Trent's Blog
Franks in the News -- Week of 6/10/12
Posted By: Congressman Trent Franks on June 15, 2012
Huge move. Rep. Trent Franks and Sen. Jim DeMint last Tuesday introduced a measure seeking to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow parents to raise children in the way they see fit. The Parental Rights Amendment would impose a “compelling interest” test on government entities before they interfere with parents’ rights to direct their children’s education or other aspects of their upbringing.
U.S Representative Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), one of the speakers at the Washington, D.C. religious freedom rally, told the Catholic News Agency that concern by Americans over the contraception mandate would provide momentum beyond the June 8 event. “There are enough people in this country that are committed to the cause of religious freedom,” he said. “They understand that it’s the basis of all other freedoms, and they will not abandon this cause.” He added that being forced to choose between violating their faith and facing government retribution “is simply not going to be something the American people will swallow.”
It looks like the EMP caucus--based on a quick Google search--could use some additional support. Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona started the group to help get his EMP safeguard legislation passed back in 2011. He appears to have two other members supporting the caucus: Roscoe Bartlett, a Maryland Republican, and Yvette Clarke, a Democrat from Brooklyn.
Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher says Marcy Kaptur opposed a ban on gender abortions Almost 40 years after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade legalized abortion under most circumstances, abortion remains a political hot button.
Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, the Republican congressional candidate in Ohio's 9th District, demonstrates that in a news release, video and series of Twitter tweets aimed at Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur.
"The Supreme Court has accurately said that parental rights are 'perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by [the] Court,' yet those rights now lack sufficient legal protection under the Constitution," Farris continues. "Thanks to concerned citizens and engaged leaders in Congress, we look forward to correcting that problem through the adoption of this amendment."
Senate Republicans are floating a bill meant to ban sex-selective abortions after an identical measure was defeated in the GOP-controlled House.
Evidence indicates that this administration continues to bow before groups associated with the goal of ‘destroying Western civilization from within,’ and about whom the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has found that there is plenty of evidence indicating that they support terrorism," said Gohmert.
Five Republican members of Congress on Thursday called for the inspectors general of government departments dealing with national security to investigate whether their agencies are being influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood via its “civilization jihad.”
Vitter’s Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act has 26 co-sponsors and comes on the heels of Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Frank’ attempt to pass similar legislation on the House side. The proposal also coincides with the release of a series of pro-life investigative videos showing abortion providers ready and willing to offer sex-selective abortions.
Washington, DC, June 14, 2012: Five influential Members of Congress called yesterday for the inspectors general (IGs) of government departments with national security responsibilities to investigate whether their agencies are being subjected to influence operations mounted as part of what the Muslim Brotherhood calls its “civilization jihad.” This initiative holds out hope that a grave, and largely unremarked, threat may thus be recognized and thwarted in time.
Franks in the News -- Week of 6/3/12
Posted By: Congressman Trent Franks on June 8, 2012
I think that it is hard for the other side to deal with this debate because, on the one hand, they realize that the country and even their own hearts tell them it is wrong to kill a little girl just because she is a little girl. But once they make that statement, then they have tacitly recognized that what is being done here is the taking of an innocent life.
There are indications the practice of sex-selection abortion is beginning to rear its ugly head in the United States, due in part to the rise of immigrants from Asia and India. As a result, Rep. Trent Franks (R.-Ariz.) introduced HR 3541, known as the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA). Franks indicated the purpose of his bill was to ensure equal rights for unborn children -- boys and girls.
Moreover, 51 percent now say abortion is morally wrong compared to 38 percent who say it is morally acceptable.
The evidence has become overwhelming, from this country and abroad, that with the diffusion of ultrasonography – with the means of discovering the sex of the child in the womb – there has been a persistent inclination to prefer males and abort females. The result has been a massive skewering of sex ratios, with portentous effects.
A proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would preserve the longstanding traditional right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children was introduced last night in the U.S. Congress.
