O’GRADY TARGETS “ANTI-CATHOLIC BIAS” IN AD AGAINST SCHUMER
Conservative US Senate Candidate Hits Schumer for Discrimination on Judges,
Asks Why Republican Howard Mills Won’t Face the Issue
Dr. Marilyn O’Grady, Conservative Party candidate for US Senate, today unveiled a hard-hitting new campaign ad confronting liberal Democrat Chuck Schumer’s efforts to block traditional Catholics from serving on the Federal bench.
Targeting Schumer’s obstruction of President Bush judicial nominees, the O’Grady ad declares: “Washington prayed for God’s guidance. So did Lincoln, Kennedy and King. But today Chuck Schumer has a problem with people who have ‘deeply held’ religious views. So he’s repeatedly blocked traditional Catholics from serving as a Federal judge.”
“Chuck Schumer chose this fight. I don’t claim to know Chuck Schumer’s heart. But I do know his record. And his record suggests he thinks traditional Catholics are unfit for the Federal bench,” O’Grady declared. The ad starts today on Fox News in 31 counties statewide.
The pro-life O’Grady also questioned why pro-choice Howard Mills, the Republican nominee, is silent on judges: “Mills thinks an appetite for publicity is Schumer’s biggest failing. Maybe that’s because Mills is as liberal as Schumer on so many issues that Mills can’t see Schumer misguided record should be the focus of this race.”
“Schumer opened this religious battle the Judiciary Committee June 11, 2003 when he said Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor's beliefs ‘are so well known, so deeply held that it's very hard to believe that they're not going to influence’ him on the bench. As if, based on Pryor’s traditional Catholic faith, it is impossible for him to be a fair judge,” O’Grady explained.
O’Grady added: “Leon Holmes, confirmed by the full Senate last week, is another troubling example. Schumer argued the conservative religious views of Holmes, a devout Catholic, disqualified him because of disagreements interpreting the separation of church and state. Schumer contended that ‘religious beliefs cannot dictate government policy,’ as if Holmes’ Catholic faith blinded him to that truth.”
“I’m not alone in concern about new code words that discriminate against conservative Catholics and other traditionalist people of faith. The Knights of Columbus have deep expressed dismay and strong objection to any discriminatory religious test for Federal judges. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations has also spoken out against the use of ‘deeply held beliefs’ as code words for discrimination against traditionalist believers of all faiths,” O’Grady said.
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