Protecting Our Children

Opposition to Obama's radical agenda of allowing children to choose which bathrooms and locker rooms they want to use is growing. Here's the latest:
 

• Nearly 100 Pennsylvania state legislators sent a letter to the White House telling the president that his order was an "unconstitutional intrusion" that "sacrifices the fundamental privacy rights . . . [of] millions of school students."
   
• The nation's Catholic bishops condemned the order as "deeply disturbing."
   
• State senators in Tennessee are urging Governor Bill Haslam to sue the Obama Administration.
   
• A resolution has been filed in the Oklahoma legislature calling for Obama's impeachment.
   
• Twenty-five senators told the administration that its policy was "inappropriate" and that states and school districts were free to set their own bathroom policies.
   
• Rep. Steve King is calling for civil disobedience if necessary.

  Meanwhile, we are doing our part to keep the pressure on. This morning, we issued a press release alerting the national media to our letter to Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell demanding action from Congress on this critical issue.

  I am pleased to report that legislation has been introduced in the House by Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN). Messer's bill would preserve the authority of local schools to set their own bathroom and locker room policies. We are still waiting for similar legislation to be introduced in the Senate.

  We will keep you posted.

  Importing Disease

  Since the Obama Administration announced plans to bring in 10,000 Syrian refugees, who cannot be thoroughly vetted according to top security officials, more than a dozen of the nation's governors have attempted to withdraw from the refugee resettlement program.

  Indiana Governor Mike Pence was among those who fought the administration. As usual, Obama ignored their concerns, and now we're seeing some of the fallout.

  Radical Islam aside, it used to be national policy to prevent the importation of infectious diseases. But the federal government is clearly failing in its obligations to medically screen refugees. Four refugees with active, infectious tuberculosis (TB) were resettled last year in Indiana. In addition, there are reports that 20% of refugees resettled in Minnesota have tested positive for TB.

  The medical expenses associated with treating TB are a serious strain on local budgets. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "The cost of treating an active TB case that is susceptible or responsive to drugs averages $17,000, according to the CDC. Care of patients with drug-resistant TB . . . costs many times more: $134,000 for a multidrug-resistant patient and $430,000 for an extensively drug-resistant one."

  Medical experts in and out of government are sounding the alarm about the breakdown of our screening procedures. "Admitting people who might cause an epidemic makes no sense whatsoever from a public health standpoint," Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, said. "Officials who place politics above the health of Americans need to be held accountable and removed from positions of authority."

  Obama's Dishonest Department

  The Obama Administration got a major reprimand late last week, but I doubt you heard about it on the evening news.

  Federal Judge Andrew Hanen accused the administration of executing a "calculated plan of unethical conduct" in its handling of immigration regulations, adding that "The misconduct in this case was intentional, serious and material."

  As you may know, the regulations Hanen referred to are currently being challenged at the Supreme Court by more than two dozen states.

  Concerned about an apparent "lack of knowledge" and "adherence to the duties of professional responsibility in the halls of the Justice Department," Judge Hanen ordered Justice Department lawyers involved in the immigration case to attend ethics classes.

  Judge Hanen also ordered Attorney General Loretta Lynch to come up with a "comprehensive plan" to "prevent this unethical conduct from ever occurring again" within 60 days.

  Sadly, the misconduct Judge Hanen experienced isn't isolated to the Justice Department. It appears to be pervasive throughout the entire federal government. Bureaucrats from the EPA, IRS, VA, State Department, Secret Service . . . fill in the blank . . . could benefit from ethics classes!

  Third Party Revisited

  Two major media polls measuring the state of the 2016 presidential contest were released over the past 24 hours. Both show a very tight race: In one poll, Donald Trump leads by two points, while Hillary Clinton leads by three points in the other poll.

  Buried in the Washington Post poll was this factoid: In a three-way race, Hillary Clinton wins. The Post tested a general election match-up with Mitt Romney in the race and found that Clinton wins with just 37%, while Trump gets 35% and Romney gets 22%.