[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 65 (Wednesday, May 20, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H3592-H3593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ISTOOK AMENDMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, probably not many Members are aware of this 
but perhaps the first day after our return from Memorial Day recess, 
the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook) will make an effort to do 
something that has never been done in the

[[Page H3593]]

history of the United States. On that Wednesday when we return he will 
move that we vote on a constitutional amendment, for the first time in 
the history of our country, to amend the Bill of Rights, not only the 
Bill of Rights but the first 16 words of the First Amendment of the 
Bill of Rights designed to defend religion against intrusion by the 
Federal Government.
  Mr. Speaker, I have spoken previously from the well of this House 
outlining that the arguments in favor of this constitutional amendment 
are really based on false premises. The premise that there is no 
religion in school, that somehow government and liberal Federal judges 
have taken religion out of our schools when, in fact, Time Magazine 
recently documented that there are thousands of public schools all over 
America that have bible worship groups and religion prayer groups both 
before and after school. The fact is that prayer is allowed in 
America's public schools, as long as that prayer is not prescribed by 
government officials or forced upon students involuntarily.
  I have talked about all of these issues and I have talked about the 
downside of some of the things that could happen under the Istook 
amendment. What I would like to do with just several days left before 
we have this historic vote on the floor of the House is to raise some 
questions that I hope the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook) and 
supporters of this effort to amend our Nation's Bill of Rights would be 
willing to answer before we have this vote. Let me just list some of 
these kinds of questions that, as of the debate so far, have been left 
unanswered.
  First, under the Istook amendment, who will decide which religious 
prayers are heard in a public forum? Who will determine what prayers 
are said in the classroom? Second, will 9-year-old students in public 
classes be deciding which prayers are heard? Third, would the 
determination of which prayers are said be based on the percentage of 
students in that religion at a particular school in that community or 
that State? Or would that decision be made by a committee of students, 
perhaps 9-year-olds, perhaps 10-year-olds to select prayers. Fourth, 
who would ensure that minorities are not excluded from offering their 
public prayers in school and over the PA system? What if a committee, 
for example, of students decides that a Jewish prayer or another prayer 
simply will not be allowed? Who will protect the rights of minorities 
in such a majority rule situation? Will it be first graders and second 
graders and third graders in our public school classrooms that will be 
forced to defend the constitutional rights as outlined in our First 
Amendment by our Founding Fathers? If not, the alternative is to allow 
government officials, teachers, administrators to make that decision of 
which prayers will be allowed and which rules will be used.
  Next I would ask this question: Would a Satanic prayer be allowed in 
the public school classrooms under the Istook amendment? Would the 
Santerias, defined by our courts as a religion in America, be allowed 
to participate in their prayer ritual in our schools, part of which 
concerns or part of which includes animal sacrifices? Will that be 
allowed in the third grade classrooms of America's schools? If not, 
will it be the teachers or school administrators or government 
officials deciding which prayer ritual is okay and which is not?
  The next question I would raise is, would this amendment prevent a 
teacher from proselytizing his or her students? Additionally, I do not 
see anything in the Istook amendment that would prohibit outside 
religious groups from proselytizing young children, including first 
graders, on public school grounds. It seems to me that under the Istook 
amendment, the experience that many of us have in our Nation's 
airports, being accosted by religious groups and sometimes religious 
cults, is going to be replicated on thousands of public school grounds 
all over America.
  That is the question that the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook) 
and the proponents of this effort to, in my opinion, massacre the Bill 
of Rights and the First Amendment thereof have an obligation to answer 
before we cast this historic vote in a couple of weeks.
  Next question, will a wiccan be able to hold a ceremony in a public 
school cafeteria? It appears from the language of the Istook amendment 
the answer to that would be yes. Next question, will students be able 
to read Satanic prayers over the PA system in our public schools every 
morning? Next, will judges be allowed to lead juries in prayer before 
consideration of a court case? If so, would a judge be allowed to 
recite the bible and the verse that talks about an eye for an eye or a 
tooth for a tooth before the jury makes its decision?
  All of these unanswered questions ought to be answered by the 
supporters of the Istook amendment before we vote to amend the Bill of 
Rights.

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