III 109th CONGRESS 2d Session S. CON. RES. 96 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 23, 2006 Mr. Brownback (for himself and Mr. Byrd) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary CONCURRENT RESOLUTION To commemorate, celebrate, and reaffirm the national motto of the United States on the 50th anniversary of its formal adoption.

Whereas the phrase In God We Trust is the national motto of the United States; Whereas, from the colonial beginnings of the United States, citizens of the Nation have officially acknowledged their dependence on God; Whereas, in 1694, the phrase God Preserve Our Carolina and the Lords Proprietors was engraved on the Carolina cent and the phrase God Preserve Our New England was inscribed on coins that were minted in New England during that year; Whereas, while declaring the independence of the United States from Great Britain, the Founding Fathers of the Nation asserted: We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.; Whereas those signers of the Declaration of Independence further declared: And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.; Whereas, in 1782, one of the great leaders of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, wrote: [C]an the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?; Whereas the distinguished founding statesman, Benjamin Franklin, when speaking in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention, declared: Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance. I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel. . . .; Whereas the national hero and first President, George Washington, proclaimed in his first inaugural address in 1789: [I]t would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and the happiness of the people of the United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge.; Whereas one stanza of the Star Spangled Banner, which was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 and adopted as the national anthem of the United States in 1931, states: O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand, Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation; Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: In God is our trust! And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!; Whereas, in 1861, the Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, while instructing James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, stated: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins. You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.; Whereas the phrase In God We Trust first appeared on a coin of the United States in 1864; Whereas, in 1955, the phrase In God We Trust was designated as a mandatory phrase to be inscribed on all currency and coins of the United States; Whereas, on March 28, 1956, the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, in its report accompanying H. J. Res. 396 (84th Congress), stated: It will be of great spiritual and psychological value to our country to have a clearly designated national motto of inspirational quality in plain, popularly accepted English.; Whereas, on July 30, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed H. J. Res. 396 (84th Congress), making the phrase In God We Trust the official motto of the United States; and Whereas the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the formal adoption of the national motto of the United States, In God We Trust, presents an opportunity for the citizens of the United States to reaffirm the concept embodied in that motto that— (1)the proper role of civil government is derived from the consent of the governed, who are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; and (2)the success of civil government relies firmly on the protection of divine Providence: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)commemorates the 50th anniversary of the national motto of the United States, In God We Trust; (2)celebrates the national motto as— (A)a fundamental aspect of the national life of the citizens of the United States; and (B)a phrase that is central to the hopes and vision of the Founding Fathers for the perpetuity of the United States; (3)reaffirms today that the substance of the national motto is no less vital to the future success of the Nation; and (4)encourages the citizens of the United States to reflect on— (A)the national motto of the United States; and (B)the integral part that the national motto of the United States has played in the life of the Nation, before and after its official adoption.