[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 11830]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the issue of 
religious freedom. The freedom to believe and worship how one chooses 
is essential. However, as we strive for greater religious freedom and 
tolerance throughout the world, we have witnessed activist judges chip 
away at our own religious freedoms. These activist judges have worked 
diligently to restrict our rights to express our religious beliefs 
under the guise of separation of church and state.
  Many of the court decisions that have broadened Americans' first 
amendment right to free speech, overreach. In an effort to promote 
tolerance, religious expression is in fact, being censored.
  Our Founding Fathers proclaimed liberty to be an unalienable right 
bestowed by our Creator--``We hold these Truths to be self-evident, 
that all men are . . . endowed by their Creator with certain 
unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit 
of Happiness . . .'' Yet unelected, activist judges are rewriting 
history. They have decided that, in fact, the Founding Fathers did not 
intend for there to be freedom of religious expression but, rather, 
freedom from religious expression.
  Thirty years of public opinion polls have shown that more than 75 
percent of Americans support a constitutional amendment to protect 
voluntary school prayer. However, the Supreme Court has said such an 
act violates the constitutional separation of church and state--again, 
another act that forces freedom from religious expression rather than 
freedom of religious expression.
  It is not simply this decision but a growing and disturbing trend in 
our Federal courts to deny the rights of our States and our citizens to 
acknowledge God openly and freely. In fact, reciting the words ``one 
Nation under God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance has been ruled 
unconstitutional as has displaying the Ten Commandments in a State 
building in my home State of Alabama. These tortured legal decisions 
distort our Constitution, our Nation's history and its tradition in an 
effort to secularize our system of government and divest morality from 
our rule of law.
  We simply cannot divest God from our country. Our country has no 
foundation without a basic recognition that God invests us at birth 
with basic individual rights that we all enjoy as Americans. In fact, 
our Government and our laws are based on Judeo-Christian values and a 
recognition of God as our Creator.
  Our motto is ``In God We Trust.'' It is enshrined on our currency.
  Our national anthem recognizes our motto as ``In God is Our Trust.''
  As Federal officials, each of us has taken an oath of office. The 
President takes a similar one. State and local officials and our 
military personnel all swear a similar oath. Jurors and witnesses in 
our State and Federal courts take an oath as do witnesses before 
Congress. We all swear to uphold the Constitution or tell the truth, 
``so help me God.''
  Our courts, including the Supreme Court, recognize God in their 
official proceedings, both the House and Senate acknowledge God through 
an opening prayer every morning. Our public buildings and monuments 
honor this heritage through various depictions of the basic moral 
foundations of our laws and system of government.
  My point is that you simply cannot divest God from our country. 
Despite the actions of these activist judges, our country has no 
foundation without a basic recognition that God invests us at birth 
with basic individual rights--such as the blessings of liberty--that we 
all enjoy as Americans.
  Again, I believe that the courts have exceeded their power. They have 
overreached. To that end, I have introduced the Constitution 
Restoration Act. This legislation recognizes the rights of the States 
and the people as embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the 
Constitution--9th and 10th amendments--to acknowledge God.
  The Constitution Restoration Act goes to the very foundation of our 
country and the legitimacy of our system of government. Thomas 
Jefferson in his first inaugural address said that ``The wisdom of our 
sages and the blood of our heros have been devoted to [the] 
attainment'' of our liberty and form of government.
  If we are to maintain our form of government, we must ensure that 
activist judges are not permitted to take away our religious liberties. 
The very foundation of our government cannot and should not be expunged 
from public view--an unelected Federal judiciary should not be allowed 
to outlaw all public acknowledgments of God. We must protect our very 
basic freedom of religious expression.
  Mr. President, I encourage my colleagues to work with me to protect 
this basic freedom by supporting the Constitution Restoration Act.

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