2014 michigan 2nd district congressional voter...

2014 Michigan 2nd District Congressional Voter Guide

The Candidates

Representative Bill Huizenga (R), incumbent Dean Vanderstelt (D), challenger

2014 Michigan 2nd District Congressional Voter Guide

Huizenga Vanderstelt

What role would religion play in the candidate’s decision making in his or her role as U.S. Representative?

F N/A

Does the candidate support a science based curriculum in public schools and reject the use of public funding of religious schools or religiously-based curriculums?

F N/A

Does the candidate support the use of public funding for religiously-affiliated organizations such as faith-based initiatives, to provide services?

F N/A

Does the candidate support social policies that do not discriminate based on religion, such as marriage equality, and non-discrimination in adoption policies, the military and hiring practices at faith based organizations receiving public funds?

F N/A

Does the candidate believe government sanctioned religious symbolism is appropriate? (Examples including prayer in legislative sessions and public schools, religious symbols on government property.)

F N/A

Does the candidate support scientifically based regulations including science surrounding reproduction, climate change, embryonic stem cell research, and cloning, and reject abstinence-only sex education?

F N/A

FINAL SCORE F N/A Key:

Candidate’s remarks and/or actions toward the Secular Coalition’s stances have been:

A: Generally or consistently positive.

B: Neutral or occasionally positive.

C: Mixed, with positive and negative responses.

F: Generally or consistently hostile or negative.

N/A: At the time of publication, the Secular Coalition for America was unable to verify the candidate’s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.

If the SCA was unable to find a candidate’s stance on at least four of the six questions, the candidate was given a final score of N/A.

The above chart is based on the topics and individual public candidate responses in the following sections

Individual Candidate Responses Huizenga Vanderstelt

What role would religion play in the candidate’s decision making in his or her role as U.S. Representative?

F N/A

• Rep. Huizenga cosponsored a bill to designate the first weekend of May as Ten Commandments Weekend to recognize the significant contributions the Ten Commandments have made in shaping the principles, institutions, and national character of the United States.1

• At the time of publication, the Secular Coalition for America was unable to verify the candidate’s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.


Does the candidate support a science based curriculum in public schools and reject the use of public funding of religious schools or religiously-based curriculums?

F N/A

• Rep. Huizenga voted in favor of reauthorizing the DC opportunity scholarship program, which took public funds away from public schools and gave them to private schools, 82% of which were religiously-affiliated.2 On his House website, he writes, “While it is important to reduce the achievement gap and hold schools responsible for failing to adequately educate their students, key reforms, including the No Child Left Behind Act, must be balanced with increased educational options. When a school is not the best fit for a child, parents should have the flexibility to choose the school that best meets their child’s needs.”3


1 H.RES.211 11-HRes211 on Apr 7, 2011. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hres211) 2 Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (SOAR); Bill H. RES.186 ; vote number 11-HV200 on Mar 30, 2011. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr471) 3 “Education,” U.S. Congressman Bill Huizenga. Bill Huizenga House Website. Accessed on Aug 5, 2014. (http://huizenga.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=24024)


Does the candidate support the use of public funding for religiously-affiliated organizations such as faith-based initiatives, to provide services?

F N/A

• Rep. Huizenga voted in favor of HR 592, which made houses of worship eligible for emergency assistance and disaster relief from the federal government, funds which were not made available to many other secular non-profits.4



Does the candidate support social policies that do not discriminate based on religion, such as marriage equality, and non-discrimination in adoption policies, the military and hiring practices at faith based organizations receiving public funds?

