Frank Lautenberg: “I rise to join Senator Robb in opposing the Santorum-Lieberman amendment. I support the new markets initiative promoted…”

“I rise to join Senator Robb in opposing the Santorum-Lieberman amendment. I support the new markets initiative promoted by the President and Speaker Hastert, but I think it is important for my colleagues to understand that this amendment is not the President's initiative. No one is arguing against reform, not at all. But to introduce a factor that permits religious discrimination--it does do that--to enter into these evaluations as to who can participate, will we see a sign that says ``no people of this faith allowed'' or ``only people of that faith allowed.'' I hardly think that is an improvement, regardless of the fact that there may be some modest, or perhaps more than that, improvements made in the way the new markets initiative operates. The fact is, we should not be introducing an opportunity to discriminate against one group or another, not to set religious boundaries on how an organization performs these services, how they encourage people to strike out for themselves and to be able to make a living on their own. I hope our colleagues will examine this amendment seriously. Hidden in the good that it is doing is some, I would call, possible serious evil. We ought not to be, in this Chamber, saluting the ability of organizations to discriminate against one person or another based on their religious preferences. With that, I hope we will not support this amendment.”