[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17406]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        THE CHRISTMAS RESOLUTION

  (Mr. LAMBORN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, it is the most wonderful time of the year, 
a time when millions of Americans gather together to celebrate 
Christmas. For many of us, Christmas is a time to remember the humble 
birth of our Savior on a holy night more than 2,000 years ago in the 
town of Bethlehem. We give thanks for Jesus' message of love and peace 
and remember the sacrifice He made for us all. It is a season of 
giving, of love, and of joy.
  According to a recent poll, 9 out of 10 Americans celebrate 
Christmas. Sadly, however, there is a troubling effort in America led 
by a vocal minority to remove the symbols and traditions of Christmas 
from the public arena.
  There have been many examples of atheist groups working to remove 
public nativity displays and other decorations. Just last year in my 
home State of Colorado, an anti-religious organization filed a lawsuit 
against school officials for their support of student-led involvement 
with Operation Christmas Child.
  Mr. Speaker, these petty efforts by groups offended by the religious 
significance of Christmas violates the freedom of religion our Founding 
Fathers provided for us in the Constitution. This Congress and in 
Congresses past, I have introduced a resolution to protect the symbols 
and traditions of Christmas for those who celebrate the holiday.
  The resolution also disapproves of efforts to ban references to 
Christmas. We must not allow those who chose to take offense to shut 
down the religious celebration of every other American.

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