Agriculture | Conservation | Health & Education | Labor & Judiciary | Taxation & Transportation

• Social Welfare Programs
• Native American Indians
• Elections
• Campaign Reform
• Elected Officials
• Governmental and Legislative Affairs
• Government Service
• Government Spending
• Monetary Policy
• Social Security
• Veterans Affairs
• Telecommunications
• Broadcasting
• Patriotism, Prayer, and Religious Observances
• Miscellaneous

POLICY STATEMENT

Since 1867, the Grange has been a strong force in the enrichment of American life. Although we must guard against the temptation to believe that an ever-increasing role by the federal government can solve all social problems, the National Grange should continue to do all that is possible, both legislatively and socially, to maintain and promote the family unit. The Grange must continue the job of educating all people concerning the importance of agriculture and the issues concerning rural America.

Our nation provides for a lifestyle and standard of living that is the envy of many. Every rural community is entitled to a viable economy, wholesome family living space, and a sense of community pride. Baby boomers who are reaching retirement age are increasingly attracted to the rural and farming lifestyle. They will demand access to high speed Internet and readily available, top quality health care.

Efficient telecommunications services are vital needs in rural America today. The Grange supports expansion of broadband, Internet, wireless Internet, cable, and cellular services in our communities. If properly implemented, video choice will provide competition in pricing and improve the quality of services; however, we must be ever vigilant to protect the rights of landowners, municipalities, and the privacy of citizens.

We oppose any changes or deletions of a word or words in the pledge to the flag of our country. There are many qualities of a good citizen. Good citizens care about others, the community and our world. We encourage new citizens to accept living in America, including the use of English as the primary language, yet honoring and respecting their heritage. We encourage all citizens to buy American made products.

We should never underestimate the importance of our right to vote. Elections are the time when the people have their voice heard in our democratic government, and the National Grange urges all citizens to exercise their voting rights. Our leaders should be held to a higher standard of behavior as an example to all citizens. We should encourage our leaders to be team players, working for the good of all people and the country, not just special interest groups. We, as citizens, desire our leaders to make honest, ethical fiscal decisions including a balanced budget, honest bidding processes, and efficient decisions to disaster response.

We want to give our prayers, gratitude, and support to all those serving in our uniformed Armed Forces around the world and to those who have already made sacrifices serving our country. Quality healthcare is a vital need to our veterans. We encourage the improvement of existing veterans healthcare facilities, the addition of new veterans healthcare facilities where needed, additional mobile clinics for veterans, and the designation of additional beds in municipal healthcare facilities for veterans.

The Grange provides its members with meaningful opportunities for non-partisan, civic participation in the public policy process at all levels of government. It is our hope that Grangers will use these opportunities to reach out to all citizens for education, enrichment, and the development of present and future leaders.

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Social Welfare Programs

1. The National Grange urges enforcement of current food stamp regulations and encourages related social agencies to assist food stamp recipients with information about foods that meet their basic needs. The National Grange asks the food stamp program to allow essential non-food personal articles such as laundry soap and toilet paper to be purchased using food stamps and opposes replacing food stamps with cash distributions. To prevent illegal sales of food stamps, we support the “Electronic Benefits Transfer” program that uses a coded microchip to purchase food and eliminate the issuance of food stamps. We urge stricter guidelines to disqualify retailers who commit fraud against the food stamp program and prevent them from re-entering the program. We support local and state sales tax to apply to purchases with food stamps.

2. The National Grange urges Congress to review a) welfare beneficiaries eligibility periodically; b) work incentive programs including on the job training without loss in benefits; c) mandatory participation in adult education programs to attain job skills unless prevented by incapacitating illness or other conditions and d) additional means to facilitate the identification of each child’s father for purposes of welfare recovery.

3. The National Grange supports the continuation of the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Program.

4. The National Grange supports federally assisted housing programs that are designed to assist the poor, near poor, elderly, and handicapped. However, we oppose any “shared housing” concept that would force persons to share their federally assisted dwelling with other persons not of their choosing. We further oppose including ‘disadvantaged persons’ including the mentally ill and other categories of people, in government subsidized housing for the elderly.

5. The National Grange supports legisla­tion, which protects senior citizens and dependent adults from neglect, physical, and financial abuse.

6. The National Grange encourages states to establish a central adoption information center where information on adopt­able children could be recorded.

7. The National Grange strongly urges public transportation carriers to continue Operation Home Free that gives runaway teenagers free transportation home.

8. The National Grange supports legislation in Congress that would help revitalize rural areas by establishing a Venture Capital Fund to aid businesses in rural areas.

