Presbyterians lose voice in 110th U.S. Congress
The Layman Online, December 14, 2006
The voice of Presbyterians serving in the U.S. House and Senate during the 110th Congress has been quieted down by the 2006 elections.
House Presbyterians Marsha Blackburn, R-TN
Bruce Braley, D-IA
John Campbell, R-CA
Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV
Kathy Castor, D-FL
Ben Chandler, D-KY
Howard Coble, R-NC
Diana DeGette. D-CO
Charlie Dent, R-PA
Jimmy Duncan, R-TN
Jo Ann Emerson, R-MO
Bob Etheridge, D-NC
Tom Feeney, R-FL
Robin Hayes, R-NC
Bob Inglis, R-SC
Jerry Lewis, R-CA
John Linder, R-GA
Carolyn Maloney, D-NY
Mike McIntyre, D-NC
Candice Miller, R-MI
Earl Pomeroy, D-ND
Tom Price, R-GA
Deborah Pryce, R-OH
Nick Rahall, D-WV
Tom Reynolds, R-NY
Vic Snyder, D-AR
John Spratt, D-SC
Cliff Stearns, R-FL
Thomas G. Tancredo, R-CO
Mac Thornberry, R-TX
Mel Watt, D-NC
Joe Wilson, R-SC
Frank Wolf, R-VA
Lynn Woolsey, D-CA
David Wu, D-OH Thirty-two members of the House, down from 38 in the 109th Congress, say they are Presbyterians. Nine senators, down from 13 in the 109th Congress, are Presbyterians.
The religious affiliation lists released by various organizations, including the Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA), does not note how many Presbyterians in the House and Senate are members of PCUSA congregations.
Senate Presbyterians Lamar Alexander, R-TN
Christopher Bond, R-MO
Thomas Carper, D-DE
Jim DeMint, R-SC
Michael Enzi, R-WY
James Inhofe, R-OK
Jon Kyl, R-AZ
Jay Rockefeller, D-WV
Richard Shelby, R-ALBut it does note that most are Republicans, with whom Presbyterian lobbyists have had little influence. Seven of the nine Presbyterians in the Senate and 18 of the 32 in the House are Republicans.
On issues such as the war in Iraq, abortion and same-gender marriage, selection of Supreme Court justices, immigration and Cuba, the Washington Office and denominational agencies have taken positions aligning closely with liberal Democrats.
Those alignments are contrary to the views of Presbyterians at large. In the 2005 Presbyterian Panel poll of political affiliations, 53 percent of the members and 51 percent of the ministers identified the Republicans as their political preference. Only 26 percent of the ministers and 13 percent of the specialized clergy listed Republicans as their preference.
The 41 Presbyterians constitute the fifth largest religious affiliation group in the 110th Congress. There are 126 Roman Catholics in Congress, followed by 57 Baptists, 50 Methodists and 40 who list themselves as Protestants without specifying a denomination.
Other affiliations include 30 Jewish, 26 Episcopal, 15 Lutheran, 10 Mormon, five Christian Science, five Eastern Orthodox, four Pentecostal, three African Methodist Episcopal, three United Church of Christ, two Buddhist, two Christian Reformed Church, two Seventh-Day Adventist, one Christian Church, one Community of Christ, one Quaker and one Unitarian. For the first time, Congress now includes a Muslim, Keith Ellison, D-Minn.