A Pentagon task force visited the Colorado Springs campus this week to study the religious atmosphere and propose possible remedial steps.  In the letter sent to the Acting Secretary of the Air Force, Congresswoman Capps and other Members of Congress asked that the group thoroughly and publicly investigate a tide of complaints about harassment of anyone not an evangelical Christian and special treatment for evangelical Christians.  Capps also wants the report to be publicly available when it is finished next week.

“I expect this investigation to be thorough and the results to be made public,” Congresswoman Capps said.  “The young men and women who volunteer to defend our nation should be able enjoy religious freedoms, a bedrock principle upon which the United States stands and the Air Force is meant to defend. 

“But if the accusations are true, this report must offer concrete ways for cadets to report abuses and have them remedied,” Capps said.  “We cannot allow this freedom to be under assault at one of our premier institutes for training the Air Force officer corps.”

Capps’ letter also expresses concern that Air Force Academy Chaplain Captain MeLinda Morton’s public statements about religious harassment at the academy led to her reassignment.  “Captain Morton’s reassignment has the appearance of the Air Force punishing an officer for looking after the spiritual well being of all the cadets,” Capps said in her letter.

The Air Force's recent attention to the issue of religious intolerance and harassment at the academy stems from a study done in the wake of an earlier scandal at the school in which female cadets said commanding officers ignored or dismissed numerous cases of sexual assault by male students.

A copy of Capps’ letter to the Acting Secretary of the Air Force follows:

Mr. Michael L. Dominguez

Acting Secretary of the Air Force

1670 Air Force Pentagon

Washington, D.C. 20330-1670

Dear Secretary Dominguez:

We write to express our concerns about the growing controversy surrounding accusations of religious intolerance and harassment at the United States Air Force Academy. 

Religious freedom is one of the bedrock principles for which the United States stands, and which the U.S. Air Force is meant to defend.  The young men and women who volunteer to defend our nation as part of the Air Force should be able enjoy these freedoms.  But if the accusations we have learned about are true, religious freedom is under assault at one of our premier institutes for training the Air Force officer corps.

Surveys of current and former cadets, findings of a team of observers from the Yale Divinity School, media reports, and statements by at least one chaplain at the Air Force Academy paint a picture of considerable religious intolerance at the academy.  Accounts of permanent faculty and chaplains telling cadets who refused evangelical efforts to convert them that they would “burn in the fires of hell” and organization of students into “heathen flights,” among other examples, suggest Government sponsorship of a particular religion and violations of the Constitution’s establishment clause.

We understand that a “cross functional task force” has been appointed to investigate this matter.  While this is a good first step, we urge you to take a direct role in making sure this investigation is thorough and public.  We are deeply concerned by parallels between this issue and the recent investigation of sexual assaults at the Air Force Academy.  In that instance the reluctance demonstrated by the academy and the Air Force to fully investigate the accusations was extremely damaging to both institutions.  It is critical that the Air Force take this matter more seriously than it initially did the cases of sexual harassment.

Furthermore, we are deeply concerned by reports that Captain MeLinda Morton, a chaplain at the Air Force Academy, is being reassigned following her public statements in this matter.  Captain Morton’s reassignment has the appearance of the Air Force punishing an officer for looking after the spiritual well being of all the cadets. 

We respectfully request that you detail for us how this investigation is being carried out and your office’s plans to ensure its legitimacy.  We further request that you explain the circumstances of Capt. Morton’s transfer and inform us of your efforts to ensure she is not being punished for doing her duty.  Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

Lois Capps

John Lewis

Dale Kildee

James Clyburn

Jane Harman

Henry Waxman

Chet Edwards

Steve Israel

Susan Davis

Ellen Tauscher

Bobby Scott

Diana DeGette

Hilda Solis

John Dingell

Jim McDermott

Carolyn Maloney

Gary Ackerman

James McGovern

Betty McCullum

Sam Farr

Neil Abercrombie

Barney Frank

David Price

Howard Berman

Tammy Baldwin

Jan Schakowsky

Anna Eshoo

George Miller

Sherrod Brown

Lane Evans

Edolphus Towns

Nita Lowey

Tom Allen

Joseph Crowley

Maxine Waters

Zoe Lofgren

Emanuel Cleaver

Ted Strickland

Bill Pascrell Jr.

Eliot Engel

Rosa DeLauro

Carolyn Kilpatrick

Pete Stark

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz

Jay Inslee