While 8 out of every 10 diaries are currently involved in some sort of close textual analysis of the Democratic candidates...the primary...and who is going to lose cause they said something with that tone of voice, both houses of Congress still move forward and are focusing some of their attention on two different pieces of legislation that, if passed, could really put a hitch in our general getalong.
H.R. 888 is one of those.
On December 18, 2007, Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA) introduced H. Res. 888, a resolution "Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation's founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as 'American Religious History Week' for the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith."
One diary about it hit the Rec List last week. But another hit the Rescued List. I really rec you take a few moments to go and read it...all of it.
Another piece of legislation that passed through the House (H.R. 1955) and is headed to the Senate (S 1959) is the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" sponsored by Rep. Jane Harman.
H.R. 1955 DEFINITIONS:
(1) COMMISSION- The term `Commission' means the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism established under section 899C.
(2) VIOLENT RADICALIZATION- The term `violent radicalization' means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.
(3) HOMEGROWN TERRORISM- The term `homegrown terrorism' means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
(4) IDEOLOGICALLY BASED VIOLENCE- The term `ideologically based violence' means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs.
In aQ&A period , Representative Waxman noted that there was a suspension of the rules, one that is standard for getting non-controversial legislation through and that though he didn't actually read the legislation, he voted for it.
Now here's the thing. I know that the question came from an odd bird. But Waxman's answer was confusing to me.
In a time and place where Quaker groups have been the target of investigation for their anti-war activities, I don't know what this legislation means.
And I wind up with a few questions...
Is it important?
Should we be asking more questions about the legislation?
Is it really the potential of thought police run amok?
Why wouldn't Waxman read a piece of legislation with such a provocative title?
The Committee has put out a "Fact Sheet" on the legislation asserting that
The purpose of H.R. 1955 is to study violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism using a method that has worked in the past: the establishment of a National Commission. This approach worked prior to September 11, 2001 with the National Commission on Terrorism, which set the stage for America’s counterterrorism strategy prior the September 11 attacks. It worked again with the National Commission on the Terrorists Attacks upon the United States, which in the wake of the attacks made recommendations that strengthened and solidified our current approach to fighting terrorism both domestically and abroad. This new Commission will follow their example and serve our country by providing answers to the indigenous threat of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism.
H.R. 1955 accomplishes the following:
It creates a National Commission to examine the causes of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism and propose concrete recommendations and legislative strategies for mitigating these threats.
It establishes a Center of Excellence for the Prevention of Radicalization and Home Grown Terrorism that will study the social, criminal, political, psychological and economic roots of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism and provide homeland security officials across the government with solutions to these threats.
It requires our homeland security officials to reach out to other nations that have experienced homegrown terrorism in the past to benefit from the lessons learned by those nations.
It protects the civil rights and civil liberties of Americans to ensure that in our effort to secure our nation from domestic threats, we abide by the rights and safeguards guaranteed by our Constitution.
In its Myths/Facts section, the Committee insists that this piece of legislation is not the "Thought Police."
Sen. Feingold is already on record as saying that he'll be voting against it.
Is this something we should be paying attention to? Is it already a done deal?
And have I really got the dates really really messed up?