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Native American Indians

1. The National Grange supports legislation to impose a statute of limitations on land claims of not more than 40 years on legal actions that are taken by Indian nations to recover land they sold or otherwise exchanged.

2. The National Grange supports Indians in their reservation treaty rights to retain their mineral deposits.

3. The National Grange recommends that non-reservation lands that are purchased by an Indian tribe, or its individual members, should remain on the county’s tax rolls. The National Grange also supports legislation requiring the U.S. government to make payments to local govern­ments in lieu of current property taxes for all land purchased for Indian tribes under the Federal Tribal Acquisition Program.

4. The National Grange believes that those Indians who use modern technology when they hunt or fish away from established Indian reservations should be subject to the same laws as other citizens.

5. The National Grange favors the renegotiation of all treaties between the federal government, state governments, and all tribal governments within the United States to create a more equitable division of authorities, powers, and prerogatives between the federal government, state governments, and tribal governments. The National Grange supports the continuation of all rights and privileges enjoyed by American Indians as U.S. citizens, including fulfilling all responsibilities associated with such citizenship. The National Grange also supports revoking all special rights and privileges enjoyed by American Indians as individuals under all U.S. treaties.

6. The National Grange supports laws to prevent the robbery or desecration of Native American graves and burial sites and to require newly discovered human remains, grave artifacts and/or sacred items of Native American origin to be returned to the tribes or areas of their origin.

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Elections

1. The National Grange recommends that the news media ensure equal coverage of all candidates. We also believe that projections and/or final re­sults of national elections not be reported or broadcast by the news media until the polls have closed in all western states

2. The National Grange urges all of its members to exercise their right to vote. We further recommend that all ballots and pertinent instructions for all elections be printed in the English language only and that proof of citizenship be required at the time of voter registration. We oppose same day registration voting laws. The National Grange urges legislation that will provide minimum standards for Presidential and Vice Presidential ballots in all states.

3. The National Grange urges the streamlining of the voting process for members of the Armed Forces during election time to make it easier for them to vote and ensure that their vote gets counted on Election Day.

4. The National Grange supports the current Electoral College system for presidential and vice-presidential elections.

5. The National Grange supports the rights of states to oversee the electoral process in their state.

6. The National Grange recommends permanent legislation be enacted prohibiting a poll tax or literacy requirement on the voting rights of United States citizens.

7. National Grange supports the constitutional requirement stated in Article II, Section 1-5 of the United States Constitution, “No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to hold the Office of the President.”

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Campaign Reform

1. The National Grange supports campaign reform legislation with definite guidelines regard­ing limits of spending and length of campaign time. We support legis­lation to prohibit Politi­cal Action Committees (PACs) from making contributions to politi­cal campaigns. We also support legislation that prohibits a candi­date from receiving new match­ing public campaign funds from the government until his/her political indebtedness from previous years is paid in full. We support the current provi­sions of the Federal Election Campaign Act concerning matching funds for the Presiden­tial election campaign. We urge State Granges to support similar election and campaign reforms in their respective states.

2. The National Grange supports legislation that would make it illegal for any candidate, holder of public office, or national party, to accept campaign gifts or contributions from foreign countries and/or citizens of foreign countries—at all levels of government.

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Elected Officials

1. The Grange favors changing the term of office of Congressio­nal Representatives from two to four years. We also favor 12 consecutive year term limits for Senators and Represen­tatives .

2. The National Grange supports a ban on automatic salary increases for elected officials and Members of Congress, separate from those of judges and other federal government employees . All Congressional pay raises should be considered by Congress during normal business hours and on their own merits as a separate entity to be discussed in open committee hearings and voted on by roll call with a three-fourths majority voting in the affirmative as opposed to being attached to some unrelated piece of legislation. Any approved Congressional pay increases should take effect at the next session of Congress. The National Grange further favors strengthening the law limiting the amount of gifts and money that Members of Congress can accept.

3. The National Grange supports eliminating the current Congressional retirement system and mandating instead that Members of Congress participate in both Social Security and the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). We further recommend that all laws, including employment laws, apply to Congressional members.

4. The National Grange recommends that Congress adopt contingency provisions to maintain government continuity in the event of mass casualties among the members of the U.S. House of Representatives and/or the U.S. Senate.

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Governmental and Legislative Affairs

1. The National Grange favors strict adherence to doctrine of the separation of powers.

2.The National Grange believes: a) that all government-mandat­ed programs and agencies must contain “sunset” provisions, including a target termination date; b) that systematic and continuous reviews of all mandated programs be made periodically by an appropriate board of review; c) that all mandated programs must be funded and financed by the government of origin; d) and that at any point funding is not provided, the mandate will be removed.

