TO: ACLU Action Network FR: Phil Gutis, Director of Legislative Communications DT: September 14, 1999 1. Privacy Battle Heats Up in the Senate 2. School Prayer Amendment Returns 3. Update on New Reproductive Freedom Battle 1. Privacy Battle Heats Up in the Senate The struggle to protect personal information takes center stage for civil libertarians this week as the Senate considers a transportation spending bill that would prohibit the federal government from giving highway funds to states that sell drivers' personal information without the consent of the driver. The legislation arose after Florida, South Carolina and Colorado tried to sell digitized photographic images of 22 million drivers to a New Hampshire company -- partially funded by the Secret Service -- to establish a national database of drivers' images and personal information. Public outrage killed those state efforts to invade our privacy; only public outrage will ensure that no state ever again tries to sell our private data. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, has inserted a provision in a massive transportation spending bill, S. 1143, which would protect our data. But we're up against a large and well-funded coalition of information brokers, junk mailers, insurance firms, check cashers and industry groups who are, as one Capitol Hill publication said, "desperate" to remove his provision. Act Now! We have an action alert with more information about the Shelby provision and a FREE FAX that you can send to your senators on the ACLU website at: http://www.aclu.org/action/drivers106.html 2. School Prayer Amendment Returns Backed by 10 gospel choirs and more than 100 ministers, Rep. Ernest Istook is scheduled to announce the reintroduction of his school prayer amendment tomorrow, Wednesday, September 15, at a rally on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Last year, in advocating for his so-called "Religious Freedom Amendment," Rep. Istook described as needlessly high the constitutional wall that separates church and state and said that he was offering his amendment to punch a large breach in that wall. The past 30 years of court rulings, Istook said, were a "systematic campaign to strip religious symbols, references, and heritage from the public stage." His amendment, he declared, is "an answer to that assault." Members of Congress, however, were not persuaded despite a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign by right-wing religious groups. Although proponents of the amendment needed two-thirds of the House to vote in their favor, we insured -- with your help -- that they barely obtained a simple majority. We will, of course, closely monitor tomorrow's reintroduction and supply you with a bill number and action alert once the legislation is officially introduced and begins to move in the House. 3. Update on New Reproductive Freedom Battle Anti-choice members of Congress pushed ahead with their new battle over reproductive freedom today as the House Judiciary Committee approved and sent to the House floor legislation that that would create a new, separate offense to punish anyone who injures or causes the death of a fetus during the commission of certain federal crimes. {{{{For those of you who did not take action on this issue last week, we urge you to read on and contact your representative today! For the thousands of you who did send a fax, thank you for helping protect reproductive rights!}}}} The new bill, H.R. 2436, the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act," was drafted with the assistance of the National Right to Life Committee and introduced in early July by three staunch anti-choice representatives: Lindsey Graham, R-SC, Chris Smith, R-NJ, and Charles Canady, R-FL. This ACLU believes that the bill represents a dangerous attempt to separate a woman from her fetus in the eyes of the law. By attempting to do so, the sponsors are trying to take the first step toward eroding a woman's right to determine the fate of her own pregnancy and to direct the course of her own health care. Act Now! You can find out more and send a FREE FAX to your Representative from our action alert at: http://www.aclu.org/action/antichoice106.html --- You are currently subscribed to action as: [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] To unsubscribe, forward this message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Some email programs allow you to click on a web address and automatically go to the site. Others, like AOL, do not. If you use an email program that does not provide for clickable web addresses, copy the URL and paste it into your web browser.
