Faith-Based Threats
Will Democrats press for a federal gay rights bill — and a new investigation of the White House?

July 12, 2001 1:20 p.m.

ush White House officials are worried that the controversy over the issue of exempting faith-based charities from local anti-discrimination laws will give Democrats an opening to press for a national anti-discrimination law that has been stalled in Congress for years. And that is in addition to Democratic threats of an investigation of the faith-based office.

The flap began Tuesday, when the Washington Post reported an internal Salvation Army memo suggesting the Bush administration had agreed to change federal regulations to assure that the Salvation Army and other groups taking part in the president's faith-based initiative would not have to abide by state and local laws banning discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Reacting to the story, spokesman Ari Fleischer said the White House had not made any commitment to the Salvation Army. Last night, the White House released a statement saying it "will not pursue the…regulation proposed by the Salvation Army."

Democrats were quick to jump on the issue. Some House members called for a General Accounting Office investigation before proceeding any further with the faith-based initiative. In the Senate, Majority Leader Tom Daschle said he was "troubled" by what he called "secret deals" between the White House and one of the nation's largest charities. "I'm very troubled by any deal that would not show the kind of tolerance that I think we should show in this country," Daschle told reporters. "So clearly it raises a lot of questions and I think may actually imperil the president's efforts to get something passed."

Now, White House officials are concerned that Democrats will use the Salvation Army controversy to renew the push for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, often referred to as ENDA, a proposed law that would impose a federal ban on discrimination against gays and lesbians. ENDA was nearly passed by the Senate in 1996, losing on a 50 - 49 vote, and supporters are hoping to bring it up again this year.

"I can see them trying to use this [the Salvation Army controversy] as a pivot to say we really need to have this Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to make it a new rallying cry," says a White House official. "They'll try to make rhetorical points. They'll say, 'There they go again, those right-wing Christians.'"

A spokesman for Daschle says the majority leader "doesn't have plans to use this opportunity to push for that [ENDA] right now." But another aide in the Senate leadership suggests the rhetorical campaign is already underway. "They have to understand that things have changed in America," he says of the Bush White House. "Most people believe we should all have some protections, regardless of gender or sexual orientation."

Meanwhile, other Democrats in Congress are threatening to open up an investigation into the dealings between the White House and the Salvation Army. On the day the story broke, Michigan Rep. John Conyers, ranking minority on the House Judiciary Committee, along with New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, sent a letter to John DiIulio, head of the White House faith-based initiative office, asking for an extraordinarily detailed accounting of the office's dealings, including the following:

1) An itemization of all groups and persons that representatives of the Bush administration have met with regarding charitable-choice legislation, including representatives of the Salvation Army, along with the dates and a description of the substance and discussions of each meeting. Please include the names and titles of the Bush administration representatives who participated in these meetings.

2) A description of any actual or potential promises or commitments the administration or any representative within the administration may have made to any groups or person in exchange for their support of charitable-choice legislation or provisions permitting discrimination in employment.

3) A copy of any and all drafts of a reported administrative legal action or other regulation which would protect charities from state and local efforts to prevent discrimination against gays and lesbians in hiring and domestic-partner benefits, along with any legal memorandum or other material concerning such a possible action.

Conyers and Nadler also asked for "a copy of any and all communications within the White House or Executive Office of the President concerning charitable-choice legislation or in connection with the above-listed meetings, promises or commitments and administrative legal action, including notes, e-mails, documents, memoranda, phone records and any other types of written, audio or electronic communication." The letter asked that DiIulio respond by this Friday.

It's a laundry-list request that the White House will likely refuse to answer. With that in mind, Conyers is also threatening to ask the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to begin a probe if, as Conyers said in a statement, "the White House fails to voluntarily cooperate." If the GAO were to agree to an investigation, a confrontation similar to that currently going on over vice president Dick Cheney's energy task force might ensue.