The Honorable Oregon Representative Dave Hunt of House District 40, representing Clackamas County, has confirmed his attendance at the 2010 Religious Liberty Dinner in Washington, DC on April 13, 2010, where he will be honored for his diligent work for religious freedom.  Representative Hunt serves as the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives in the Oregon Legislature.

 

Speaker Hunt once served as the President of the American Baptist Churches USA. He began Oregon's 2009 Legislative Session with the Biblical challenge "to sharpen swords into plowshares."  In a non-partisan gesture of goodwill he gave a lapel pin of a sword being turned into a plow to all his legislative colleagues, Republicans and Democrats alike.

 

The same spirit of magnanimity was displayed during the 2009 legislative session when he was the sponsor and driving force behind the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act, which was signed into law by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski on July 16, 2009.  The legislation is designed to deal with religious accommodation in the workplace.  It provides relief for employees seeking "holy day" and "religious apparel" accommodations, and for employers who desire relief from litigation costs as a result of the increase in the number of minority faith groups making religious discrimination claims.

 

Every year since 2003 Washington D.C. has gathered to attend the Religious Liberty Dinner, which both celebrates and brings attention to a central human right, the freedom of religion or belief, both in the United States and around the world. Sponsored by the North American Religious Liberty Association, the International Religious Liberty Association, and Liberty magazine, the Religious Liberty Dinner is attended by diplomats from more than 30 nations, along with representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Congress, the Department of State, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 

 

The 2010 Religious Liberty Dinner will be held at the Capital Hilton in Washington DC on April 13.  For more information visit:  www.religiouslibertydinner.com.