Defenders of the Constitution April 3, 2005 Alabama Conservative Newsletter
Last chance to stop Citizen Intimidation/Gamblers' Protection Act. also known as the Christian Coalition Elimination Act HB 75 From: Eunie Smith [mailto:alaeagle@charter.net]
Dear Friends,
Next Tuesday, the Alabama Senate could pass HB75, the "disclosure" bill that would require any organization providing information on a candidate or potential candidate for public office to report contributors/members to the Alabama Secretary of State. This could do away with our candidate questionnaires and reports to you on how your elected officials vote unless we disclose our private membership list. The same punitive and unconstitutional requirement would be imposed on other nonprofit citizen groups, unions, schools, fraternal organizations, civic leagues, chambers of commerce and clubs.
This bill CAN STILL be stopped if 15 Senators will vote NO on the BIR (Budget Isolation Resolution), a preliminary vote required to bring the measure to the floor for final vote. The BIR vote requires a 3/5 majority to pass. A BIR vote was taken 3/17/2005. Those voting NO were Biddle, Butler, Byrne, Dixon, Erwin, Holley, Lee, Marsh, Myers, and Smith. If your Senator voted NO, call to say, "Thank you. Please vote NO every time the BIR on HB75 comes up."
If your Senator did not vote NO, call and say, "Please do not deprive citizens like me of our rights to information on issues. Please vote NO on the BIR on HB75." Do not let them tell you that they will vote NO on final passage, because that will do no good. Gambling Czar Milton McGregor has already bought the simple majority needed for the bill to pass. In that case, we will need to appeal immediately to the Governor not to sign the bill.
Please call today and ask others to do so as well. The Senate switchboard number is 334-242-7800. Attached and copied below is my earlier letter to the Senate on this bill.
THANK YOU! We certainly don't want to have to trust our freedom to receive information on public policy issues to the courts, but we will have to find the money to go to court if this bill passes because we will NOT violate your privacy!
Sincerely,
Eunie Smith, President
Eagle Forum of Alabama
205-879-70096
Sample Letter
Dear Senator:
Having spent the better part of my adult life encouraging and equipping average citizens to be involved in public policy, I am distressed to see that the Alabama legislature is moving bills that would discourage such involvement.
Must I disclose Eagle Forum's private donor lists in order to print and distribute responses to candidate questionnaires? Or take positions on legislation? Or take positions on referenda? To require citizen groups to comply with disclosure laws is to dampen their free speech rights and to deprive the public of information on which to base voting decisions. HB75 disclosure requirements are more burdensome than campaign or PAC disclosure laws!
Why does the average citizen not want his name published? Listen to this answer from one of our members:
Because they might be harassed as I was when I wrote a letter to the editor once. I had a toilet seat thrown in my front yard, had to stop many magazines that were ordered in my name, had pornography sent to me, received letters from Federal prisoners who had been misled into thinking I had written to them, etc.
Such disclosure certainly could intimidate some people fearful of harassment from engaging in public discourse through their support of Eagle Forum. Its requirements would be burdensome and invasive well beyond the limits of the First Amendment. If this legislature does not have the good sense to defeat this bill, non profits such as ours would have to foot the legal cost to have the bill declared unconstitutional with funds contributed by countless grassroots Alabamians.
We need Judge Roy Moore of Alabama Poem by Judge Roy Moore (Judge Roy Moore Poem)
For Moore informationRoy Moore - AlabamaRead the introduction of a
book about the Judge.
An informed electorate is
essential to good government in a Constitutional Republic such as these
United States. However, HB75 seeks to prevent vital information from
reaching citizens on issues and on candidates' positions on issues. We
urge you to oppose HB75. It attacks the core of free speech, the heart of
citizen participation in government, and the accountability and
transparency expected of office holders who represent their constituents. Sincerely, Eunie Smith, President
2. The bill "hypocritically exempts"
political action committees (PACs) and lobbyist from disclosure. "Political action committees are the
very groups that wield the most influence and power over legislation and
elections and are often front groups for special interests that
politicians do not want to be identified with publicly," he said. "The
legislators who support this bill think that they can convince the voters
of Alabama that it is pro-family groups that educate the public about
legislation and expose the voting records and positions of state
legislators that are a great threat to the legislative and political
process in Alabama."