F N/A

• Rep. Huizenga cosponsored HR 3133, which Prohibits the federal government from taking an adverse action against a person on the basis that such person acts in accordance with a religious belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.5 He also voted twice against allowing nontheist chaplains to join the military’s chaplain corps.6


4 Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2013; Bill H.R. 592; vote number 13-HV039 on Feb 13, 2013. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2013/h39) 5 Marriage and Religious Freedom Act; Bill H.R. 3133; referred to Committee on Sep 19 2013. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr3133) 6 Amendment prohibits the use of funds to appoint chaplains without an endorsing agency; H.Amdt.375 (Fleming) to H.R.2397; vote number 13-HV392 on Jul 23, 2013 (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2013/h392), and H.Amdt.169 (Polis) to H.R.1960; vote number 13-HV238 on Jun 14, 2013. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2013/h238)


Does the candidate believe government sanctioned religious symbolism is appropriate? (Examples including prayer in legislative sessions and public schools, religious symbols on government property.)

F N/A

• Rep. Huizenga cosponsored H.Res. 250, expressing support for prayer in public school board meetings.7



Does the candidate support scientifically based regulations including science surrounding reproduction, climate change, embryonic stem cell research, and cloning, and reject abstinence-only sex education?

F N/A

• Rep. Huizenga has voted in favor of and cosponsored multiple bills restricting reproductive rights.8 He also voted in favor of barring the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions and responded that he opposes regulations to reduce climate change on the Project Vote Smart 2010 survey.9


7 Bill H. RES. 250; referred to Committee on Jun 6, 2013. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hres250) 8 No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act; Bill H.3 ; vote number 11-HV292 on May 4, 2011 (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr3), and H.R.217 11-HR217 on Jan 7, 2011. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr217) 9 Energy Tax Prevention Act; Bill H.910; vote number 11-HV249 on Apr 7, 2011 (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr910), and Project Vote Smart Survey on Nov 2, 2010. (http://www.ontheissues.org/MI/Bill_Huizenga.htm)

Methodology

Candidates were graded only on questions for which the Secular Coalition was able to identify the candidates' position—either through statements or previous actions. For each response, the candidates were given a grade of A, B, C or F. An "A" grade earned the candidate 3 points, "B" earned 2 points, "C" earned 1 point and an F earned 0 points. An average of the candidates' grades for each question were averaged for each section. Grades of "N/A" indicate that the Secular Coalition was unable to identify the candidate's position on the given topic. The section averages were then averaged for the total score. N/A grades were not factored into the candidate's score.

Averages were compiled on the following scale:

A = 2.25 – 3.0 B = 1.50 – 2.24 C = 0.75 – 1.49 F = 0.0 – 0.74

The Secular Coalition for America is a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization whose purpose is to amplify the diverse and growing voice of the nontheistic community in the United States. We are located in Washington, D.C. for ready access to government, activist partners and the media. Our staff lobbies U.S. Congress on issues of special concern to our constituency.

Our member organizations are established 501(c)(3) nonprofits who serve atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers and other nontheistic Americans. Their purpose in founding the coalition was to formalize a cooperative structure for visible, unified activism to improve the civic situation of citizens with a naturalistic worldview. A number of additional organizations have endorsed our mission statement.

Member Organizations

• American Atheists – www.atheists.org • American Ethical Union – www.aeu.org • American Humanist Association – www.americanhumanist.org • Atheist Alliance of America – www.atheistallianceamerica.org • Black Nonbelievers – http://blacknonbelievers.wordpress.com/ • Camp Quest – www.campquest.org • Council for Secular Humanism – www.secularhumanism.org • Freethought Society – http://www.ftsociety.org/ • Freedom from Religion Foundation – http://www.ffrf.org/ • Hispanic American Freethinkers – http://www.hafree.org/ • Humanist Community at Harvard – http://www.harvardhumanist.org/about-hcp/what-is-

humanism/ • Institute for Humanist Studies – www.humaniststudies.org • Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers – www.militaryatheists.org • Recovering from Religion – http://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ • Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (US) –

http://www.richarddawkins.net/ • Secular Student Alliance— www.secularstudents.org • Society for Humanistic Judaism – www.shj.org

• The UU Humanists – http://www.huumanists.org/

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