{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20130926213415/http://www.vitter.senate.gov:80/newsroom/press/vitter-urges-air-force-secretary-nominee-to-address-religious-freedom", "Vitter Urges Air Force Secretary Nominee to Address Religious Freedom", "2013-09-20", "2013", "2013-09", "Republican", "House", "LA", "David Vitter", "V000127", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Vitter Urges Air Force Secretary Nominee to Address Religious Freedom\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tFriday, September 20, 2013\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.) is urging the nominee to be Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, Deborah Lee James, to address religious freedom concerns before she is confirmed by the U.S. Senate. At the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, Vitter directly questioned James about how she would handle the military\u2019s restrictions on religious expressions.\n\u201cReligious freedom is one of the core principles that make our nation great,\u201d Vitter said. \u201cUnfortunately there are far too many cases of the military restricting the men and women who serve our country from expressing their faith. That\u2019s just not right, and I want to make sure the Air Force Secretary nominee does everything she can to fix it.\u201d\nVitter, a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, was able to include language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2014 that enhances the protection of service members\u2019 expression of religious beliefs and protects troops who express their religious faith appropriately so that they are not discriminated against or subject to retaliation. The Amendment passed 19-7 in the Committee, and was supported by all 12 Republicans on the committee, along with 7 Democrats, including Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.\nEarlier this year the Family Research Council (FRC) released their \u201cClear and Present Danger\u201d report which highlights a pattern and environment that many service members, particularly Airmen, experience. Vitter specifically asked James to look into the most striking examples in the past four years. Vitter cited more than 40 examples of threats to religious liberty. The examples are highlighted in the FRC report.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20130926213415/http://www.vitter.senate.gov:80/newsroom/press/vitter-urges-air-force-secretary-nominee-to-address-religious-freedom"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8744588121771812, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}