3. The National Grange supports the present status of Washington, D.C. as both a “federal city” and the nation’s capitol, which is not affiliated with any state government and not a separate state in and of itself. We further favor restrict­ing the Congressional delegates from non-tax paying territories of Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico to being non-voting members of Congressional commit­tees. 4. The National Grange supports legislation that would specifi­cally make protection of private property rights and compensating private property owners for property that is taken for public use as a part of the federal statutes. The National Grange supports strengthening the Constitution’s guarantee that a person owning property has the right to control such property, including restricting trespassers, and excluding liability for injuries to a trespasser.

5. The National Grange calls for a federal Blue Ribbon Study Commis­sion to review all regulations enacted, seek comments from the affected persons or indus­tries, and make needed changes in the regulatory process. We believe that no government agency should be allowed to enact new regulations without holding hearings or having repre­sentatives of those affected given the opportunity to comment. We urge the United States Congress and federal agencies to make information and forms available to concerned parties at least 90 days before the enforcement date of new rules and regulations.

6. The National Grange supports a constitutional amendment that allows the President to exercise a line item veto for budget appropriations and authorization bills.

7. The National Grange opposes all legislation limit­ing the individual’s ability to lobby and communicate with our elected officials either directly or through organizations such as the Grange.

8. The National Grange urges U.S. Congress to expedite funding for a resilient, mobile, wireless, data network between local and state first responders and emergency personnel with federal emergency agencies, such as FEMA, Homeland Security and the National Guard.

9. The National Grange will lobby for Congress to return the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to an independent agency free from the direction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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Government Service

1. The National Grange favors the opening of official govern­ment records to public examination within a reasonable time not exceeding 20 years. We urge that the records of the General Services Administration (GSA) be open to public audit.

2. The National Grange supports efforts to improve the collection and dissemination of accurate and timely statistical data by all federal agencies. The National Grange opposes the decision of the Department of Commerce Census Bureau to cease including farm families in the yearly survey report as a separate category.

3. The National Grange supports legislation that would make compliance with regulatory requirements regarding equipment and services for volunteer fire departments contingent upon providing financial assistance to those volunteer fire departments.

4. The National Grange encourages the federal government to provide assistance within 24 hours following the successful request by a State Governor for a declaration of a national disaster in the United States.

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Government Spending

1. The National Grange supports a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget as a permanent solution to our deficit problems.

2. We support efforts at all levels of government to reduce costs and excessive paperwork, to review regulations, and to generally reduce any undue influence of government on the private sector. We favor the review of all tax supported federal incentive programs for possible reduction or elimination. We encourage all levels of government to downsize or eliminate jobs where possible.

3. The National Grange supports requiring a two-third vote in the House of Representatives to increase the statutory limit on the public debt.

4. The National Grange believes that all funds left in any federal program budget at the end of each fiscal year or any treasury surplus should be applied to reducing the national debt, provided that such amounts shall not automatically be removed from the next year’s program budget.

5. The National Grange opposes the federal government’s indis­criminate purchase of physical assets for the public domain. Instead, it should support the retention, protection, and development of the physical domain in the best long-term interests of our citizens. If these physical assets cannot be used, they should be sold, and the money should be used to decrease the deficit.

6. The National Grange supports the enforcement of regulations to assure that government programs abide by the bidding process, when appropriate.

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Monetary Policy

1. The National Grange contin­ues to support the Federal Reserve Board’s independence from congressional and presidential management or control

2. The National Grange supports reducing the minimum denomina­tion of Treasury Bills and Notes.

3. The National Grange supports the continued use of paper one-dollar bills rather than replacing them with a coin. We favor the continuation of the penny.

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Social Security

1. The National Grange encourages Congress to positively reform the Social Security System to ensure its future solvency. The National Grange urges the continuing investigation of all Social Security programs ensuring that only those who are eligible are receiving benefits. The National Grange supports using Social Security funds for Social Security programs only. We oppose the utiliza­tion of any funds from the Social Security Trust Fund to achieve a balanced federal budget or for any purpose other than Social Security benefits.

2. We ask Congress to proceed with caution when proposing changes to Social Security and we request that the public be provided with explic­it and concise information concerning any major changes in the Social Security system. For example, we request that the Social Security Administration consider the impact that closing offices or reducing staff would have on rural areas. We further believe that any increase in retirement age must be on a gradual basis during a preset determined amount of time.

