Celebrating the country's history of church-state separation and recognizing the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1415 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1415

   Celebrating the country's history of church-state separation and 
recognizing the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 2, 2026

  Mr. Huffman (for himself, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Ansari, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. 
Brownley, Mr. Casten, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Dexter, Mr. Doggett, 
   Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Garcia of California, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Ms. 
Lofgren, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Norton, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Randall, Mr. Sorensen, 
and Ms. Tokuda) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
          to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
   Celebrating the country's history of church-state separation and 
recognizing the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

Whereas one of the founding principles of the United States was religious 
        freedom for all individuals to choose their own religious beliefs, 
        including no religious beliefs at all;
Whereas the United States represented a beacon of freedom for early European 
        settlers fleeing religious persecution and conflict who sought to 
        practice their religion without government intervention;
Whereas Indigenous Americans had a profound diversity of religious beliefs which 
        continue to be practiced today;
Whereas the Founding Fathers understood that a new form of government rooted in 
        the consent of the governed was incompatible with monarchy and religious 
        absolutism;
Whereas, in 1776, Thomas Paine affirmed that ``in America the law is king'', 
        writing, ``For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free 
        countries the law ought to be King'';
Whereas the Founding Fathers erected a legal separation between church and state 
        as the legal foundation of religious freedom;
Whereas the Founders' fundamental principles were manifested in the creation of 
        the First Amendment to the Constitution, which states that ``Congress 
        shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or 
        prohibiting the free exercise thereof'';
Whereas 2 clauses of the First Amendment, the Free Exercise Clause and the 
        Establishment Clause, have been an important bulwark in allowing 
        religious pluralism to thrive as the United States expanded;
Whereas article VI, clause 3 of the Constitution prohibits religious tests for 
        public office;
Whereas George Washington, in a letter to the Touro Synagogue, wrote of 
        religious freedom: ``the Government of the United States, which gives to 
        bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that 
        they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good 
        citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support'';
Whereas, in 1785, James Madison penned ``A Memorial and Remonstrance Against 
        Religious Assessments'', which argued that the state should not support 
        overtly religious instruction paid for by the taxpayers, and expressed 
        the importance of leaving matters of religion to the individual;
Whereas Thomas Jefferson described the importance of ``a wall of separation'' in 
        his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists, in which he affirmed the First 
        Amendment's ironclad separation between government and religion;
Whereas numerous Presidents of the United States have addressed the United 
        States to reaffirm the importance of church-state separation, including 
        Ulysses S. Grant's 1875 speech to the Society of the Army of the 
        Tennessee, Calvin Coolidge's 1925 inaugural address, John F. Kennedy's 
        1960 remarks before the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, and 
        Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 answers to the Baptist Standard;
Whereas American Presidents have repeatedly demonstrated the importance of 
        fidelity to their oath to the Constitution and their obligations to 
        steward religious freedom instead of endorsing or imposing a preferred 
        religious belief system;
Whereas the Supreme Court has affirmed these constitutional principles in 
        several landmark decisions, including Everson v. Board of Education 
        (1947), McCollum v. Board of Education (1948), and Engel v. Vitale 
        (1962);
Whereas these principles of religious freedom have ensured that the United 
        States is the largest religiously diverse country in the world;
Whereas the separation of church and state has motivated people from all over 
        the world to seek refuge in America from theocrats and dictators;
Whereas any public official who would use the mechanisms of government to impose 
        their own religious views upon their fellow citizens would violate the 
        foundational principles of the United States and long history of 
        religious freedom; and
Whereas the importance of maintaining church-state separation to guard against 
        tyranny cloaked in any form of religion has never been greater: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the 250th anniversary of the founding of the 
        United States of America and the important moment to reflect 
        upon our historical traditions;
            (2) continues to uphold the founding principles that have 
        allowed each individual to practice their own version of 
        belief, or lack thereof;
            (3) opposes any theocratic impulses that would undermine 
        fundamental American freedoms; and
            (4) reaffirms the United States 250-year commitment to a 
        secular Constitution that protects religious freedom, religious 
        pluralism, and democratic self-government.
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