Faith-Based Fight: White House moves forward with or without Senate.

Stymied by Senate Democrats, the Bush administration has turned to Plan B on its faith-based initiative. “Our preferred route is to go through Congress,” said James Towey, the director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. But “the President is certainly going to work administratively to achieve his goal: to make the public square faith-friendly.”

On October 3, the Department of Health and Human Services announced $24.8 million in “compassion capital” grants to 21 recipients. The federal dollars can go for training and hiring staff, managing programs, and receiving technical help in applying for grants.

Operation Blessing International, Pat Robertson’s Virginia Beach-based humanitarian agency, received $500,000. Previously, Robertson had expressed deep reservations about the Bush initiative because of possible government funding of groups such as the Church of Scientology or the Unification Church. A Robertson spokeswoman was unavailable for comment.

Regulatory review

The Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives has new branches at five departments: Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, and Labor.

According to an internal government memo obtained by Christianity Today, Bush officials believe that some existing federal regulations remain inconsistent with Supreme Court case law and with Bush administration policy. Neither the internal memo nor administration officials provided specific examples.

A September 3 Associated Press story reported that Bush administration officials were poised to rewrite a slew of federal regulations governing religious groups that serve the needy, to make it easier for them to apply for federal dollars. But a Bush administration official, asking not to be named, disavowed most of the AP account. “Are we likely to change regulations? Absolutely,” the official told CT. “Have we decided on which ones those will be? Absolutely not.”

In a related effort, the White House began hosting daylong regional conferences, starting in Atlanta in October. Bush administration officials will teach religious groups how to apply for federal grants. The five to seven conferences will run through early 2003 and are similar to smaller forums the faith-based office has already hosted.

Hiring clause

The faith-based bill has languished in the Democrat-controlled Senate since July 2001, when the House passed H.R. 7. The chief stumbling block is whether religious charities may choose not to hire people who do not share their beliefs or observe their moral and sexual norms. Under the 1996 Charitable Choice Act, on which H.R. 7 is based, charities need not hire such people. The Senate’s version, the Charity, Aid, Recovery, and Empowerment Act (CARE), avoids the issue. Sponsors Joseph Lieberman, D-Connecticut, and Rick Santorum, R-Pennsylvania, worked out a compromise in February with the White House. The aim was to enlist more Democratic support.

But the American Civil Liberties Union and the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual-rights advocacy group, say the legislation would override local and state anti-discrimination laws. Greg McCarthy, a spokesman for Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, said he is likely to “sponsor an amendment that addresses the [bill’s] silence on the issue of discrimination.”

Both Santorum and Towey told Christianity Today they would reject any legislation that prevents charities from hiring whom they wish. “I think, along with Sen. Lieberman, that any changes to the bill will be fought,” Santorum said. He said he hopes to attach it to homeland security legislation. Lawmakers consider that bill a high priority before adjourning for the year.