Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Missouri, and I appreciate his hard work and his leadership in bringing this amendment forward. President Obama's accommodation of religious liberty in his revised health care mandate covering contraceptives, sterilizations, and medicines causing abortion raises more questions than it answers. Perhaps the most troublesome part is that even with this revision, the President's mandate refuses to acknowledge that the Constitution guarantees conscience protections. He instead tries to run around them. You don't ``accommodate'' religious liberties, you respect them. That is why they are enshrined in the Constitution. Those constitutional protections should prevent the President from trampling the conscience rights of Americans and religious institutions that hold a strong belief that contraceptives, sterilizations, and drugs causing abortion are wrong. Clearly, however, these constitutional protections are not enough. President Obama's ``accommodation'' shows that he considers conscience rights to be an inconvenience in his effort to remake America in his vision. That is why we need the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act--introduced by my colleague from Missouri, Senator Roy Blunt--seeks to restore conscience protections that existed before President Obama's health care law.…”