[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 22, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: March 22, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
VOLUNTARY SCHOOL PRAYER
Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, yesterday, by a vote of 345 to 64, the
House of Representatives agreed to withhold Federal education funds
from school districts that prohibit students from engaging in voluntary
prayer in public school. I applaud my colleagues in the House for this
vote and especially commend Congressman Johnson of Texas who drafted
the language. This amendment should remain in the bill which will
provide Federal aid to elementary and secondary school programs.
Also, my good friend and colleague, Senator Helms, had offered a
similar amendment to S. 1150, the Goals 2000, Educate America Act,
which was adopted in the Senate by a vote of 75 to 22. However, the
House-Senate conference on Goals 2000, in a hasty manner, adopted so-
called compromise language on the Helms amendment which completely
misses the mark of the original Senate position. Hopefully, this action
will not stand and the Senate will have the opportunity to reiterate
its position on voluntary prayer in public schools.
Mr. President, last year on the first legislative day of the 103d
Congress, I introduced Senate Joint Resolution 9 which is a proposed
constitutional amendment to allow voluntary school prayer. This bill is
essentially the same as legislation which I introduced at the request
of President Reagan in March 1983, during the 98th Congress. I
reintroduced this amendment in the 99th, 100th, 101st, and 102d
Congress. This proposal would restore the right to pray voluntarily in
pubic schools--a right which was freely exercised under our
Constitution for 170 years until the Supreme Court ruled to the
contrary.
Until the Supreme Court ruled in the Engel and Abington school
district decisions, the establishment clause of the first amendment was
generally understood to prohibit the Federal Government from officially
approving, or holding in special favor, any particular faith or
denomination. In crafting that clause, our Founding Fathers sought to
prevent what had originally caused many colonial Americans to emigrate
to this country--an official, state religion. At the same time, they
sought, through the free exercise clause, to guarantee to all Americans
the freedom to worship God without government interference or
restraint. In their wisdom, they recognized that true religious liberty
precluded the government from both forcing and preventing worship.
In the 1960's, in one fell swoop, the Supreme Court overturned the
long-settled public policies of tens of thousands of communities across
the country. A moment of voluntary prayer at the start of the school
day--a policy that had enriched the education of generations of school
children since the founding of the Republic--was determined by the
Supreme Court to be a menace to the first amendment.
Mr. President, every morning we open the Senate and begin our workday
with the comfort and stimulus of voluntary prayer. As a nation, we
continue to recognize God in our Pledge of Allegiance by affirming that
we are a nation ``under God.'' Our currency is inscribed with the
motto, ``In God We Trust.'' It is time we restored the simple freedom
of our citizens to offer prayer in our public schools and institutions.
The public expression through prayer and recognition in other ways of
our faith in God is a fundamental part of our American heritage. It
should not be excluded from our public schools.
Mr. President, our liberty springs from and depends upon an abiding
faith in God. This has been clear from the time of George Washington,
who stated in his farewell address:
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political
prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports
* * *. And let us with caution indulge the supposition that
morality can be maintained without religion * * * [R]eason
and experience both forbid us to expect that national
morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
Mr. President, there is much discussion across this Nation on the
breakdown of values and morality. There are concerns of violence in
schools threatening the safety of teachers and students alike and
undermining a sound learning environment. Of course, school prayer is
not the panacea to end all problems, but I am confident that it will
considerably add to the well-being and character development of
America's children.
Again, I commend the recent action by the House of Representatives
and believe that we must rededicate our efforts to amending the
Constitution to return voluntary prayer to public schools.
I yield the floor.
Mr. HELMS addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
Mr. HELMS. I thank the Chair.
Mr. President, let me express my appreciation to the distinguished
Senator from South Carolina for his remarks. He and I have fought this
battle for 21 years, to my knowledge. And as long as I am in the
Senate, we will continue to do our best to restore voluntary prayer in
the schools. It should never have been eliminated in the first place.
If I may, I should like to ask the distinguished Senator from South
Carolina one question.
The Senator was a conferee on the Goals 2000, was he not?
Mr. THURMOND. That is correct.
Mr. HELMS. Is it not a fact that all of the issues had been
ostensibly taken care of over several days of meetings, and the Helms
amendment was put off to be the last item to be resolved by the
conferees? And after that, it is my understanding that the so-called
compromise language on the Helms amendment--which was not a compromise
because the Democratic staff knew the language was unacceptable from
the minute it was first proposed--was hastily adopted with virtually no
debate during literally the last minute or two of the conference. Is
that the understanding of the Senator from South Carolina?
Mr. THURMOND. That is my understanding. I was necessarily absent but
my staff was present and informed me of the situation.
Mr. HELMS. I understand.
It is a fact, is it not, that both the House and the Senate by
overwhelming margins had approved what has come to be known as the
Helms amendment? Is that correct?
Mr. THURMOND. That is correct. The Senate passed the amendment of the
Senator from North Carolina overwhelmingly by a vote of 75-22, and the
House passed the same language overwhelmingly yesterday by a vote of
345 to 64.
Mr. HELMS. Prior to that, I ask the Senator, is it not a fact that
the House of Representatives had instructed by an overwhelming vote
their conferees to retain the Helms amendment on the Goals 2000 bill?
Mr. THURMOND. I was informed that that was the case.
Mr. HELMS. I thank the Senator.
I want to say to the Senator that I have no desire whatsoever to
delay the Senate in its quest for adjournment or recess on Thursday of
this week. But unless and until the Helms amendment is restored to the
Goals 2000 bill, this Senate runs the risk of being in session. And I
will do my best to correct the error in judgment that was made by the
senior Senator from Massachusetts on this issue in conference.
I do not want to delay any Senator from going home. I do not want to
delay myself. But this issue is so significant to what we hope to
restore to this country. We could pass all the laws we want to about
drugs, crime, and all the rest of it. But unless we get back on a moral
and spiritual footing, I do not believe this country has a chance.
Does the Senator agree with that?
Mr. THURMOND. This is a vital issue. It concerns our society as a
whole, and I am confident that we ought to pass this. And I think it
will improve the social situation in the entire Nation.
Mr. HELMS. Again, I thank the Senator for his kind remarks. I thank
the Chair.
I yield the floor.
Mr. THURMOND. Again, I commend the able Senator from North Carolina.
Mr. HELMS. I thank the Senator.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Mikulski). The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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