EdAction
Maple River Education Coalition PAC
 105 Peavey Rd, St 116 
Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931
http://www.EdAction.org
E-mail


November 17, 2004

 Making headway in Washington

1. New Civics bill yanked off today's House calendar
2. House ready to prohibit funding for universal mental health screening

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 The frenzy of activity that surrounds this Congressional lame duck session forces us to send out numerous alerts. The issues we have focused on for many months are all being addressed at one time in an intense, compressed few days. The number of our alerts will quickly revert to the normal frequency when Congress goes home. In the meantime, please pay careful attention to the many urgent issues that are before us. The long term implications of the legislation is profound.

1. New Civics bill yanked off today's House calendar

Don't ever doubt that we can make a difference. We were informed by the House Majority Whip's office that the New Civics bill, "The American History and Civics Education Act of 2004" --H.R. 5360  -- has been removed from consideration for today.  Your calls are making an impact!  H.R. 5360 may still  be rescheduled another day, however.

Thank you for contacting the leadership and your Members of Congress. This is an incredible victory. We must stay the course, however, to make this temporary victory permanent.

PLEASE CALL or FAX THE HOUSE LEADERSHIP:

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert    202-225-2976
FAX: 202- 225-0697

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay    202-225-5951
FAX: 202- 226-5241

Majority Whip Roy Blunt    202 - 225-0197
FAX: 202- 226-1115

PLEASE CALL OR FAX YOUR OWN MEMBER OF CONGRESS: Their contact information is listed here.

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2. House ready to prohibit funding for universal mental health screening

Congressman Ron Paul of Texas has championed the effort to prohibit federal funding for universal mental health screening. The Liberty Committee (Cong. Ron Paul is the Chairman) has issued the following alert:

ACTION ALERT

November 17, 2004

Your efforts are paying off!  After over 7,600 messages from us(!), the House leadership supports the Paul language prohibiting the funding of mandatory mental-health screening.  In fact, key members of the House leadership attempted to add Dr. Paul's language to the omnibus spending bill, but some members of the Senate objected.

So now the question of whether your kids can be subjected to forced psychological testing -- and perhaps even forced drugging -- rests in the hands of the U.S. Senate.

We have little time left.  The final version of the omnibus spending bill will likely be agreed upon this Friday morning.  Between now and then, we must convince senators to add Congressman Paul's language to it.

Just as we convinced the House leadership to support the Paul language, we must now go to work to convince the Senate.

Urge your two U.S. senators to support the Paul language to the omnibus spending bill.  The language is as follows:  "None of the funds made available for State incentive grants for transformation should be used for any programs of mandatory or universal mental-health screening that performs mental-health screening on anyone under 18 years of age without the express, written permission of the parents or legal guardians of each individual involved."

Here's the checklist:

  • 1. Call your two U.S. senators.  The main Capitol switchboard number is
    202-224-3121.

  • 2. Send a message to your senators.  Go to,
    http://capwiz.com/liberty/issues/alert/?alertid=6664601&type=CO

  • 3. Spread the word.

    Your efforts paid off in the U.S. House.  We must take the next step and convince the U.S. Senate.

    "No Child Left Behind" must not become "No Child Left Undrugged."

    Kent Snyder
    The Liberty Committee
    http://www.thelibertycommittee.org