McCain Vows to Push Religious Freedom

By Juliet Eilperin - Washington Post, The Trail
Wednesday, May 07, 2008 - Web Link
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May 7, 2008

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) delved into issues of religious freedom and human rights Wednesday morning, telling a crowd of several hundred supporters that policymakers need to confront the fact that "evil still exists in the world."

Speaking at Oakland University in a town hall meeting, McCain argued the federal government needs to be more aggressive in pushing for greater religious freedom in foreign nations such as China and Iran; working to combat human trafficking both domestically and abroad; and cracking down on illicit material on the Internet.

"We can retain our own freedom when others are robbed of theirs, but not the sense of virtue that made our revolution a moral as well as political crusade, and which recognizes that personal happiness is so much more than pleasure, and requires us to serve causes greater than self interest," he said.

He pledged to "make religious freedom a subject of great importance for the United States in our relations with foreign nations," and to establish a federal inter-agency task force on human trafficking in an attempt to reduce the number of women and children who are sold into bondage as sex slaves nationwide.

"I will require task force agencies to report directly to me on the status of the problem and the progress we are making to defeat this stain on the reputation and character of the United States," he said, adding that he will "move to clear obstacles to cooperation between federal agencies and their state and local counterparts to ensure maximum cooperation in the pursuit and prosecution of child predators."

"Ours is a nation with a conscience, and thank God we are," he said, sparking one of the multiple rounds of applause the crowd gave him.