Michael Farris, president of ParentalRights.org, which organizes the nationwide grassroots effort behind the amendment expects many more cosponsors this time, but asks for all concerned citizens to contact their members of Congress to aid in its passage.
According to a 2006 Zogby poll, 86% of all Americans feel the practice of selective sex abortion should be illegal in America. Barack Obama has come out in favor of this horrific practice.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton took a proactive stance against an anticipated bill from Rep. Justin Amash, Michigan Republican, that would prohibit minors from obtaining abortions in the District without parental consent, forbids non-doctors from performing abortions and provides protections for individuals or health care providers that refuse to perform abortions.
Conservatives and Romney work at working together
Michigan GOP Congressman Announces New D.C. Anti-Abortion Restrictions On Facebook Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) posted that his bill would “requir[e] minors in D.C. to receive their parents’ consent before having an abortion, prohibits non-doctors from performing abortions, and provides conscience protections for individuals and health care facilities in D.C. that refuse to perform abortions.”
As the global battle over parental rights heats up, Republicans in Congress responded on Tuesday by introducing a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution enshrining the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children. Activists and lawmakers say the move is needed to permanently and explicitly guarantee what has long been recognized as a fundamental freedom.
Prenda and Live Action Videos Amplify the Conversation About Sex-Selective Abortions in the U.S. PRENDA, introduced by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., failed to get a 2/3 majority under a congressional provision called “a suspension of rules,” though the bill could be voted on again. For the tally, 226 Republican and 20 Democrat representatives voted for the legislation; seven Republicans and 161 Democrats voted against it.
Franks in the News -- Week of 5/27/12
Posted By: Congressman Trent Franks on June 1, 2012
The real War Against Women. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote today on a bill seeking to penalize abortionists who knowingly help women carry out gender-selective abortions. The bill was fast-tracked last Friday, so it will need support from two-thirds of the House, rather than a simple majority, to pass. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., who WORLD featured a couple of months ago, sponsored the bill, which comes to the floor just as another undercover video surfaces from the pro-life group Live Action. The video appears to show Planned Parenthood workers knowingly helping a woman prepare to abort her child based on its gender. According to Live Action, the Planned Parenthood employee advises the undercover investigator to wait until the fourth or fifth month of her pregnancy to have the abortion, since gender can be difficult to determine before then. (Look for La Shawn Barber’s Commentary column later today on this topic.)
One of the leading “pro-choice” groups is actively opposing a bill Congress will consider tomorrow that would ban sex-selection abortions in the United States. Apparently choice extends to choosing whether or not to kill your baby when she is the wrong gender.
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC,) one of the nation's largest pro-life organizations, has been raising awareness for the issue and urging House representatives to approve the measure, called the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA, or H.R. 3541), sponsored by Congressman Trent Franks (R-Az.)
Live Action reports that in the past four years six studies have indicated that there are thousands of “missing girls” in the United States, many due to sex-selective abortions. China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Australia, the United Kingdom and Vietnam all have banned the practice. The United States with the exception of Illinois, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Arizona does not.
Republicans long ago lost African American voters. They are well on their way to losing Latinos. And if Trent Franks prevails, they may lose Asian Americans, too.
Groups opposed to abortion rights are turning charges of a GOP "war on women" against Democrats who are opposed to legislation meant to ban sex-selective abortions.
Sex-selective abortion (SSA) has a long history in countries such as India and China, but recent studies show that it has also spread to America. As Rep. Joe Pitts (R., Pa.) mentioned on Wednesday, “A Columbia University study found evidence that sex selection at the prenatal level is happening right here in the United States.”
The bill was originally called the Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act. By naming it after two pioneers in women's rights (Susan B. Anthony) and racial equality (Frederick Douglass), the name highlighted both the gender and race protections in the bill.
"History and eternity will condemn a 'no' vote on this bill," said Representative Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican who sponsored the bill.
In an interview with The Daily Caller, the bill’s author, Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks, noted that the bill received an “overwhelming majority” of votes but that the cognitive dissonance on the Democratic side of the aisle represented a significant challenge.
