Faith Put to the Test

When President Bush announced his faith-based initiative upon taking office in 2001, he was determined to win approval for legislation to back him up. Bush had reason to be optimistic. Then-Vice President Al Gore had touted the value of faith-based groups during his 2000 presidential campaign. Many leading Democrats on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., had endorsed Bush's plan to publicly fund organizations of faith.

But winning congressional approval has proved surprisingly difficult. Some lawmakers harbor deep constitutional concerns about the president's initiative. Some now object strongly that Bush has set out to accomplish by executive order what he could not through legislation. Bush and his allies "are attempting to do administratively what they cannot do legislatively," protests Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. "These are appropriately legislative issues. If we're going to develop programs that raise questions about the separation of church and state, the Congress should make the laws, not the president."

Reed was one of the senators who helped block sweeping rule changes for faith-based groups originally included in the Charity, Aid, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act. The Senate approved the CARE Act in April, but only after all significant provisions affecting faith-based groups were dropped. As it stands, the bill now encourages charitable giving through tax reforms. The fight over legislation to help faith-based groups is not over, however. During the Senate debate over the CARE Act, lead sponsor Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., pledged, "the true debate will wait for another day." Santorum and his allies will push once again to ease federal restrictions on faith-based groups when welfare reauthorization comes up.

Legislative proposals to help faith-based groups also will be hotly debated when Congress considers the Workforce Reinvestment and Adult Education Act, a GOP job training bill introduced this year, and possible reforms to the Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers AmeriCorps and other federally funded volunteer projects.

If Bush does not win legislation, his faith-based and community initiative could prove short-lived, as his successor in the White House could simply overturn his executive orders. Whatever the outcome, Bush has no plans to wait for Congress to back him up. On issuing two executive orders in Philadelphia late last year, Bush pledged to work with Congress, but added: "as president, I have the authority I intend to use."