Our Rich History of Faith

OUR RICH HISTORY OF FAITH -- (House of Representatives - June 17, 2008)

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Mr. PEARCE. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Forbes for your leadership in this call to establish American Religious History Week.

Also, as a cosponsor of H. Res. 888, I'm strongly supportive of the idea that we should remember that we should always acknowledge the founding fathers' belief that this Nation was indeed blessed by our Maker, that we would, as a Nation, acknowledge our corporate belief.

It's important to remember not only our founding, but also to take a look at where we're headed as a Nation. We acknowledge that our Nation was founded on the right to choose to believe or not believe, but also our founding fathers gave us choices in exactly how to express our faith.

I believe that acknowledging America's rich spiritual and religious history is important and it is a great step towards accomplishing what would be the future of this country, America's religious heritage.

It troubles me that we are beginning to see shifts in this country. We're seeing shifts, not in ideology, not in philosophy, but over whether we can even declare our faith publicly. In this country we're beginning to hear people say that if you declare faith publicly, you're infringing on their rights. I simply do not agree or believe in that.

If you want to acknowledge your faith, there are people who say that it should be behind closed doors. This is sad. Often this mind-set is originating right here in Washington. This mind-set is originating in this institution, but it's also originating even in institutions where the members are not elected, and I think those are critical things for us to look at as we consider where this Nation is headed.

This Nation has a motto ``In God We Trust.'' It was approved by Congress, and yet it's being circumvented sometimes by unelected officials. ``In God We Trust'' is printed on coins, on our currency. It is engraved on our buildings. It appears over the entrance to the Senate Chambers, and you can see the phrase engraved in this Chamber on the wall above the Speaker's dais. This phrase is woven into the fabric of our Nation, but we're beginning to see an unraveling of the phrase, an unraveling of this tradition of declaring that we do trust in God. This is a string that should not be cut.

In 2006, the U.S. Mint announced plans to move the inscription ``In God We Trust'' from the face of the Presidential Dollar coin pieces to the thin edge around the dollar coin.

In February of 2006 the Treasury announced that in an accidental omission an unknown number of Presidential coins had made it past inspectors and were sent into circulation without the words ``In God We Trust'' at all. Some estimates are as many as 50,000 of these coins are in circulation.

I understand that mistakes happen, but sending 50,000 coins without the basic motto which this institution declared should be on our currency is a major mistake. I ask for the U.S. Mint to give a full report and accounting of the situation.

Our history tells us the importance of God and faith in the birth of our Nation. The problems with the phrase, ``In God We Trust'' being omitted from our coin is just one indicator of how badly we're drifting off course. It is fitting that we honor the spiritual history with a week dedicated to remembering our founding and ensuring that the lasting connection which so many Americans share in and believe in is a part of our national fabric.

I support H. Res. 888, and agree that we should, indeed, establish a week which declares American religious history. And I thank Mr. Forbes for yielding time.

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