The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), H.R. 3541, of 2012 would ban sex-selective abortions, the victims of whom are overwhelmingly female. The bill's author, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., said before the vote that whatever the outcome, the point would be made that "When people vote on this, the world will know where they really stand."
The measure's author, Rep. Trent Franks (Ariz.), responded by calling Obama "the abortion president."
"There has never been a more pro-abortion leader in the White House in history of the United States," Franks said a press conference Thursday.
To me, Milbank is headed out on a dangerous limb. It’s one thing to say that the GOP is targeting minorities to harm them, a common but often false liberal claim. It’s one thing to say Franks is going after a non-issue, another common (if generally false) claim by the left regarding pro-life legislation.
Franks in the News -- Week of 5/6/12
Posted By: Congressman Trent Franks on May 11, 2012
Doesn’t human life, especially at its most vulnerable, deserve the same protection if not more than the life of a raccoon or a skunk? I would wager to say the average person would answer yes, but the Council of the District of Columbia, and the District’s non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, have a different response.
Franks is author of the Secure High-Voltage Infrastructure for Electricity from Lethal Damage Act, or SHIELD ACT, which would authorize FERC without notice to order emergency measures to protect the reliability of either the bulk-power system or the defense-critical electric infrastructure whenever the president issues a written directive or determination identifying an imminent grid security threat.
Goodwill Industries of Northern Arizona Honored with Goodwill® Advocacy Leader Award The Flagstaff Goodwill has had several local representatives tour its operations, including Rep. Paul Gosar (R-1) and Rep. Trent Franks (R-2). Gosar was the keynote speaker for the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the Safeway training center, a mini Safeway located within the walls of the Goodwill headquarters. Franks toured a job connection, one-stop training center, which is an inclusive center for people seeking education, career and job training help, including resume and interview preparation assistance.
A House Judiciary Committee panel will hold a hearing next week on a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks in the District of Columbia.
The April 20 letter surfaced the same week that the House will consider a bill that would shut down funding for the Medium Extended Air Defense Systems, known as MEADS, which is being developed by Lockheed Martin Corp. with funding from the U.S., Germany and Italy.
Frustration with North Korea's ongoing nuclear weapons and missile programs has pushed Congress to reopen the debate in Washington over whether the United States should reintroduce tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea.
Republicans voting against the bill were Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Paul Broun (Ga.), John Campbell (Calif.), John Duncan (Tenn.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Trent Franks (Ariz.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), and Tom McClintock (Calif.).
Washington, D.C. — In advance of Mother's Day, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) and mothers2mothers (m2m) today welcomed the announcement of a House resolution reaffirming U.S. leadership in efforts to achieve an HIV-free generation.
Phoenix received more than $1 billion in federal funds for the current fiscal year for a spectrum of federal programs, most of which provide social services for low-income residents.
Franks in the News -- Week of 4/29/12
Posted By: Congressman Trent Franks on May 5, 2012
WASHINGTON - Nevada and Arizona lawmakers are pressing Congress to designate an interstate highway link between Las Vegas and Phoenix.
According to the Canamex Corridor Coalition’s website, the corridor extends from Nogales, AZ, to Phoenix, northwest to Las Vegas, picking up I-15 to Salt Lake City, through Idaho Falls, ID, and through Montana to the border with Alberta, Canada.
Gosar to lead Fast and Furious ‘special order’ on House floor next week, demands Democrats support justice for Brian Terry A Gosar spokesperson told TheDC that other House members who have confirmed they’ll participate in the special order include Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, Texas Rep. Bill Flores, Georgia Rep. Lynn Westmoreland and Mississippi Rep. Alan Nunnelee.
D.C. Lawmakers Protect Wildlife, Ignore Unborn Babies
Doesn’t human life, especially at its most vulnerable, deserve the same protection if not more than the life of a raccoon or a skunk? I would wager to say the average person would answer yes, but the Council of the District of Columbia, and the District’s non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, have a different response.
