The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 17

www. pantagraph.com The I'antagraph Sunday, May 1, 2005 C3 CAPITOL vi How your lawmakers voted Voted yes Voted no 0 Did not vote Lincoln legacy comes to life JV.pfrjfZ Illinois Talr For the weeks endinq April 22 and April 29 JrZZZZsrZ ByR" Call Report Syndicate Arctic refuge drilling: Members refused, 200-231, to strip an energy bill (HR 6) of language to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. A yes vote opposed drilling that would directly affect 2,000 out of 19.5 million acres in the northeastern Alaskan preserve. Rep. Ray LaHood U.S.

Congress, 18th District Washington, D.C. office: (202) 225-6201 Washington. D.C. Fax: (202) 225-9249 District office: (309) 671-7027 District Fax: (309) 671-7309 Address: 1424 Longworth HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 John Negroponte: Senators confirmed, 98-2, John D.

Negroponte, a career diplomat, as the nation's first national intelligence director. One foe, Sen. Ron Wyden, said he 'ducked and avoided' straight answers in Senate hearings. A yes vote was to confirm Negroponte. April 19 was a great day for the citizens of Illinois and a great day for anyone around the world who believes in freedom and equality.

"And here in the place he called home, Springfield, Illinois, we proudly dedicate the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum." With these words. President George W. Bush officially dedicated the presidential library and museum for the person who is regularly acknowledged as our nation's greatest president. Abraham Lincoln, who guided the United States through the worst threat to our national unity, is said to be the second-most written about person in the history of the world, standing only behind Jesus Christ. Lincoln artifacts and memorabilia have been scattered about the globe since his time, yet there has never been a single location where the story of Lincoln could be told.

With the opening of the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, we now have a world-class facility that allows the greatest access to Lincoln's life and legacy for scholars and citizens of the world. greatest president. This facility started as a modest dream of people who believed that our 16th president, and the favorite son of our state, deserved a facility whore the people of the world could come to learn about the story of Lincoln and the message of equal ity and freedom. And it is not just the impact this facility will have on people who visit, but it is also the impact visitors will have on Illinois. It js fully expected that the library and museum will have a great economic impact on not only Springfield, but it will have an impact on all of the Lincoln-related sites in our state.

Throughout Illinois we have an abundance of Lincoln history, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum will promote these areas to visitors. From visiting the historic Metamora Courthouse to learning more about the close friendship of Lincoln and Bloomington's David Davis, the entire state of Illinois will benefit from the focus on the Lincoln Presidential complex, especially as we approach the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth in 2009. Visitors to the museum are in for a wonderful experience. Through a combination of 21st century technology and 19th century artifacts, the real Abraham Lincoln comes to life. I am not sure what is more awe-inspiring to see Abraham Lincoln come to life through technology or to be able to view the Gettysburg Address written in Lincoln's own hand.

I encourage everyone to make the trek to Springfield to visit the museum, and I especially would encourage children to tour the facility. The story of Lincoln told through this exhibit is just incredible. This museum and library are more than a shrine or memorial for Abraham Lincoln; this is a living, breathing extension of the life and lessons of Lincoln for all the people of the world. This is a facility "for the people." As President Bush said at the dedication, "The mission of this library is essential to our country, because to understand the life and the sacrifice of Abraham Lincoln is to understand the meaning and promise of America." Guest workers: Senators failed, 53-45, to reach 60 votes needed to add a broad new program for guest workers, including amnesty for some illegal immigrants, to HR 1268. A yes vote backed a plan to allow some illegal workers to earn residency and citizenship over time.

The dedication day of this museum was long in coming, too long in fact. But, the opening of this facility represents the best virtues of the citizens of our country and those who are elected to represent them. This institution came about because of the hard work of so many people who believed in the merit of this project. Private citizens, public officials, corporate executives, an army of volunteers and a state which wraps its arms around Abraham Lincoln and refuses to let go, that is the reason we were able to build the greatest presidential library for our Seasonal workers: Senators voted, 94-6, to lift a numerical cap on seasonal workers allowed into the United States with H-2B visas. The cap is now at 66,000 visas annually.

