[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 23, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S4972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 96--TO COMMEMORATE, CELEBRATE, AND 
     REAFFIRM THE NATIONAL MOTTO OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE 50TH 
                   ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FORMAL ADOPTION

  Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself and Mr. Byrd) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary:

                            S. Con. Res. 96

       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 the 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

       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), 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.

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