PWWA writes to national religious leaders on the Foley scandal

Rev. Lou Sheldon, Traditional Values Coalition
Tony Perkins, Family Research Council
James Dobson, Focus on the Family

Dear Sirs:

I am writing to you today on an issue of concern to you and me: protection of America’s young people from sexual predators. For once, gentlemen, we might have something in common and an opportunity to work together to clean up Congress.

I know that you have heard of the stunning revelations about U.S. Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) that resulted in his abrupt resignation. Mr. Foley’s alleged misuse of his office to communicate inappropriately with underage youth is, I am sure, something we all find abhorrent.

In the three days following Mr. Foley’s leaving Congress, it has become clear that a number of high ranking members of the Congressional leadership were aware of this situation for at least a year, and chose only to issue warnings to these teenage pages to avoid Mr. Foley’s unwanted attention. I spoke to a former page as a part of my organization’s investigation, and the page confirmed the warnings to pages about Mr. Foley. The leaders of Congress chose not to report to the proper law enforcement authorities what they had to suspect was sexually predatory behavior.

Our Congress must operate in an environment that is welcoming and safe for young people, and I am sure you join me in your outrage over the lack of inaction on the Foley case.

I know that you hold very strong opinions of proudly gay Americans such as me -- and my blog’s readers. Mr. Perkins, you even today have on your website a fresh reiteration of the belief that gay people are likely to be pedophiles. While I can assure you that this is not the case, I know that you don’t want this behavior in the halls of Congress -- and in the Caucus you have pledged to help keep in the majority.

While I certainly reject your opinions about gay Americans such as myself, I too have deep concerns about Mr. Foley. His behavior is a blight on my community, and I, like you, don’t want predators like Mr. Foley in Congress, regardless of whether their targets are young men or young women.

So, for now, we have a shared interest in purging this moral cancer from Congress. Therefore, I am calling on you to join me in demanding that Dennis Hastert step down as Speaker of the House for covering up for Mr. Foley. By joining forces, we would speak across the ideological spectrum for the sort of action that would send a powerful signal that this sort of politically driven cowardice is not going to be tolerated.

I hope you join me in my call for a non-partisan approach to this matter. The safety of America’s children is at stake, as is the public belief in Congress, which started out at rock-bottom levels even before the news about Mr. Foley broke.

Let’s put aside our differences for just a day and hold Mr. Hastert responsible for assisting in the continued misconduct of a member of the United State House of Representatives.

Michael Rogers
President
Proud of Who We Are

cc: U.S. Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho
The Hon. David Dreier of California
The Hon. James O. McCrery III of Louisiana
The Hon Jerry Weller of Illinois
The Hon. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina
Ken Mehlman, Chairman, Republican National Committee