Bush Says No Plan to Slow Faith-Based Initiative
WASHINGTON, DC, Mar. 14, 01 (CWNews.com) - President George
W. Bush said today that he has no plans to delay proposing
his faith-based charities initiative despite cautious
comments from groups worried about the influence of
government regulations on religious groups.
"We're moving on a timetable that we're comfortable with,"
Bush told reporters as he toured an after-school program at
Grace Episcopal Church in the New York City suburb of
Plainfield, New Jersey. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pennsylvania,
said he plans to split the proposal into several Senate
bills which he will sponsor--delaying some of the more
controversial parts while first advancing those likely to
pass easily.
Santorum said he would introduce the first part-- which
would allow all taxpayers to take deductions for
contributions to charities-- next week. The second part,
allowing religious groups to receive government funding for
social programs, would be introduced later.
Bush said he was happy with what he said was bipartisan
support his proposal was attracting. He said he was pleased
by Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman's comments, reported in
Wednesday's Washington Post, that the administration was
handling the legislation in "the right way" by not hurrying
it.
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March 16, 2001
volume 12, no. 75
USA News
www.DailyCatholic.org
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