Tim Huelskamp: “Congresswoman Hartzler, I appreciate your leadership on this topic. It is so essential, not just to our brave men and…”

“Congresswoman Hartzler, I appreciate your leadership on this topic. It is so essential, not just to our brave men and women serving in the military, but also to our foundation as a Nation. I would like to identify two stories that occurred in the last month and a half in the military. They are very troubling. During the government slowdown in October, the administration, it was reported in some parts of the media, required all chapels that were serviced by contract chaplains to be closed. In particular, I visited with Father Ray Leonard, who served a naval base in South Carolina. He was not informed ahead of time. He showed up for Saturday evening mass to a locked door at the chapel. Door locked. It said, Come back. Shut down. Go away. People from his congregation were pouring into the parking lot and were forbidden, a locked door, not allowed to enter. He said, I want to volunteer. I want to do it for free. I want to say mass. The government said no. Father Ray Leonard had a long history. He just had come back from serving as a missionary in China. His words were: I expected that in China. I expected a locked church door in China, but not in America, not on a military base. The Department of Defense decided they were going to punish men and women of faith by locking those doors. Another case of a chaplain in Texas, the first day of the government slowdown, he was ordered to come to the office. By 10 a.m., his BlackBerry was taken from him.…”