Conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly beamed during tributes at her 80th birthday party September 18th; VIP guests included former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp and his wife Joanne.  Read full story: Schlafly's tenacity praised  Photographs by James R. Brantley/The Washington Times

One truly inspiring aspect of the conference was the number of young people in attendance: Teen Eagles and Eagle Collegians seemed to account for nearly one fourth of the attendees! Their chapters and membership are on the rise around the country.

Eagle state chairmen and leaders met Thursday evening and Friday morning to share their reports of awesome successes in their states.

The conference program was packed with outstanding presentations. It opened Friday afternoon with excellent presentations on "Saving the Pro-life Platform," "Truth vs. Myth about Stem Cells," and "Taxpayer Protection," led by Eagle Colleen Parro, Dr. David Prentice, and Grover Norquist, respectively. Dr. Steven Rhoads spoke on "Feminist Weapon of Masculine Destruction," and signed copies of his book, Taking Sex Differences Seriously.

The Friday evening banquet featured an optimistic, encouraging address by Dr. D. James Kennedy, and the presentation of Eagle Forum's Fulltime Homemaker Award to his lovely wife Anne. Exciting evening panels were presented on 2004 Campaigns (Lori Waters); Immigration (Erin Anderson); Judges as an Election Issue (Phyllis Schlafly); and Fundraising (Janine Hansen).

Saturday opened with presentations on "The High Cost of Illegal Aliens," by Susan Tully; "The Power of Polls in Politics," by Kellyanne Conway of The Polling Company; "Private Enterprise is the Solution to Health Care," by Andy Schlafly; and "How Vote Fraud Threatens Our Democracy," by John Fund, who signed copies of his just-released book, Stealing Elections. Friday's luncheon featured the presentation of Eagle Awards and a speech on "What's Wrong with Free Trade of the Americas," by Alan Tonelson of the U.S. Business and Industry Council. The afternoon program included emphasis on "The Danger of Mental Health Programs in Schools" by Dr. Karen Effrem and Kent Snyder; "Deceptive School Programs" by Georgiana Preskar, author of Seeds of Deception, "How to Curb the Imperial Judiciary" by Rep. Robert Aderholt; "The Clinton Legacy," by the Hon. Bob Barr, and "Challenges of College Campuses" by Dr. Mike Adams, author of Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel.

On Sunday morning, following church services, an inspirational panel on "Eagles Do the Impossible" featured Marsha Richards' "Victory for Paycheck Protection," Nevada Eagle Forum leader Janine Hansen's dramatic arrest, vindication, and victory over "High Tax Bureaucrats"; Teen Eagle Tim Bueler's nationwide leadership in "Starting a High School School Conservative Club"; Eagle Forum's Legislative Director and PAC director Lori Waters' stories of "Elections We Weren't Supposed to Win"; and the articulate young Jonathan Krive, who won the national Right to Life Oratorical Contest ("1/3 of My Generation is Missing").

The Council was brought to a perfect conclusion by the Sunday luncheon speech from Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly herself, in which she gave her "marching orders" to the assembled Eagles. Regarding presidential politics, she urged us to support President Bush and work for his re-election, since he represents a clear contrast to John Kerry on all the right to life issues, same-sex marriage, gun ownership, and national defense. She urged the Eagles to give serious consideration to who should be our candidate for President in 2008. There is no clear leading conservative now; but it is obvious that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is already running for the nomination.

Mrs. Schlafly urged us to join the battle now against activist judges, by reading her new book, The Supremacists, in order to understand how the left achieves its agenda (which is disdained by the American people, and cannot be attained through our elected representatives) by means of rulings by out-of-control, liberal judges who legislate from the bench. Congress can and must control them. Our Constitution gives Congress the power to create and regulate the courts, and to limit their jurisdiction over specific issues. This power has been used often in the past, most notably recently when Senator Daschle got through a bill to prohibit federal courts from hearing cases about brush clearing in South Dakota.

The House has already passed the Marriage Protection Act (H.R. 3313), limiting federal court jurisdiction on cases arising under the "full faith and credit" clause of the Defense of Marriage Act. Additional issues which need to be removed from federal court jurisdiction include pornography, displaying of the Ten Commandments, and the Pledge of Allegiance. Mrs. Schlafly urged all Eagles to contact their congressman and senators right away, at (202) 224-3121, and ask them to vote for H.R. 2028, which would remove federal court jurisdiction over the Pledge of Allegiance.

The climax of her remarks was the introduction of Eagle Forum's new American Citizenship Project, which will go into action after the November elections. It is aimed at restoring and reaffirming the value and importance of American citizenship and America's precious national sovereignty. On the state level, it includes lobbying to keep driver's licenses from illegal aliens, refusing to accept Mexico's "matricula consular" certificates as valid I.D.; and refusing in-state tuition rates to illegals. On the federal level, it includes abolishing amnesty programs, passage of the Clear Act; abolishing federal funding for bilingual education; and addressing the problems caused by NAFTA.

The Council was brought to a close with the traditional singing of "Onward Christian Soldiers" and " 'Til We Meet Again."