Rep. Issa to air bishops’ complaints

BY SARAH POSNER
SALON

Republican Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will convene a hearing tomorrow, “Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?”

The lead witness is the Most Rev. William E. Lori, Roman Catholic bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty. Judging from Lori and the rest of the witness list, it’s obvious that Issa has posed what he considers to be a rhetorical question and lined up nine like-minded rhetoricians to answer it anyway. None of the religious groups supportive of the Obama administration will be heard from.

Issa’s lead witness is also his lead cheerleader. Last year, after Lori testified before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, and urged Congress to investigate, among other things, “illegal conditions” he claimed the Department of Health and Human Services was placing on faith-based contractors, Issa heeded his call.
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