FOR RELEASE: January 23, 2008

Again this year, I was honored to be named to receive the Family Research Council (FRC) Action’s True Blue Award. The award is presented annually to members of Congress who cast votes that demonstrate that they are “consistent, stalwart allies of American families.” The FRC gave me a 100 percent rating on the votes that it tracked in the first session of the 110th Congress.

Among the bills cited by the FRC is the motion to recommit on HR 3. This motion would have required an amendment to the primary bill to ensure that no taxpayer funds could be used for human cloning. I voted for the motion, but it failed 189-to-238. This legislation has not been acted upon by the Senate yet.
Another of the items scored by FRC was the motion to recommit on HR 1429. This motion was to remove the current discrimination provision in the Head Start program that prevents faith-based organizations from hiring according to their faith tradition. The motion failed 195-to-222. I voted for the motion to recommit. The full bill now has been passed by the House and Senate.

Also included on the FRC scorecard was amendment 484 to HR 2829. This amendment, which I supported, stripped the federal government of its ability to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, which would be used to block talk radio. The amendment was agreed to on a vote of 309-to-115. HR 2829 has not been acted upon by the Senate yet. And, the FRC included an amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill. I voted for an amendment that would have upheld the prohibition against federal funding of international organizations that perform or promote abortion. The amendment failed 205-to-218.

Work on the Defense Authorization Bill has been brought once again before the House of Representatives. The second vote was similar to the first one, and it passed 369-to-46. As with the first vote, I supported many features of this bill, but I had to vote “No” again. The Defense Authorization Bill still contains a provision to relocate thousands of Iraqi refugees into the United States.

According to the bill, refugees from Iraq would be moved to the second highest priority level for being granted admission to the United States. They would get a higher priority for admission to the U. S. if they are identified as members of a persecuted minority community within Iraq or are children or the spouse of such a person. The Iraqi refugees will be included in a category that falls outside the normal annual quota on refugees to be admitted. 5,000 refugees from Iraqi will be admitted each year for five years, making a total of 25,000 in this category and in addition to those allowed in the normal refugee category, which currently has an annual cap of 70,000. Once they get here, the Iraqis will become eligible for two types of programs: Refugee resettlement assistance, which includes social services; and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), food stamps, Medicaid, and Temporary assistance for Needy Families for upto seven years provided that they meet the income and eligibility requirements for each of those programs. States have discretion to extend eligibility beyond the seven-year period.

Please keep in touch with me on issues that are important to you. You may write Congressman Virgil Goode, 70 East Court Street, Room 215, Rocky Mount, VA 24151; or fax to 1-540-484-1459; or call toll-free to the Danville office, 1-800-535-4008.