Christian Coalition sets legislative agenda

WASHINGTON (AP) Hoping to influence Congress' fall agenda, the Christian
Coalition today urged lawmakers to cuts taxes for American families and fight
religious persecution worldwide.

Don Hodel, new president of the conservative grassroots lobbying group,
outlined his top legislative priorities. They are for Congress to:

Pass the Freedom from Religious Persecution Act, which would
create a White House office for reporting religious persecution
worldwide, impose sanctions on foreign governments that carry out
religious persecution and improve asylum procedures. The bill is
sponsored by Rep. Frank Wolf, RVa., and Sen. Arlen Specter, RPa.

Pass the American Community Renewal Act to create scholarships, charitable
tax credits, empowerment zones for impoverished communities and support for
faithbased organizations that serve the inner city.

Pass a religious freedom amendment to the Constitution in response
to a Supreme Court ruling that struck down legislation intended to
protect religious practices from undue government interference.

Eliminate the ``tax penalty'' for marriages and reduce individual tax
rates across the board.

Create education savings accounts for kindergarten through 12th grade and
provide more choices for public and private school students.

The push for a religious persecution law comes as President Clinton
fends off criticism about his open trade policies with China. His own
State Department has documented Beijing's efforts to suppress
Catholic and Protestant movements through violence and threats.

``The United States' inaction on this subject is a disgrace,'' Hodel
told reporters today. China, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq are
among the countries who trample religious freedom, Hodel said.

Hodel said this country must ``set aside singleminded pursuit of
profits, reset our moral compass and lead the way for the rest of the world.''

Whether intended or not, the remarks underscore a split within the Republican
Party between freetraders who support open markets and social conservatives
don't want trade at any price.

The education and tax initiatives are typical of Republican attempts to find
socalled wedge issues that will draw distinctions between GOP and Democratic
candidates in the 1998 midterm elections.

Steve Forbes, the magazine publisher who ran for the Republican
nomination for president in 1996, also addressed the forum, sponsored
by Human Events, a conservative Washington magazine.

``The GOP is badly `off message' they are drifting off their
principles and they're not sure what they're here for and that's why
we're here,'' Forbes said..