Chris Van Hollen: “As a new Member of this House, I was appalled that one of the first actions we took in the Committee on Education and…”

“As a new Member of this House, I was appalled that one of the first actions we took in the Committee on Education and the Workforce was to adopt a provision that strikes at the heart of religious liberty in this country. The underlying bill contains a provision that takes us down a very dangerous road in this country, a road of religious bigotry and intolerance; and even worse, it uses taxpayers' dollars to promote that intolerance. What am I talking about? Under current law, if you receive Federal funds to run a job training program in this country, you are not allowed to discriminate in your hiring based on religion. I think that makes sense to all Americans. If you are receiving Federal dollars for a program you are running, you should not be able to say to a perspective job applicant, I am sorry, you are the wrong religion. But that is what this does. Here is a chart that shows what current law is. This was a law that was language originally signed into law by President Reagan.”