Tag Archives: Steve Russell

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: Rep. Steve Russell was disappointed that his religious freedom amendment was stripped from a federal defense-spending bill the House passed on Friday. But the Oklahoma Republican is encouraged he will prevail in the long-term, telling BuzzFeed News that the incoming Trump administration has given him “very good assurances” it would address the issue upon taking …

A glimmer of good news, for now. The Voice Of America reports: A compromise version of a massive U.S. defense policy bill omits controversial provisions such as a clause Democrats said allowed discrimination against homosexuals and a requirement that women register for the draft. The $618.7 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, will likely come up for a vote …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Despite objections from the White House and LGBT advocates, the U.S. House late Wednesday night approved a major defense spending bill that includes a component undermining President Obama’s executive order against LGBT discrimination. After hours of debate on the measure, the House approved the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bill by a party-line …

The Washington Post reports:  The measure, introduced by freshman Rep. Steve Russell (R-Okla.) at 12:30 a.m. as the House Armed Services Committee prepared to pass the defense bill, would require the government to give religious organizations it signs contracts with exemptions in federal civil rights law and the Americans Disabilities Act. Those laws do not ban discrimination on the basis …

Oklahoma state Sen. Steve Russell’s bill to exempt his state from complying with the federal hate crimes law has passed overwhelmingly. Under the new provisions of Senate Bill 1965, reports that were collected during investigations of possible hate crime that did not end in a conviction would be destroyed or kept by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Russell said …

Oklahoma state Sen. Steve Russell (R) plans to submit a bill that would authorize the state to opt out of the recently passed Matthew Shepard Act. Because it discriminates against the right to hate queers and would hinder the prosecution of corpse fuckers. SRSLY. “The federal government should not be creating a special class of people, and that is just …