3. Returned and/or un-cashed Social Security checks should go back to the Social Security Trust Fund.

4. We support legislation that would increase the penalties for fraud that involves the use of another person’s Social Security number.

5. The National Grange endorses the present computation formula that is used to derive Social Security benefits.

6. The National Grange urges Congress to revise Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs for the elderly and handicapped so that an individual’s benefits will not decrease if they decide to marry. Also, the National Grange will lobby to amend the Social Security Act to assure that a beneficiary is paid for the month of his or her death.

7. The National Grange supports legislation that would remove all Social Security “Earning Limits” for individuals.

8. The National Grange supports any and all federal bills that would eliminate the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provisions, therefore restoring full Social Security benefits to public employees and surviving spouses.

9. The National Grange supports reform that would expedite the application for and processing of Social Security Disability benefits for all clients. We further urge that terminally ill persons be permitted to apply for Social Security Disability benefits upon diagnosis of the terminal illness and the application process be completed within four months of the initial application.

10. The National Grange lobbies to amend the Social Security Act to assure that a beneficiary is paid for the month of his or her death.

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Veterans Affairs

1. The National Grange supports the continued operation of all Veterans’ Hospitals and veterans’ eligibility for medical care and benefits. We further support continuation of the current Disabled Veterans’ Compensation Schedule maintaining the current benefits and the criteria for qualifying. The National Grange encourages addition­al federal funds to be appropriated for the Veterans’ Administra­tion for the purpose of improving the service and care of ser­vicemen in the Veterans’ Administration hospitals.

2. T he National Grange supports the celebration of Veterans Day as a stand-alone holiday, and not in combination with General Election Day, or any other holiday.

3. The National Grange believes disabled veterans should remain eligible to receive all their service related retirements benefits and any other benefits to which they are entitled without offsets or reductions.

6. The National Grange supports allowing all veterans registered in the Veterans Administration health care system and residing in nursing facilities, both private and state owned, to receive their drugs through the VA pharmacies at the patient’s co-pay price prior to admission.

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Telecommunications

1. The National Grange endorses and supports the Rural Telephone Bank.

2. The National Grange supports legislation to promote an integrated telecom­munications network to assure widely available, high quality telecommunica­tions to all of the nation’s users at a reasonable cost as was originally intended by the Communications Acts of 1934 and 1996. We further believe that access to affordable and reliable broadband Internet service is vital to preserving the quality of life in rural America.

The National Grange supports a national broadband policy that will:

3. The National Grange supports any proposed legislation that would let consumers block solicitation calls they do not wish to receive, block computerized automated telephone calls, and bar private companies from calling emergency numbers to make sales pitches. The National Grange supports expansion of the Do-Not-Call list to include computer dialed political telemarketing.

4. The National Grange supports legislation to prevent instal­la­tion of the microcircuit (dubbed “clipper chip”) surveillance devices.

5. The National Grange urges the Federal Communications Commission to establish pilot programs such as an easy-to-dial phone numbers for non-emergency situations.

6. The National Grange recognizes the importance of the Universal Service Fund (USF) to the American public, especially in rural communities.  To this end, the Grange supports the current fair, nondiscriminatory, and competitively neutral revenue-based Universal Service Fund collection system. The National Grange opposes the Federal Communications Commission proposed connection-based “Phone Tax” as it will shift funding for the Universal Service Fund from phone companies with high volume long distance profits to rural and “necessity” phone customers who can least afford additional costs on their basic telephone service. The National Grange further urges the Universal Access charges in the 1996 Telecommunications bill be fully implemented.

7. The National Grange recommends the U.S. Congress and the State Legislatures enact laws that would require the communication industry to continue to transmit information on existing technology for a minimum of 5 years after new technology has been developed and is put into service.

8. The National Grange urges Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to require the broadcast media to maintain a constant volume level during an entire broadcast, including commercials.

9. The National Grange supports expansion of the Do-Not-Call list to include computer dialed political telemarketing.

10. The National Grange will work with telecommunications coalitions to encourage an increase in the number of cellular phone towers in a large amount of rural America.

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Broadcasting

1. The National Grange supports the concept of public broadcasting and urges improved service for our rural communities. The National Grange supports continuing the present level of federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through self-supporting sources of financing.

2. The National Grange supports the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in its efforts to help rural areas receive satellite TV reception. The National Grange supports legislation to ensure that satellite dish owners in rural areas pay no more for their service than cable TV subscribers in the cities do.

