John Hostettler: “when it comes to the assertions in the language of the bill, the amendment offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.…”

“when it comes to the assertions in the language of the bill, the amendment offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) at this point, even the press has recently indicated the fallacious nature of those assertions. In the sense of Congress portion of the bill, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) states, ``coercive and abusive religious proselytizing at the United States Air Force Academy by officers assigned to duty at the Academy and others in the chain of command at the Academy, as has been reported, inconsistent with the professionalism and standards required of those who served at the Academy. Coercive and abusive religious proselytizing, as has been reported. The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, defines the word ``proselytize'' to mean, ``to convert from one belief or faith to another.'' Are the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and others providing one shred of evidence that there has been a forced conversion from one belief to another at the Air Force Academy? And if so, from what belief to what belief did the abusive and coercive conversion take place? No, there is not a single reported incident of the proselytizing that the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) attempts to persuade us is gospel. Noting this, today's issues of CQ Today, writing about this issue, speaks of our ``spirited debate over whether Congress should speak out about reports that some Christian officials at the U.S.…”