Date: Fri, 16 Sep 1994 10:37:20 -0500 (GMT-0500) From: David Casti To: Action Alert Exploder Subject: ACTION ALERT: Education Bill Submitted by: Yorton@aol.com ***************************************************************** PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND The Nation's Largest Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Political Group ***************************************************************** To contact the HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND, please call us at (202)628-4160, fax us at (202) 347-5323 or write to us at PO Box 1396 Washington, DC 20013. WE CANNOT RESPOND TO E-MAIL. ***************************************************************** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 14, 1994 ACTION NEEDED AS FEDERAL EDUCATION BILL MOVES TO HOUSE-SENATE CONFERENCE -- Calls to Congress Urged to Remove Anti-Gay Language From Final Version of Elementary and Secondary Education Act -- WASHINGTON -- A federal education bill tainted by anti-gay provisions moves next week to a House-Senate conference committee, where Congressional moderates are poised to remove discriminatory language from the final version of the bill. The Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF) today urged people concerned with the anti-gay provisions to call Congress immediately and ask that the discriminatory language be removed from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The anti-gay provisions were sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and Robert Smith (R-N.H.) and in the House by Rep. Mel Hancock (R-Mo.). They would encourage discrimination against lesbian and gay youth and cut off federal funds to schools that in any way provide students with neutral information about gay people. The provisions threaten HIV/AIDS and suicide prevention programs, and strip local schools of the ability to determine the content of programs and curricula. To counter the Helms and Hancock provisions, HRCF allies in the House and Senate offered alternative amendments that can be used to blunt the anti-gay provisions in the final version of the bill. In the House, Rep. Jolene Unsoeld (D-Wash.) sponsored a successful amendment to affirm local control over schools and restrict federal intrusion. In the Senate, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D- Mass.) offered an amendment that blunted Helms' provision by prohibiting the direct use of federal funds for promoting sexual activity of any kind. An "Action Alert" sent today to HRCF's 4,400-member Federal Advocacy Network called on supporters to contact Congress immediately and urge members of the House-Senate conference committee to support the Unsoeld and Kennedy amendments in the final version of the education bill. Readers can call Congress at 202-224-3121 to obtain their Senators' and Representatives' names and phone numbers, or be connected directly. All Members of Congress should be asked to support the Kennedy and Unsoeld language in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Members of the House-Senate conference committee will directly influence the final outcome of the legislation. Those members are: Senate Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.) Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) James Jeffords (R-Vt.) Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) Dan Coats (R-Ind.) Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) Paul Simon (D-Ill.) Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) Dave Durenberger (R-Minn.) Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) Harris Wofford (D-Penn.) House William Ford (D-Mich.) William Goodling (R-Penn.) Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) Steve Gunderson (R-Wisc.) George Miller (D-Calif.) Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) Thomas Sawyer (D-Ohio) Thomas Petri (R-Wisc.) Major Owens (D-N.Y.) Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.) Jolene Unsoeld (D-Wash.) Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) John Reed (D-R.I.) Dan Miller (R-Fla.) Timothy Roemer (D-Ind.) Marge Roukema (R-N.J.) Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii) John Boehner (R-Ohio) Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) Gene Green (D-Texas) Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) Karan English (D-Ariz.) Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) Donald Payne (D-N.J.) Carlos Romero-Barcelo (D-P.R.) The Human Rights Campaign Fund is the largest national organization whose mission is to end discrimination based on sexual orientation. 1101 14th Street, NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20005 phone:(202)628-4160 fax:(202) 347-5323