Pledge of Allegiance

Floor Speech

Mr. DeMINT. Mr. President, I appreciate the Senator from Delaware speaking about our Constitution and religious freedoms because I would like to follow up on his remarks. This week, Americans watching the confirmation hearings of Judge John Roberts witnessed something unique about his character, something we had seen before but that is now undeniable--his humility. I believe humility is a virtue that we should all feel as Americans. We should be humble in light of the blessings that we have in this great country, humble in light of the courage of our Founders, and humble in light of the wisdom of the drafters of the Constitution.

This country was founded on religious freedom by our Founding Fathers, many of whom were deeply religious. They wanted to create a place where they could worship without fear of persecution. Unfortunately, the Federal district court declared yesterday that the phrase ``under God'' in our Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional. This is deeply troublesome and is no less irrational than it would be to declare the Constitution itself unconstitutional.

The ruling by the Federal court in California is yet another example of the hostility by many activist judges toward a time-honored tradition. This tradition has been defended by numerous Justices, including Justice O'Connor, who said that eliminating such references would sever ties to a history that sustains this Nation even today.

The Pledge of Allegiance began in 1892 as a patriotic exercise, expressing loyalty to our Nation. It is a part of an American tapestry of time-honored and historically significant traditions that have come under attack in this country. By international standards, we are a young country. Yet we seem so quick and so willing to throw out parts of our heritage that our Founders recognized as important. ``One nation under God'' is no more the establishment or endorsement of religion than our national motto, ``in God we trust,'' which is here above our door and above the Speaker's chair on the other side of the Capitol; or the phrase ``God bless America,'' the closing words often used by the President when making public comments or speeches.

The Declaration of Independence states that our rights are inalienable for one reason, because we are endowed by our creator with these rights. All of our references to God are the ways the Government properly and constitutionally acknowledges our religious heritage.

We are a great nation, but we are also one nation under God. We are filled with people who know how fortunate we are and how different our lives could be elsewhere.

This is why it is important that we are reminded and that our children are reminded to be humble. Reciting that the United States is one nation under God is a statement of humility, a way of acknowledging that even as a world superpower, we recognize there is something bigger than we are, that our freedoms in this country come from God--not from Government. If we expel God from our public life, and if we lose humility that comes with the belief in a creator, our children and grandchildren will inherit an arrogant nation that has little hope for the future.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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