May 6, 2010 Volume 6, Number 18
In This
Issue
.
Moms &
Mother's Day
.
Rep Davis'
Legislative Victories
.
A Little Bit
of Humor.
E-Mail
cynthia.davis@house.mo.gov
Find me
on
Committees
Special
Committee on Children and Families
Chair
Official Homepage for
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Consumer Complaints & Fraudulent
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Links
Congressman Blaine
Luetkemeyer
Moms and
Mother's Day
(Photo
courtesy of Bernie Davis)
This
Sunday is Mother's Day. If you are a mother, please allow me to be
the first to congratulate you for all you do to make the world a better
place. I honor all the moms of District 19 because they are shaping
morals, inculcating character, demonstrating humble acts of love and
inspiring the next
"A
mightier power and stronger man from his throne has hurled, for the hand
that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the
world" Said in 1865 by W. R. Wallace,
from J. K. Hoyt Cyclopadia of
Practical Quotations (1896)
(Photo
courtesy of Bernie Davis)
Some say
it's easier to raise girls than boys. Others say boys are easier
than girls. I think both are very challenging, but well worth the
effort. The largest social welfare agency in the world offers its
services for free---it's called the family!
Rep
Davis' Legislative Victories This Week
Today is
the National Day of Prayer. As you might remember from last week, I
discussed an activist judge who was trying to dismantle our first
amendment rights by ignoring the "free exercise" clause of the
constitution. Therefore, I filed a resolution which is written
below:
Whereas,
on March
16, 1776, the
Continental Congress
declared a
fast:
"In
Congress that
Friday,
the
seventeenth
day
of
May
next,
be
observed
by
the
said colonies
as a day
of
humiliation,
fasting,
and
prayer.
";
and
Whereas,
the
first Continental
Congress
made a similar
declaration in
1777:
"It
is
therefore
recommended to
the
legislative
or
executive
powers
of
these
United
States,
to
set
apart
Thursday,
the
18th
day
of
December
next,
for
solemn
thanksgiving
and
praise;
that
with
one heart
and
one
voice
the
good
people
may
express
the grateful
feelings
of
their
hearts,
and
consecrate
themselves
to the service
of their
divine
benefactor;
and that
together with their sincere
acknowledgments and
offerings,
they
may join the
penitent
confession
of
their
manifold
sins,
whereby
they
had
forfeited
every
favor,
and
their humble and
earnest
supplication
that
it
may
please
God,
through the
merits
of
Jesus
Christ...";
and
Whereas,
in
1789, the
First Amendment
to
the United
States
Constitution was
ratified stating:
"Congress shall
make
no law
respecting an
establishment of
religion,
or
prohibiting the free
exercise
thereof;
or
abridging
the freedom of
speech,
or the
press,
or
the
right
of
the
people
peaceably
to
assemble,
and to
petition
the
government
for
a
redress of
grievances.";
and
Whereas,
President
Lincoln
recognized
national
prayer
in
his "Proclamation of
Thanksgiving"
on October
3, 1863. In
the midst of the
Civil
War,
President Lincoln
invited
fellow citizens
to pray
and reminded
us that
we
are prone
to forget
the source
of this
nation's
blessings.
He stated:
"I
do,
therefore,
invite my fellow
citizens in every part of the
United
States,
and also those
who are at sea
and those
who are
sojourning in
foreign
lands,
to set apart
and observe the last
Thursday
of
November
next
as a
Day
of
Thanksgiving
and
Prayer to our
beneficent
Father,
who
dwelleth in
the
heavens.";
and
Whereas,
every
President
since
1952 has
signed a
National
Day of Prayer
proclamation, resulting
in 57 presidential
proclamations
of a National
Day of
Prayer;
and
Whereas,
from 1952
to 2009,
there
have been
135 national calls to
prayer,
humiliation,
fasting,
and thanksgiving
by the
President
of the
Whereas,
Wisconsin United States Federal
Judge Barbara Crabb ruled in favor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation
which argued that the government setting aside a day of prayer violates
the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution;
and
Whereas,
conservative legal analysts agree
that the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution is
designed to prevent the federal government from establishing a national
church, not to
prevent our citizens from respecting our history of the founding of the
Judeo-Christian county:
Now, therefore,
be it resolved that the members of the House of
Representatives of the Ninety-fifth General Assembly,
Second Regular Session, the Senate
concurring therein, hereby
declare our strong stand against judges who seek to strip us of our
traditions, our
heritage, and our
acknowledgment of God Almighty, Creator, and sustainer of the
universe, author
of all justice, civility, truth,
and source of
mercy, grace,
and charity;
and
Be
it further resolved that the Missouri General Assembly
is taking notice and will not tolerate further judicial activism against
the citizens of our country in any attempts to strip us of our First
Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.
In
addition to filing the resolution, I was also able to successfully pass a
bill out of our elections committee that will allow both 3rd
and 4th class cities to hold non-binding referendums.
When I was on the O'Fallon Board of Aldermen, we were grappling with the
question of whether the city should take over the trash collection.
I suggested that we take it to a vote of the people. The City
Attorney at the time said we could not do so because cities of our class
are prohibited from asking their voters such a question. I knew he
was wrong because we had already done other referendums, but how do you
argue with the city attorney? More importantly, why do we have laws
that can be interpreted depending on a whim or personal bias?
A good
law should only be allowed to be interpreted one way. While some
attorneys should get a medal for their creativity, I tightened up a
loophole that has been on my agenda for years. It still has a few
more legislative hurdles before it becomes law, but I have the
satisfaction of knowing that I represented my district well this
week.
Your
thoughts are important to me, so please let me know what you think about
city-referendums. You can send me your opinion by clicking
here: Cynthia Davis
A Little
Bit of Humor . . .
A teacher gave
her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The
next day in a written test, she included this question: "My full name has
six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?" When the
test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost
50 percent of the students answered the question with the word
Mother-
Unknown
This
Capitol Report is a weekly column by Representative Cynthia
Davis, from the
19th District, covering events in the Missouri Legislature and
district-wide issues.
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