Malaiyarasan D: “James Kennedy, one of the finest men I have ever met, from the Coral Ridge Ministries, is a strong supporter of this…”

“James Kennedy, one of the finest men I have ever met, from the Coral Ridge Ministries, is a strong supporter of this legislation. Another man that I have great respect for, along with all the others that I have named, is Ray Flynn. Ray Flynn is the former ambassador to the Vatican and former Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Flynn supports this legislation; also, a man that I have really gotten to know by telephone who I have a tremendous respect for, Rabbi Daniel Lapin. He is a wonderful man of God, and he supports this legislation; and James Bopp, the constitutional lawyer for the James Madison Center for Free Speech. He is a strong supporter of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, the reason I have this enlargement of a letter that I received, it is from a fine man who was a Member of Congress my first year, 1995. Floyd Flake was a Member of the Congress. He is an ordained minister, as well. I talked to him about 4 or 5 months ago. I told Dr. Flake what I was trying to do: I was just trying to get the support to return the freedom of speech to our churches and synagogues. We chatted for a while, and he said, Congressman, I would be glad to write a letter of support. I just want to read two paragraphs from this letter: ``I praise God for the stand that you have taken to defend the first amendment right of houses of worship. It is unjust that churches and clergymen and women are unfairly targeted when they exercise their right as an American citizen.…”