Here are five bills Vicky Hartzler has proposed that reflect her religious views
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How Vicky Hartzler’s faith guides her U.S. Senate campaign
Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler is running for U.S. Senate in Missouri and has built her political career on her conservative Christian values. Some say it has harmed LGBTQ people.
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U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler has represented Missouri’s 4th Congressional District, which spans from the Southwestern part of the state up through Columbia, since 2011.
In that time, she has been the lead sponsor on 96 bills, resolutions and amendments filed on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. She has introduced many of the bills multiple times, as it is hard to get legislation through Congress, particularly as a member of the minority party, which she has been since 2019.
Three bills on which she was the lead sponsor have become law. One in 2019 clarified that the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System task forces were allowed to include federal employees. A 2018 measure renamed a post office in Columbia, Missouri for Spc. Sterling William Wyatt, 21, who was killed in 2012 while on patrol in Kandahar, Afghanistan; And in 2017 Congress required the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to submit a report about assistance to applicants or grantees during a response to an emergency or disaster.
Many of Hartzler’s bills focus on the military, since she is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. She recently filed a bill that would ensure that active service members under 21 are allowed to rent hotel rooms. Another would prevent sex offenders whose crimes were punished with more than one year in prison and involved sexual abuse, sexual contact with a minor, kidnapping a minor or came after an earlier sex offense from being interred or buried at Arlington National Cemetery or VA national cemeteries.
She’s also introduced bills that deal with the affordability of school lunches, adoption and pushing back on government spending.
But Hartzler has often talked about how her religious principles guide her legislation. Here are some bills, resolutions and amendments that she says are informed by her faith.
Resolution on DOMA
Date filed: 3/3/2011
Type of legislation: House Resolution
What it would do: Condemned the administration of former President Barack Obama for refusing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. Passed by Congress in 1996, it legally defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented people in same-sex marriages recognized by their states from receiving federal benefits.
Context: In 2011 there were ongoing legal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act because same-sex couples argued that if their marriages were legal in their states then they should be eligible for the same federal benefits granted to heterosexual couples. In February, then Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the President believed that the law was unconstitutional and he asked the Department of Justice to stop defending it in court. Congress, under then-House Speaker John Boehner, stepped in to defend it.
Where did it go: The bill was introduced, but did not pass the House.
Anti-abortion Bill
Bill Title: Woman’s Right To Know Act
Date filed: 3/4/2020, 4/23/2021
Type of legislation: House Bill
What it would do: Doctors providing an abortion would have to give a woman an authorization form at least 24 hours prior to her procedure that specified the gestational age of the fetus (including developmental characteristics, like which parts of the body had already formed), disclose civil penalties the provider would face if they didn’t provide the form, and an affirmation that the person signing it understands the information. The bill included an exception if the procedure was an emergency to save the life of the mother.
Context: The bill matches similar laws proposed by anti-abortion rights groups. Some anti-abortion activists believe that by providing women with more information and time when they attempt to get the procedure, they will choose instead to bring a pregnancy to term.
Where did it go: The bill was introduced and never made it out of committee.
Chinese Christians
Bill Title: Condemning the persecution of Christians in China
Date filed: 7/16/2019, 2/9/2022
Type of legislation: House Resolution
What it would do: Called on the U.S. to make an effort to address religious freedom in China and called on China to release all of its religious prisoners.
Context: The legislation came as the Chinese Communist Party attempted to gain control of the Christian Church in the country because it feared its ties to the west. They closed hundreds of unofficial and house churches that fell outside the government-approved church network, according to The Guardian.
Where did it go: The bill was introduced, but did not pass the House of Representatives. The 2022 version passed through the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Planned Parenthood
Bill Title: Defund Planned Parenthood Act
Date filed: 1/9/2019, 2/2/2021
Type of legislation: House Bill
What it would do: Prevent federal funding from going to Planned Parenthood for one year unless the organization promised to stop performing abortions. The ban on performing abortions did not include cases of rape, incest or protecting the life of the mother.
Context: The bill is one of many efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, one of the country’s largest providers of family planning services. They also provide cancer screenings, STD tests and, at some sites, perform abortions. Planned Parenthood, like all providers, is not eligible for federal funds for abortion care. Still, anti-abortion activists have long pushed to eliminate all federal funding for the organization unless it stops providing abortions. Often, this type of legislation is settled in the budget process, rather than in a stand-alone bill. Republicans were never able to officially make it law, however.
Where did it go: The bill was introduced but was never voted on.
Transgender troops in military
Bill Title: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018
Date filed: 7/13/2017
Type of legislation: House floor amendment
What it would do: Prohibit federal money from being spent on medical treatment for transgender military members looking to transition. The amendment would provide an exception for mental health treatment.
Context: In 2016, the Department of Defense said it would allow transgender troops to serve openly in the U.S. military. Former President Donald Trump reversed the policy and from 2019 to 2021, transgender people could not enlist if they medically transitioned.
Where did it go: The amendment failed 209 - 214.