3. Eagle Forum holds it annual
Leadership Conference, in Birmingham, April 15-16. Friends, the superior quality and
timeliness of the presentations scheduled for 4/15-16 in Birmingham at the
Eagle Forum Leadership Conference are NO April Fool Joke! It is just two
weeks away, so if you have not made your reservations and invited others
to join you, please use one of the attached flyers to mail to us ASAP. You will hear expert speakers on
cutting edge issues. We have just seen the courts kill a disabled
American. Hear three members of the Alabama Congressional delegation
discuss with Phyllis how to curb the courts, who are also taking away our
religious freedom as I write. Minutemen today are guarding our borders.
Hear the President of the National Border Patrol Council tell us how to
stop illegal immigration. Hear Dr. Eidsmoe on "What a Difference a World
View Makes!" and get his new DVD series on this subject. Hear Phyllis's
dynamic speech on the Culture War and enjoy a musical tribute to our Armed
Forces at the Friday banquet. Learn the source of anti-American
propaganda disguised as history in Alabama schools. Hear how trade policy
can adversely affect manufacturing jobs in Alabama. Hear how you can make
a difference on federal and state legislation. Please come and bring friends. "All
that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke Freedom is not free; it has to be earned by each succeeding
generation. This generation has much ground to regain. Will you consider
filling a table for the banquet or one of the luncheons? For God and country
4. The
Pro-Life Conservative wing of the Republican Party, Republican Assembly
holds its annual state Convention April 16, in Birmingham, same hotel as
Eagle Forum Convention. As I said in my recent
letter to all ALRA members, the 2005 Alabama Republican Assembly
Convention will by held at the Birmingham Marriott Hotel on Hwy 280 in
Birmingham on April 16, 2005. This will be the 7th Annual meeting of the
Alabama Republican Assembly. We have what the Board
thinks will be a real treat, as we will be meeting in conjunction with the
Alabama Eagle Forum State Leadership Conference. Our meeting will be held
at the end of the EF conference immediately after their Saturday
luncheon. We will not be endorsing candidates at this off year
convention; therefore we will not require local units to send a certain
number of delegates based upon their membership. All ALRA members are
invited and encouraged to attend this important meeting. We encourage our members to
attend all of the Eagle Forum conference if at all possible. If you need
more information about the Eagle Forum conference or registration
information, you may go to
http://www.alabamaeagle.org.
If not the entire event, we would like for you, at the least, to come to
the Saturday luncheon to hear T. J. Bonner, President, National Border
Patrol Council speak on the subject, "Preserving a Nation: The Battle to
Secure America's Borders." Illegal immigration is likely the most
important issue facing this nation after the war against terrorist and the
problem is integrally tied to the problem of terrorists, as they have free
rein to our nation through the porous borders. We will convene our ALRA
meeting immediately following the Saturday luncheon, at approximately 2:00
p.m. in the Marriott?s Jefferson Room. Our meeting will last for
approximately two hours. Our Assembly agenda will center on the
following items of business. Election of ALRA officers for the
next two years Report from the National Board
meeting Assembly Education Fund, how we can
use this important tool locally National Federation of Republican
Assemblies Convention, Sept. 2-5, 2005, Scottsdale AZ The Assembly's role in the 2006
"fight" to gain Republican control of the Alabama Legislature in 2006.
Registration process: If you register for the conference
directly with Eagle Forum, please also respond to me using the Assembly
registration form below and return envelope. If you wish only to attend the
luncheon and our meeting, you may register using only the Assembly
registration form. I will forward your luncheon registration to the
Eagle Forum office. Cost for the Eagle Forum conference is on their
brochure. Cost to register for our meeting is
only $10.00 Cost for the luncheon is $25.00.
