[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1558 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
1st Session
S. 1558
To restore religious freedoms.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 1 (legislative day, July 21), 2003
Mr. Allard introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To restore religious freedoms.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Religious Liberties Restoration
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Declaration of Independence declares that
governments are instituted to secure certain unalienable
rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,
with which all human beings are endowed by their Creator and to
which they are entitled by the laws of nature and of nature's
God.
(2) The organic laws of the United States Code and the
constitutions of every State, using various expressions,
recognize God as the source of the blessings of liberty.
(3) The first amendment to the Constitution secures rights
against laws respecting an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof made by the Federal
Government.
(4) The rights secured under the first amendment have been
interpreted by the Federal courts to be included among the
provisions of the 14th amendment.
(5) The 10th amendment reserves to the States,
respectively, the powers not delegated to the Federal
Government nor prohibited to the States.
(6) Disputes and doubts have arisen with respect to public
displays of the Ten Commandments and to other public expression
of religious faith.
(7) Section 5 of the 14th amendment grants Congress the
power to enforce the provisions of the 14th amendment.
(8) Article III, section 2 of the Constitution grants
Congress the authority to except certain matters from the
jurisdiction of the Federal courts inferior to the Supreme
Court.
SEC. 3. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY RIGHTS DECLARED.
(a) Display of Ten Commandments.--The power to display the Ten
Commandments on or within property owned or administered by the several
States or political subdivisions of such States is among the powers
reserved to the States, respectively.
(b) Word ``God'' in Pledge of Allegiance.--The power to recite the
Pledge of Allegiance on or within property owned or administered by the
several States or political subdivisions of such States is among the
powers reserved to the States, respectively. The Pledge of Allegiance
shall be, ``I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of
America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God,
indivisible, with Liberty and justice for all.''.
(c) Motto ``In God We Trust''.--The power to recite the national
motto on or within property owned or administered by the several States
or political subdivisions of such States is among the powers reserved
to the States, respectively. The national motto shall be, ``In God we
trust''.
(d) Exercise of Congressional Power To Except.--The subject matter
of subsections (a), (b), and (c) are excepted from the jurisdiction of
Federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court.
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