A yes vote was to remove the limit for those who worked here legally in the preceding three years. (HR 1268) Founding Fathers put religion in public square House ethics rules: The House adopted, 406-20, stronger rules for policing members' conduct. The key change makes it easier for the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to obtain the votes it needs to start probes of allegations. A yes vote was to adopt Res 240. By Pat Boone nly a virtuous people are capable of "0 Minors' abortions: Voting 270-157, members passed a bill (HR 748) making it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion in violation of a law in her home state requiring parents to be notified of, or approve of, the abortion.

A yes vote was to pass the bill. Sound familiar? Sound like fundamentalist pastors Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson? Not exactly: They're the words of our jolly, rotund, wine-drinking, woman-loving Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, who despite all of his possible shortcomings was also a church-going, God-fearing man. Franklin wrote those words as appropriate today as they were back then on April 18, 1787. Two months later, on June 18, he rose in the apparently deadlocked Constitutional Convention and suggested that the delegates could use divine guidance, proposing that each day's deliberations begin with a prayer and that a local rierevman be broucht in to de 2006-2010 budget: Voting 214-211, the House approved the conference report on a budget projecting $2.6 trillion in spending and a $382 billion deficit for fiscal 2006. Over five years, it allows tax cuts of $106 billion and $10 billion in Medicaid cuts.

A yes vote was to adopt HCR 95. country. America's founders clearly understood the difference between spiritual and material well-being. Today's politicians would do well to rekindle such understanding. Please understand, "material" is what you eat and wear, drive, spend and pay taxes on.

Spiritual is what you feel, perceive, believe, cherish, live by and, for some die for. America's militant agnostic minority has totally distorted the meaning of separation of church and state. It doesn't mean banning religion and religious values from the public square. It doesn't mean Howard Stern's off-color (and frequently off-the-wall) "humor" is protected speech, while the free expression of religion is banned. It means the United States will establish no official religion, while remaining equally hospitable to all religions and to those who practice none.

Religious principle is not something to fear and loathe and banish from the public square; it is a code of conduct on which we can and should rely to guide our personal and civic behavior. Pat Boone, entertainer, is spokesman for the 60 Plus Association, a conservative senior citizens' advocacy organization. This commentary was distributed by Knight Ridder Newspapers. Northwest Ordinance," an earlier law. And what did the Northwest Ordinance say? Namely, that "religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged." During his presidency, Jefferson also served as the chairman of the District of Columbia school board and authored the federal city's education plan.

Guess what: That education plan used both the Bible and a popular hymnal, Isaac Watts' "Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs," as the principal texts for teaching reading. President Jefferson and many members of the early Congress also attended Christian worship services every Sunday. Where? In the Hall of Congress. The same Congress saw nothing wrong with appropriating taxpayer funds to pay missionaries to preach the gospel to American Indians. And in the Articles of War signed by Jefferson in 1806 during his second term, he "earnestly recommended to all officers and soldiers diligently to attend divine services." In sharp contrast, the ACLU today wants to ban Boy Scout troops from military bases because the Boy Scout Oath pledges allegiance to God and spiritual matters.

As Jefferson put it in 1798, "No power over the freedom of religion is delegated to the United States by the Constitution." Indeed, the same Thomas Jefferson, then our third president, said just four years later "with solemn reverence" in his famous letter to the Dan-bury Baptists, the purpose of the Constitution's freedom of religion clause was not to interfere with the exercise of religion but to assure Americans there would be no official, or state-sponsored church, such as the Church of England. The Constitution, he told them was clear, Congress shall "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This isn't good enough for some civil libertarians, the kind typically involved in the political activities of the American Civil Liberties Union. They want all expressions of religious belief deleted from civic life and removed from government property. Again, that's not what Jefferson envisioned at all. Indeed, in 1802 President Jefferson signed the Enabling Act for Ohio, allowing it to become a state.

That act required the Ohio state government to conduct itself in a manner that would "not be repugnant to the Budget plan: Voting 52-47. senators joined the House (above) in approving a fiscal blueprint for 2006-2010. The measure enables passage of a bill later this year opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling and sets the stage for phasing out Amtrak. A yes vote backed HCR 95. Stormwater runoff: Senators voted, 51-49, to require states to spend $900 million over six years on controlling stormwater along federal roadways.

While this would protect ecosystems from pollution, critics said the spending should be optional. A yes vote backed the spending. liver a sermon. Preaching and praying, whenever and wherever, in almost any circumstance public or private has been a part of America's culture from the very beginning. It is not alien to our civic culture, it is an integral part of it.

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