IV 112th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 789 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 19, 2012 Mr. Fincher submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Reaffirming the importance of religion in the lives of United States citizens and their freedom to exercise those beliefs peacefully.

Whereas the first act of Congress in 1774 was a prayer, and Congress still begins its daily sessions with prayer today; Whereas State conventions from 1787 to 1788 that met to ratify the United States Constitution began with prayer; Whereas the constitutions of each of the 50 States explicitly have recognized or expressed gratitude to God in either the preamble or body; Whereas every President in United States history has recognized God and religious faith in the public life of the Nation; Whereas since the earliest years of the United States, Congress has appropriated money yearly to pay Congressional and military chaplains; Whereas Congress passed a law in 1865 to have the phrase In God We Trust engraved on United States coinage in 1865; Whereas the phrase In God We Trust became the national motto in 1956 and is prominently displayed in both the United States House and Senate Chambers; Whereas the Bible is the best-selling book of all time; Whereas a Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey from 2007 shows that 92 percent of United States citizens believe in God and 78.4 percent identify themselves with Christianity; Whereas of the $298,420,000,000 of charitable contributions made in the United States in 2010, 32 percent, or $95,880,000,000, went to religious organizations according to the National Park Service; Whereas, from September 2010 to September 2011, 64,300,000 people in the United States volunteered and 33.2 percent did so for religious organizations, the highest percentage of all categories according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and Whereas a 2006 to 2007 study by the Association of Religion Data Archives shows that 30.3 percent of religious people perform charity work, and of that 30.3 percent, 75.9 percent are part of Christian congregations: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1)reaffirms the importance of religion in the lives of United States citizens and their freedom to exercise those beliefs peacefully; (2)recognizes that Judeo-Christian heritage has played a strong role in the development of the United States and in the lives of many of the Nation’s citizens; (3)rejects efforts to remove evidence of Judeo-Christian heritage and references to God from public structures and resources; and (4)expresses support for preserving the freedom to exercise religious beliefs in the United States.