[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 15, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S249-S250]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 34--AFFIRMING THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGIOUS 
   FREEDOM AS A FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT THAT IS ESSENTIAL TO A FREE 
  SOCIETY AND PROTECTED FOR ALL PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES UNDER THE 
     CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, AND RECOGNIZING THE 234TH 
  ANNIVERSARY OF THE ENACTMENT OF THE VIRGINIA STATUTE FOR RELIGIOUS 
                                FREEDOM

  Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Blunt, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. 
Rounds, Mr. Risch, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. 
Cotton, Mr. Braun, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, and Mr. 
Scott of Florida) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                            S. Con. Res. 34

       Whereas the democracy of the United States is rooted in the 
     fundamental truth that all people are created equal, endowed 
     by the Creator with certain inalienable rights, including 
     life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;
       Whereas the freedom of conscience was highly valued by--
       (1) individuals seeking religious freedom who settled in 
     the colonies in the United States;
       (2) the founders of the United States; and
       (3) Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in a letter to the Society 
     of the Methodist Episcopal Church at New London, Connecticut, 
     dated February 4, 1809, that ``[n]o provision in our 
     Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which 
     protects the rights of conscience against the enterprizes of 
     the civil authority'';
       Whereas the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was--
       (1) drafted by Thomas Jefferson, who considered the 
     Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom to be one of his 
     greatest achievements;
       (2) enacted on January 16, 1786; and
       (3) the forerunner to the Free Exercise Clause of the First 
     Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;

       Whereas section 2(a) of the International Religious Freedom 
     Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401(a)) states that--
       (1) ``[t]he right to freedom of religion undergirds the 
     very origin and existence of the United States''; and
       (2) religious freedom was established by the founders of 
     the United States ``in law, as a fundamental right and as a 
     pillar of our Nation'';
       Whereas the role of religion in society and public life in 
     the United States has a long and robust tradition;
       Whereas individuals who have studied the democracy of the 
     United States from an international perspective, such as 
     Alexis de Tocqueville, have noted that religion plays a 
     central role in preserving the Government of the United 
     States because religion provides the moral base required for 
     democracy to succeed;
       Whereas, in Town of Greece v. Galloway, 134 S. Ct. 1811 
     (2014), the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed that 
     ``people of many faiths may be united in a community of 
     tolerance and devotion'';
       Whereas the principle of religious freedom ``has guided our 
     Nation forward'', as expressed by the 44th President of the 
     United States in a Presidential proclamation on Religious 
     Freedom Day in 2011, and freedom of religion ``is a universal 
     human right to be protected here at home and across the 
     globe'', as expressed by that President of the United States 
     on Religious Freedom Day in 2013;
       Whereas ``[f]reedom of religion is a fundamental human 
     right that must be upheld by every nation and guaranteed by 
     every government'', as expressed by the 42nd President of the 
     United States in a Presidential proclamation on Religious 
     Freedom Day in 1999;
       Whereas the First Amendment to the Constitution of the 
     United States protects--
       (1) the right of individuals to freely express and act on 
     the religious beliefs of those individuals; and
       (2) individuals from coercion to profess or act on a 
     religious belief to which those individuals do not adhere;
       Whereas ``our laws and institutions should not impede or 
     hinder but rather should protect and preserve fundamental 
     religious liberties'', as expressed by the 42nd President of 
     the United States in remarks accompanying the signing of the 
     Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb 
     et seq.);
       Whereas, for countless people of the United States, faith 
     is an integral part of every aspect of daily life and is not 
     limited to the homes, houses of worship, or doctrinal creeds 
     of those individuals;
       Whereas ``religious faith has inspired many of our fellow 
     citizens to help build a better Nation'' in which ``people of 
     faith continue to wage a determined campaign to meet needs 
     and fight suffering'', as expressed by the 43rd President of 
     the United States in a Presidential proclamation on Religious 
     Freedom Day in 2003;

[[Page S250]]

       Whereas, ``[f]rom its birth to this day, the United States 
     has prized this legacy of religious freedom and honored this 
     heritage by standing for religious freedom and offering 
     refuge to those suffering religious persecution'', as noted 
     in section 2(a) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 
     1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401(a));
       Whereas Thomas Jefferson wrote--
       (1) in 1798 that each right encompassed in the First 
     Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is 
     dependent on the other rights described in that Amendment, 
     ``thereby guarding in the same sentence, and under the same 
     words, the freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press: 
     insomuch, that whatever violated either, throws down the 
     sanctuary which covers the others''; and
       (2) in 1822 that the constitutional freedom of religion is 
     ``the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights'';
       Whereas religious freedom ``has been integral to the 
     preservation and development of the United States'', and 
     ``the free exercise of religion goes hand in hand with the 
     preservation of our other rights'', as expressed by the 41st 
     President of the United States in a Presidential proclamation 
     on Religious Freedom Day in 1993; and
       Whereas we ``continue to proclaim the fundamental right of 
     all peoples to believe and worship according to their own 
     conscience, to affirm their beliefs openly and freely, and to 
     practice their faith without fear or intimidation'', as 
     expressed by the 42nd President of the United States in a 
     Presidential proclamation on Religious Freedom Day in 1998: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) on Religious Freedom Day on January 16, 2020, honors 
     the 234th anniversary of the enactment of the Virginia 
     Statute for Religious Freedom; and
       (2) affirms that--
       (A) for individuals of any faith and individuals of no 
     faith, religious freedom includes the right of an individual 
     to live, work, associate, and worship in accordance with the 
     beliefs of the individual;
       (B) all people of the United States can be unified in 
     supporting religious freedom, regardless of differing 
     individual beliefs, because religious freedom is a 
     fundamental human right; and
       (C) ``the American people will remain forever unshackled in 
     matters of faith'', as expressed by the 44th President of the 
     United States in a Presidential proclamation on Religious 
     Freedom Day in 2012.

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