The Michigan Daily-Friday, May 7, 1982-Page 15
REAGAN SUPPORTS SCHOOL PRAYER, TAX CREDITS
Social issues resurface
By the Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - For a year, hardly a peep
was heard in the White House about the social issues
on which Ronald Reagan campaigned.
Now, one after another, they are surfacing.
School prayer, tuition tax credits, a balanced
budget amendment: They are buzz words finding
renewed places in the president's vocabulary.
BUT THERE ARE few signs Reagan will be suc-
cessful if he tries to push any of there issues through
quickly. In fact, there are few signs he is even trying
to do that, in the view of both Democrats and conser-
vative Republicans.
Last month, the president flew to Chicago and told
Roman Catholic educators he would support a tax
credit based on private school tuition. Soon, he said,
he would make a formal recommendation to
Congress.
At the time, aides said he first would consult with
members of Congress and then sehd to Capitol Hill
proposed legislation. The consultations are still pen-
ding, but one White House official, requesting
anonymity, said the proposal may be introduced by
the end of this month.
CONGRESSIONAL OBSERVERS think there is lit-
tle chance such a measure will be approved this year.
But the White House aide, stressing the president's
support for it, insisted "this is a serious proposal, not
a sop to the interest groups."
Today is the day Reagan declared "National Day of
Prayer" and aides prepared for him a statement in
support of a constitutional amendment that would
permit voluntary group prayer in public schools.
Prayer in public schools was ruled unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court in 1962. Ever since then it has
been a rallying issue of many conservative
movements.
THE BALANCED BUDGET amendment, which
would require a 60 percent majority in Congress to
approve any budget that included deficit spending -
except in wartime - has been mentioned by Reagan
several times in the past week in public appearances.
It barely saw the light of day in 1981.
Larry Speakes, the chief deputy White House press
secretary, said such issues, along with anti-abortion
measures and proposed prohibition of school busing
to achieve racial integration, "were put on the back
burner last year."
"There was some disappointment in the conser-
vative community that we had not moved quicker,"
said one White House source.
THE DELAY ALLOWED the House and Senate to
concentrate on the president's economic recovery
program.
But that also meant that if they came up during the
second year of the congressional session - this year
- the senators and representatives would be facing
particularly controversial legislation during an elec-
tion year.
One Senate source, asking anonymity, said Senate
majority Leader Howard H. Baker, R-Tenn., was
reluctant to bring them up for that reason.
"It's tough in an election year for moderate
Republicans to have to deal with a lot of these touchy
issues," hesaid.
Reagan
supports
proposal
for school
prayer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President
Reagan, declaring he wants to "restore
a freedom our constitution was always
meant to protect," called Thursday for
an amendment to allow voluntary
group prayer in public schools.
"No one must ever be forced or coer-
ced or pressured to take part in any
religious exercise, but neither should
the government forbid religious prac-
tice," the president told a gatherine of
religious leaders during a ceremony in
the Rose Garden.
"THE AMENDMENT we'll propose
will restore the right to pray," Reagan
did not say precisely what language he
believed such an amendment should
contain, but he said a specific proposal
would be submitted to Congress soon.
He sked his audience, which included,
Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell, to
work for the measure.
"Changing the Constitution is a
mammoth task," said Reagan,
speaking from a podium under a hot
sun. "It should never be easy but in this
case I believe we can restore a freedom
that our Constitution was always meant
to protect."
THE PRESIDENT said religious
values were "deeply pmbedded in our
national character," adding, "our
country embraces those principles by
design and we abandon them at our
peril.
"Yet in recent years, well-meaning
Americans in the nsme of freedom.
have taken a freedom away. For the
sake of religious tolerance they have
forbidden religious practice in our
public classrooms," he said.
"No one will ever convince me that a
moment of voluntary prayer will harm a
child or threaten a school or state. But I
think it can strengthen our faith in a
Creator who alone has the power to bless
America," he added.
F1* pe out P Photo,
Flipped out
No, it's not water ballet, and it's not a new diving9technique: Charlie Miller, of Lincoln, Nebraska, purposely lets go of
the throttle on his Jet-Ski while out for a spring spin on Pawnee Lake. The ski shuts down automatically when no driver
is at the helm.
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