[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 81 (Monday, June 14, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S6729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ORAL ARGUMENTS

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, today the United States Supreme Court 
issued its decision in the case of Elk Grove Unified School District v. 
Michael Newdon. In Elk Grove, as my colleagues are very much aware, the 
United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that 
the phrase ``under God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance was 
unconstitutional. On an 8 to 0 vote the Supreme Court dismissed the 
case on procedural grounds. The ruling effectively preserves the right 
of children in public schools to recite the full Pledge of Allegiance. 
I applaud the decision of the Supreme Court.
  It is truly right, and a bit ironic, that the Supreme Court issued 
its decision today on ``Flag Day.'' Today is also the Golden 
Anniversary of congressional action that added the words ``under God'' 
to the Pledge of Allegiance.
  I commend Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Judges Sandra Day 
O'Connor and Clarence Thomas who agreed, I believe properly, that the 
decision by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit should 
be overturned not on the standing issue but instead because the words 
``under God'' in the pledge do not violate the Constitution.
  In response to the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, I 
introduced Senate Resolution 71, which passed this body by a 94 to 0 
vote. The resolution expressed the sense of the Senate that we 
``strongly disapprove'' the decision of the Ninth Circuit and further 
instructed the Senate Legal Counsel to intervene in the case to defend 
the constitutionality of the words ``under God'' in the Pledge and if 
unable to intervene, to file an amicus curiae brief in support of 
continuing the constitutionality of the words ``under God'' in the 
Pledge.
  I do not if my colleagues have had the opportunity to read the amicus 
curiae brief filed on behalf of the United States Senate. But I want to 
compliment Patricia Mack Bryan, the Senate Legal Counsel; Morgan J. 
Frankel, the Deputy Senate Legal Counsel; and Grant Vinik and Thomas 
Caballero, who are Assistant Senate Legal Counsels. I know they worked 
hard on the brief that was filed in December. They said in the brief:

       The First Congress not only acknowledged a proper role for 
     religion in public life, but did so at the very time it 
     drafted the Establishment Clause.

  They also noted that:

     the Public manifestations of our Nation's religious heritage 
     include ``an unbroken history of official acknowledgement by 
     all three branches of the government.

  The mere reference to a Higher Being or God does not amount to a 
breach of the establishment clause of the Constitution.
  The children born of this century will probably never appreciate the 
cold war and how in the early fifties, our country felt threatened by 
China, Russia and the spread of communism. It was in that historical 
context that Congress added the phrase ``under God'' to the pledge. As 
the Senate Legal Counsel related in their brief, the legislative 
history makes clear that Congress wanted to give credence to the 
fundamental truth that a Government deriving its powers from the 
consent of the governed must look to God for divine leadership.
  There can be no doubt our Founding Fathers believed then, as I firmly 
believe today, that our Nation was founded on a fundamental belief in 
God, and that the actions we take here in the United States Senate and 
those of our children when they start their day in school each morning 
must be governed by the principles invoked by a belief in a dedication 
to our Country and to God, by whatever name you choose to make 
reference to that power and foundation.
  I welcome the decision of the United States Supreme Court that 
preserves the right of our children and ourselves to say the words 
``under God'' in our Pledge of Allegiance.

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