By JOANNE BUTLER
In December 2017, President Trump nominated Chai Feldblum to another term on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (she was a Democrat appointee by President Obama). If confirmed, she will be on the EEOC until 2023. Those who oppose liberals who would destroy our religious liberty know Feldblum well. For that is exactly what she wants to do.
A former Georgetown Law School professor, Feldblum not only is very knowledgeable in civil rights and employment law, but also in how to use Twitter and other social media to advance her homosexual agenda. She’s also a familiar face on the “gay rights” speaking circuit and the “gay employment” expert at personnel management conventions.
And her views about “gay rights” being more important than religious liberty have been in plain sight for about twelve years.
In 2006, Maggie Gallagher (writing for the Weekly Standard) interviewed Feldblum.
As a civil rights expert, Feldblum discussed the “burdens” of laws concerning equality. Namely, the burden placed on a religious organization that intentionally does not comply with laws requiring equal treatment of homosexuals.
Feldblum believes religious organizations must give up their constitutional rights in order to accept the “burden” of equal treatment of homosexuals.
The key Feldblum quotes in Gallagher’s article are:
“Sexual liberty should win in most cases. There can be a conflict between religious liberty and sexual liberty, but in almost all cases the sexual liberty should win because that’s the only way the dignity of gay people can be affirmed in any realistic manner.”
“I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win.”
Fast forward to 2018, and the battle against the Catholic Church and other conservative religious groups continues. A recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer (March 13, 2018) described Lambda Legal’s suit against the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops and the federal government regarding federal funding to Catholic social service agencies that will not place foster or adoptee children with homosexuals. The article mentions a similar Michigan ACLU suit against Catholic social services.
Prior to the Supreme Court’s 2915 Obergefell decision conferring the right to marry on homosexuals, Catholic social service agencies avoided the homosexual-adoption issue by requiring couples to be married. It was a temporary solution. The first indication of what was to come was in 2006, when Massachusetts legalized homosexual marriage, forcing Catholic Charities to end its adoption services.
The USCCB has a 2017 fact sheet on its website detailing how Catholic social service agencies are being discriminated against regarding state and local funding for adoptions.
This quote from the fact sheet sums it up: “In the name of tolerance, we’re not being tolerated” (Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki, Diocese of Springfield, Ill.).
It’s obvious which side President Trump’s nominee, Chai Feldblum, is on. (Hint: it’s not ours.)
So why did the president nominate her? Even Obama had problems getting her confirmed to the Commission.
The excuse is the Senate custom of pairing a Democrat nominee with a Republican nominee. In this case it’s Feldblum on the Democrat side paired with two Republican nominees.
As someone familiar with D.C. spider’s web, my guess is a young White House staffer was asked to find a Democrat to pair with the two Republicans. He/she took the easy way, and slotted Feldblum for renomination — without bothering to do a Google search. If the staffer had spent merely five minutes on a search, they would have known Feldblum was a bad choice.
Inside the Beltway, pro-family groups are monitoring the situation closely. They fear Feldblum will be confirmed without a hearing. This might happen if Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn., and chairman of the Senate committee responsible for EEOC nominations) hides her confirmation inside a big bill.
Now is the time for true pro-family senators to declare their intent to put a “hold” on Feldblum’s nomination. If enough senators come forward, the president will be pressured to find a less objectionable Democrat to replace Feldblum. Sen. Alexander will be mighty uncomfortable too — lessening the chances of a stealth confirmation.
What can you do? If your senator is supposed to be pro-family, then call him/her and say you want the senator to put a hold on Chai (pronounced “high”) Feldblum’s nomination to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — and that you will be watching to see what Sen. X does.
As a former Senate staffer, I strongly advise against calling all 100 senators. The only ones who will pay attention to you are the ones from your state.
Each senator’s office maintains a database on constituents and their issues. The senator’s chief of staff constantly monitors this database. Thus, if senator X’s database shows 500 calls opposing Feldblum’s nomination, it raises a red flag.
The Senate’s switchboard number is: 202-224-3121.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has jurisdiction over the EEOC. If you live in a state represented by one of these committee members, call them — they are a priority:
Lamar Alexander (chairman), Tennessee; Johnny Isakson, Georgia; Bill Cassidy, Louisiana; Pat Roberts, Kansas; Michael Enzi, Wyoming; Rand Paul, Kentucky; Richard Burr, North Carolina; Orrin Hatch, Utah;
Tim Scott, South Carolina.
Other senators worth contacting are: Joni Ernst, Iowa; Steve Daines, Montana; Lindsey Graham, South Carolina; Roy Blunt, Missouri; James Lankford, Oklahoma; Ron Johnson, Wisconsin; Marco Rubio, Florida; Mike Lee, Utah; Ted Cruz, Texas.
A senator who takes action in opposing Feldblum’s nomination passes the litmus test of truly being pro-family and in favor of religious liberty. It’s one thing to make speeches and draft bills (most of which die anyway), compared to taking a consequential affirmative step to protect families and safeguard our religious liberties.
As Catholics in the public square, it’s up to us to hold these senators accountable.
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