Democrats, the controlling majority in the U.S. Senate by virtue of Vice President Harris’ power to cast tie-breaking votes, have put forth a sweeping elections reform package as the first bill in this congressional session. And one of the requirements has some religious and other nonprofits crying foul.
H.R. 1, dubbed the “For the People Act,” includes changes to voter registration requirements, more funding for election security, requirements for presidents and vice presidents to disclose their tax returns and new ethics rules for members of Congress.
But conservatives warn that the bill heavily benefits the federal government—not “the people.”
“Under H.R. 1, massive amounts of elections-related power would be transferred from the states to the federal government,” said conservative policy advocacy organization Heritage Action for America. “The bill interferes with the ability of states and their citizens to determine qualifications for voters, to ensure the accuracy of voter registration rolls, to secure the integrity of elections, to participate in the political process and to determine the district boundary lines for electing their representatives.”
Tucked in the 785-page bill are policies that would “move our nation toward a secular and socialistic state,” said Dr. James Dobson, president of the James Dobson Family Institute.
One such policy would require nonprofit organizations to disclose the names and addresses of their donors to the public.
“We’ve seen the lengths the left will go to in order to ‘cancel’ anyone who stands in their way,” Dobson warned. “Think of how many freedom-loving Americans would be scared to support the conservative ideals that made this country great, knowing that their names could be made public, and their employers might be pressured to fire them. This is absolutely shameful and constitutes an assault on the First Amendment.”
A previous version of the For the People Act had passed the House during the last Congress but stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate. Yet Democrats aren’t giving up, indicating that H.R. 1 is a top legislative priority to them. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) even went so far as to say, “There’s probably nothing more important than passing the For the People Act.”
But Dobson disagrees, and encouraged people to reach out to their U.S. House representative and tell him or her to oppose H.R. 1. “America’s majestic light of liberty is flickering,” he said. “If there was ever a time to stand and speak out, it is now.”
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