Protecting First Amendment Rights of Military Chaplains
PROTECTING FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT OF MILITARY CHAPLAINS -- (House of Representatives - December 13, 2005)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, before I start my remarks, I want to pay respect and gratitude to the gentleman from Michigan who served with my father for a number of years, and also has been a friend to me.
Mr. Dingell, you are an example of what is good about the House of Representatives.
Mr. Speaker, in my remaining time, I want to speak about a serious problem in my opinion, and that is the fact that chaplains in the American military, those who happen to be of the Christian faith, have been told they cannot use the name Jesus Christ when they pray outside of the church.
Mr. Speaker, I would be on this floor tonight if this were a Jewish rabbi or if it were a Muslim chaplain in the United States military.
Mr. Speaker, 72 Members of the House have sent a letter to the President. This is the first sentence. ``Mr. President, we are disappointed and gravely concerned to learn that the Christian military chaplains are under direct attack and that their right to pray according to their faith is in jeopardy.''
Mr. Speaker, I spoke to a Navy chaplain, and in the last 3 years, I have talked to hundreds of chaplains who have conveyed to me the fact that they are being told outside of their church they cannot pray their faith, and I think this is a tragedy, particularly in our military.
About 10 months ago I spoke to a Navy chaplain in Hawaii who told me he is a Methodist. He told me ``Congressman, let me tell you what happened. I was praying at a service to remember Marines who were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. When I finished my prayer, I prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, our savior.''
Mr. Speaker, he told me, about an hour and 15 minutes later, he got a call from a Marine major who reminded him, in those kind of settings, you cannot pray in the name of Jesus Christ, and please in the future do not do so.
He was so upset, Mr. Speaker, he went to a friend of his who happens to be a Jewish chaplain, and he said to his Jewish chaplain friend, ``Chaplain, do I offend you when I pray in the name of Jesus Christ?''
The Jewish chaplain said, ``No, you do not. This is your faith and your tradition and you should pray in the name of your savior.'' This came from a Jewish chaplain.
Mr. Speaker, to me this is a very tragic situation. We are asking the President, as Commander-in-Chief, to use his constitutional authority to call up the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and say, Mr. Secretary, I am Commander-in-Chief and I am asking that you protect the first amendment right of all of our chaplains, whether they be Muslim, Jewish or Christian.
As I begin to close, let me just read a letter that I received from an Army major who is a chaplain. This was last year.
``Dear Congressman Jones:
Thank you for your interest in ending the religious persecution that exists in our military today. I am a chaplain in the United States Army, and I can tell you in all honesty that religious persecution is taking place in the Army on a daily basis. The persecution centers on Christian chaplains praying in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.''
Mr. Speaker, I want to make it clear tonight that if we do not protect the right of our chaplains in the military; and I have spoken to many, almost 200 as I said just a few minutes ago, that are telling me that they are being encouraged not to pray outside of the church in the name of their religion and their faith; there is something wrong with that.
We are going to do a news conference tomorrow and ask the President to please protect the first amendment right of our Muslim, Jewish and our Christian chaplains, and I will tell you that the American Center for Law and Justice, ACLJ, they have over 158,000 signatures from people around this country asking the President to use his constitutional authority to protect the first amendment rights of all of our chaplains.
With that, I want to say to the gentleman from Michigan, congratulations, you are a great man and a great patriot. And I close by asking God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform, and God please bless and hold in his arms those who have given their life dying for this country, and I ask God to please bless America, and continue, God, to show us the light that we might save this great Nation and do what is right in your eyes.
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