaders are working to come up with their own version.”

Differences between the House and Senate were not able to reach a compromise agreement last year, passing two different versions of the Act. The main point of disagreement is over which courts have jurisdiction over cases involving non-native American men accused of violence against native American women on reservations. 

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Episcopal Bishop Schori Addresses Senate Committee on Gun Violence

by Rose Marie Berger 02-12-2013
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, submitted written testimony today to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on gun violence, chaired by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. The subcommittees is accepting “Proposals to reduce gun violence: protecting our communities while respecting the Second Amendment." Established after the Newtown massacre and in the wake of President Obama's leadership on reducing gun violence, the subcomittee is recieving statements from a number of religious leaders.
 
Bishop Schori says:
"I urge lawmakers to press for comprehensive and universal background checks for firearm ownership, regardless of where and how a gun is purchased; for bans on the availability to civilians of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines; and for policies designed to better regulate the manufacture of guns,” the Presiding Bishop states in her testimony. “The Episcopal Church also supports the highest level of accountability for violation of all existing laws pertaining to violence in our midst.”
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Pope Benedict XVI Announces Resignation

by God's Politics Editor 02-11-2013
Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Pope Benedict XVI at a January Vespers service. Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Pope Benedict XVI announced today he will step down on Feb. 28, citing his advanced age. The head of the Catholic Church is 85 years old. Below is the text of his announcement.

Dear Brothers,

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

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DRONE WATCH: Drone Strike in Pakistan

by Duane Shank 02-08-2013

The day after the hearing on John Brennan’s nomination to head the CIA, U.S. drones were back in action over Pakistan. An attack on Friday in the border tribal region killed seven suspected militants. NBC News reports:

“Seven people were killed and six others injured in a U.S. drone attack in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region on Friday evening, Pakistani security officials said. The officials and tribal sources said the drone fired six missiles and pounded two separate mud-built houses in the Babar area of the Ladha subdivision in the South Waziristan tribal region.”

Other reports with different details include DAWN, Al Jazeera, and the Associated Press.

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DRONE WATCH: Drones Hit Front Page

by Duane Shank 02-06-2013

The publication on Monday of a previously secret Justice Department memo attempting to legally justify the killing of American citizens has opened the door for front-page questions about the entire drone program.    

- The Washington Post revealed the existence of a previously secret drone base in Saudi Arabia, established two years ago when the campaign against al Qaeda in Yemen was Intensified. The story notes that John Brennan, a former CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia, played a key role in negotiations for the base.

- In London, the Guardian headlines the secret base, and notes that “Iranian state media highlighted the story, which is also likely to be seized upon by jihadi groups. Saudi Arabia has previously publicly denied co-operating with the US to target al-Qaida in Yemen.”

- The Associated Press notes a growing number of a growing number of Members of Congress seeking to limit the claimed authority for drone killings and predicts it will be a hot topic in the confirmation hearing tomorrow of John Brennan for CIA Director.

- Bloomberg reports remarks by Pakistan Ambassador to the U.S. Sherry Rehman at a Christian Science Monitor news breakfast in Washington. Rehman called the continuing drone strikes in Pakistan a “direct violation of our sovereignty” and international law as well as a red line that Pakistani authorities are constantly urging the U.S. not to cross.

- The New York Times, noting that Brennan “has taken a particular interest in Yemen,” devotes a long lead story to the drone strikes in that country. It raises the questions about the program: Why are both the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command and the CIA carrying out drone campaigns in Yemen? Are the strikes creating more militants than they are killing?

- At the White House press briefing Tuesday afternoon, the first question to Press Secretary Jay Carney was about the drone memo. The money quote of his answer, from the official transcript, was “We conduct those strikes because they are necessary to mitigate ongoing actual threats, to stop plots, prevent future attacks, and, again, save American lives.  These strikes are legal, they are ethical and they are wise.”

- And, for the last word, NBC News has Mary Ellen O’Connell, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame and an authority on international law and the use of force, saying about the leaked memo: “Anyone should be concerned when the president and his lawyers make up their own interpretation of the law or their own rules. This is a very, very dangerous thing that the president has done.” 

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