[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9204]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   AMERICANS' RIGHT TO LIVE IN FAITH

  (Mr. BIGGS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, during his confirmation hearing to become 
President Trump's Deputy Director for the Office of Management and 
Budget, Russ Vought faced inappropriate and unconstitutional lines of 
questioning from two of the Budget Committee's Democratic Senators 
directly relating to his Christian faith.
  A Senator took direct issue with an article Mr. Vought wrote last 
year describing a core tenet of the Christian faith that salvation 
comes through faith in Jesus Christ. After attempting to twist that 
belief into a claim that Mr. Vought is hateful and discriminatory 
toward non-Christians, Senator Sanders said: ``This nominee is really 
not someone who this country is supposed to be about. I will vote 
`no.'''
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vought's qualifications are excellent. To take the 
view of Senator Sanders that is clearly tied to a disagreement over a 
religious tenet is discriminatory in and of itself.
  Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution states ``no religious test shall 
ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under 
the United States.''
  Mr. Vought's Christian faith should not have been the subject of this 
harsh questioning, and no excuse should ever justify a public official 
putting someone's faith on trial. We should not ignore this episode 
but, rather, stand in defense of Mr. Vought's right to live his faith 
as we defend the religious freedom of all Americans.

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