Jim DeMint, Republican senator from South Carolina, has introduced an amendment to strike the unconstitutional, discriminatory language from the bill, but the majority Democrats won't allow it.
DeMint said the following to Neil Cavuto on FOX News:
". . . [the Senate is] working on this so-called stimulus bill that would prohibit any religious activity in any college or university facility that uses any of these funds for modernization or renovation.
"It is just a phrase that I think the ACLU had stuck in this bill, because they are the real proponents of keeping it in there, that would really take advantage of religious freedom, Bible studies, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, whether it is on a student center, a dorm, an auditorium where prayer might be offered."
The phrase in the bill, at issue, reads as follows:
"PROHIBITED USES OF FUNDS. - No funds awarded under this section may be used for - (C) modernization, renovation, or repair of facilities - (i) used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school or department of divinity; or (ii) in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission."