3. The National Grange be­lieves that the FCC should prohibit the scrambling of the 24-hour weather information. The National Grange encourages the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue instructions to all radio stations to include weather alerts, covering the city and state from which they are broadcasting.

4. The National Grange supports the continuation of religious broadcasts on radio and television.

5. The National Grange urges Congress to maintain the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a watchdog agency to protect the public from unfair practices and monopolies. We oppose media mergers where one company can control all forms of media. We encourage the FCC to provide ample opportunity for new media companies and medium-sized media companies to be able to compete.

6. The National Grange supports elimination of the foul language, obscenities, and vulgar images used on TV, radio, or public places and fully supports the increased penalties for violations imposed by the FCC. The National Grange supports legislation to prohibit adver­tising the use of the “900” number during child­ren’s shows.

7. The National Grange lobbies the FCC to ban the use of emergency vehicles sirens in all radio advertisements to prevent hazards and confusion on the roadway.

8. The National Grange urges Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to require broadcast media to maintain a constant volume level during an entire broadcast, including commercials.

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Patriotism, Prayer, and Religious Observances

1. The National Grange strongly supports maintaining The Star Spangled Banner as our National Anthem. The National Grange supports legislation to maintain the wording of the current Pledge of Allegiance including the words “Liberty”, and “under God”. The National Grange believes that the Pledge of Allegiance should be recited in every U.S. school classroom, as well as, by members of the U.S. Senate during their opening session each day.

2. The National Grange favors making new national cemetery facilities available.

3. The National Grange urges that emphasis be placed on educating the American public on all aspects of respect for the treatment of the American Flag. We support laws prohibiting the desecration of the American flag. Flag desecration should be classified as a federal felony and the penalty being strictly enforced with no exception. If this law is not upheld, we urge Congress to pass a constitutional amendment that will ban the desecration of the American Flag. The National Grange promotes the permanent display of the American flag in school classrooms. We accept the display of foreign flags in special school study programs. There should be no restriction in displaying the American Flag in any area as long as it is in compliance with the U.S. Flag Code, and any restrictions regarding the display of the American Flag should be made null and void.

4. The National Grange opposes any attempts by any federal, state or local government agency to dictate membership qualifications for any social or fraternal organizations.

5. The National Grange supports adoption of a Religious Freedom Amendment to the United States Constitution. We support the right to practice the religion of our choice without fear of prejudge or persecution. Until then, the National Grange supports an interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, which allows schools, or any other governmental authority, to permit religious prayer, such as invocations and benedictions, as part of any function, especially at graduation ceremonies. The National Grange further supports the right of children to voluntarily participate in prayer in public schools. We support the words “In God We Trust” remaining on our currency and as our national motto. The National Grange supports all public Christmas functions, displays, and/or songs. We believe that all crosses on city emblems or municipal property should remain intact, and further do not believe that courts of law should have jurisdiction to consider lawsuits to remove religious displays from city or municipal property.

6. The National Grange vigorously supports the great traditional principles upon which our nation was founded and will combat any efforts to destroy them.

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Miscellaneous

1. The National Grange supports programs that strengthen families and advocates educational programs that emphasize the importance of families and the prevention of family dysfunction. The consequences of policies and laws should be carefully examined as to their impact on the family unit.

2. The National Grange supports enforcement of laws for the equali­ty of rights for women.

3. The National Grange favors legislation that will allow the Living Will to be recognized as a legal document nationwide, setting forth a person’s desire of death with “dignity”.

4. The National Grange supports any regulations that would prevent any unwarranted sexual behavior, either homosexual or heterosexu­al in the military, governmental, or private sector work place.

5. The National Grange supports all rights that are granted in the United States Constitution or Bill of Rights and urges Congress not to consider legislation eliminate or repeal these rights.

6. The National Grange supports the definition of marriage to be the union of one man and one woman, and supports the neces­sary national laws to withhold any legal recognition from same sex marriag­es.

7. The National Grange opposes the creation of a National Identification Card.

8. T he National Grange urges our U.S. Senators and Representatives to refrain from passing legislation that would make the U.S. Government responsible for making reparation payments to descendents of slaves who worked in the United States.

9. Danger signs on individual gasoline pumps should include a warning of the use of cell phones while in the vicinity of the gasoline pumps, and the operators of gasoline stations should be encouraged to warn customers of the danger when they observe the use of a cell phone by a customer.

10. The National Grange favors a Constitutional amendment to make English the official national language. The National Grange supports legislation to require that English be used on all forms through out the United States.

11. The National Grange favors the establishment of a new branch of the Smithsonian dedicated to the nation’s food and farm heritage.