Printer-Friendly Version

Page 2 of 2

The lawmaker from Kansas urges fellow GOP members not to stop talking about values but, to the contrary, to start talking about pro-life and pro-family issues with the same passion they exhibit when they talk about tax cuts. "I think we need to talk about marriage and why we are for it and not just use code words -- I'm for 'family values' -- and [expect] that the people will understand it," he asserts.

"We need to say, 'Here is why marriage is important: it's a union of a man and a woman and it's a key place, the best place, for us to raise children -- not the only place, but it's clearly the best place, by all the social data," Brownback says. And Republicans need to address these issues "unapologetically," he insists, rather than do as they have done lately -- that is, to "almost kind of tip-toe and apologize" in defending their pro-family positions.

Meanwhile, Brownback believes those "conservatives" across the aisle should be watched closely. Even though some Democrats have successfully campaigned on their purported conservative values or concern for pro-family issues, he says he doubts many of the Democrats elected on a pro-life, pro-family platform will vote that way while under liberal leadership.

In fact, the conservative senator asserts, now that his liberal counterparts on Capitol Hill have control of Congress, they are likely to make a concerted push for embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR) and human cloning. When the Democrats take power in January, they will probably push the ESCR debate, he says, because they believe it is a key "wedge" issue.

And Brownback predicts these liberals in Congress will also likely claim they are anti-cloning, even though they are for the procedure known as "clone and kill" -- that is, cloning a human being for research purposes and requiring that it be killed within seven to ten days.

Although ESCR proponents claim their interest is in finding cures for disease and saving human lives, the senator notes, scientific research does not support their claim that stem cells derived from human embryos will yield any medical cures in the near future. In fact, he points out, "scientific studies coming out now [find] that embryonic stem cells implanted in lab animals are producing tumors in those animals.

"This is something we've been saying all along would happen from prior experience," Brownback says, "but that's starting to come out in a number of the scientific journals." Yet ESCR supporters continue to ignore the evidence and tout the promise of embryonic stem cells, and the senator expects many liberals in Congress will follow their lead.

And in the meantime, Brownback adds, the American public can expect to see a Democrat-controlled Congress put forth a number of so-called "end-of-life" issues. Regardless of some Democrats' appeal to conservatives during their campaigns, he fully expects to see them fall in line with a pro-abortion, anti-family agenda under Nancy Pelosi's leadership.

>> Back -- Page 1 2

Copyright © 2006 AgapePress -- All rights reserved.