Cost for the luncheon and ALRA
meeting is a total of $35.00 per person. If you have already registered with me
for the ALRA state meeting, please accept my thanks. If not, please try
to do so this week. I must have luncheon registrations to Eagle Forum by
Monday am, April 11 at the very latest. You can send me your luncheon
and/or meeting registration to ALRA P. O. Box 689 Pelham, AL 35124 If you have not yet paid your 2005
dues, please do so as soon as possible. We must report our membership
levels to National soon. If you need to pay at the door, please
let me know via email response. Thank you for your
membership and support of the Alabama Republican Assembly, the Republican
Wing of the Republican Party. Working together we can help the Republican
Party stay attuned to its Conservative Principles and help make our
government truly one that represents the conservative values of our
citizens. I hope to see you at the
2005ALRA Convention. If you have any questions or suggestions, please do
not hesitate to call me on 205-664-0525 or email
me at edl227@bellsouth.net. Sincerely, Elaine Little, ALRA President
5. Support the Alabama Legislative
Bill to display the Ten Commandments in public schools. The Senate Education Committee has
voted on Feb 9, to make sure that every public school has the Ten
Commandments displayed and that every school day begins with students and
teachers reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Support the Alabama Legislative Bill to
display the Ten Commandments in public schools. The Senate Education Committee has
voted on Feb 9, to make sure that every public school has the Ten
Commandments displayed and that every school day begins with students and
teachers reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Bills that would put both requirements
into law won approval today in the state Senate Education Committee. The
bills now go to the Senate for consideration. One of the bills, by state
Senator Curt Lee, would require each public school in Alabama to display
framed or mounted copies of the Ten Commandments, Magna Carta, Declaration
of Independence and Bill of Rights. Lee says the documents provide the
foundation for American government and they should be on display daily in
every public school in Alabama.
http://www.wpmi.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=D6D542C0-EF02-4F96-8C81-F472CBA9EE8F Contact information for members of the
Alabama Legislature can be found at:
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house/house.html SENATE CENTRAL FAX - 334-242-8818
(Goes to any Senator if you say: "to Senator [name]") Take Action - Contact your state
senator or representative and ask them to vote NO on this unconstitutional
bill that targets the Christian Coalition and other conservative groups. For those who have a representative who
represents a least part of the following counties can call and leave a
brief message: Jefferson County Courthouse
Birmingham Mobile County Legislative Delegation Huntsville and Madison County
Legislative Office
6. A PARTIAL LISTING OF ALABAMA
CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS
Chaper 1 Judge Roy Moore of Alabama.Read the first
chapter of a book about Alabama's Judge.
For More information Roy
Moore
Eunie Smith, President
Eagle Forum of Alabama
http://www.alabamaeagle.org/
205-879-7096
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/senate/senate.html
Legislative Delegation Office
716 Richard Arrngton Jr
Birmingham, AL 35203-0100 Phone: (205) 325-5308
104 S Lawrence St
Mobile, AL 36602-2022 Phone: (251) 208-5480
100 Saint Clair Ave Sw Ste A
Huntsville, AL 35801-4422 Phone: (256) 539-5441
Save our Schools,
http://www.freewebs.com/saveourschoolchildren
Alabama Constitutional Party,
http://www.alconstitutionparty.org
Books on the Ten Commandments
http://www.graceandlaw.com
http://www.gulftel.com/firstfreedom/47.htm
Eagle Forum of Alabama
http://www.alabamaeagle.org
Alabama for Real Reforum
http://www.afrr.us/links.html
Conservative Christians of Alabama
Conservative
Keep Our Rights ...A wealth of information on the fight over your Property
Rights.
http://www.keepourrights.org
The Foundation for Moral Law, Judge Moore
http://www.morallaw.org