PURCELLVILLE, VA—In its most recent legislative alerts opposing the Religious Liberty Protection Act (RLPA), Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) publicized the availability of a new toll-free telephone number that citizens could use to connect with Congress.

     HSLDA first learned about the availability of this 800 number through an Internet news service article published on July 13 by WorldNetDaily, and from this article understood it to be a public service provided by Congress.

     HSLDA called the 800 number and verified that it indeed connected with the U.S. Capitol Switchboard, and the operator confirmed its intended availability to provide toll-free public access.

     Unfortunately, both the news article and the operator’s comments were in error. The 800 number was provided by another private lobbying group at their expense.

     HSLDA immediately contacted this group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), to remedy the unfortunate mix-up. HSLDA has assured FAIR that it will cover any of the charges thus far accrued which can be reasonably attributed to HSLDA’s alerts.

     Through the cooperation of both FAIR and HSLDA, the toll-free number has been deactivated to prevent run-away charges for either group.

     HSLDA deeply regrets this unfortunate chain of circumstances and any personal or organizational inconvenience it has caused.