I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1586 

To direct the Architect of the Capitol to acquire and place a historical 

plaque to be permanently displayed in National Statuary Hall recognizing 

the seven decades of Christian church services being held in the Capitol 

from 1800 to 1868, which included attendees James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2013 

Mr. GOHMERT (for himself, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. BARTON, and Mr. SCALISE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

House Administration 

A BILL 

To direct the Architect of the Capitol to acquire and place 

a historical plaque to be permanently displayed in National Statuary Hall recognizing the seven decades of 

Christian church services being held in the Capitol from 

1800 to 1868, which included attendees James Madison 

and Thomas Jefferson. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Hope 

3 for Uniform Recognition of Christian Heritage 

4 (CHURCH) Act of 2013’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ACQUISITION AND DISPLAY OF HISTORICAL 

6 PLAQUE RECOGNIZING THE SEVEN DECADES 

7 OF CHRISTIAN CHURCH SERVICES BEING 

8 HELD IN THE CAPITOL. 

9 (a) ACQUISITION.—The Architect of the Capitol shall 

10 enter into an agreement with a private entity for the de11 sign and fabrication of a historical plaque to be perma12 nently displayed in National Statuary Hall recognizing the 

13 seven decades of Christian church services being held in 

14 the Capitol from 1800 to 1868. 

15 (b) DESIGN.—The plaque designed and fabricated 

16 pursuant to the agreement entered into under subsection 

17 (a) shall be of such size and design as may be provided 

18 under the terms of the agreement, except that the plaque 

19 shall contain the following statement: 

20 ‘‘The first Christian church services in the Cap21 itol were held when the Government moved to Wash22 ington in the fall of 1800. They were conducted in 

23 the Hall of the House in the north wing of the build24 ing. In 1801, the House moved the church services 

25 to temporary quarters in the south wing, called the 

26 ‘Oven’, which it vacated in 1804, returning services 


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1 to the north wing for 3 years. During church serv2 ices, the Speaker’s podium was used as the preach3 er’s pulpit. 

4 ‘‘Within a year of his inauguration, President 

5 Thomas Jefferson began attending church services 

6 in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. 

7 Throughout his administration (1801–1809), Thom8 as Jefferson permitted and encouraged church serv9 ices in executive branch buildings. Sermons regard10 ing the Old and New Testaments of the Bible were 

11 even conducted in the Supreme Court chambers 

12 while the judicial branch was located in the old 

13 north wing of the Capitol. 

14 ‘‘The term ‘separation of church and state’, not 

15 found in the Constitution, was rather first used by 

16 Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Bap17 tists. Though Jefferson saw no problem with having 

18 nondenominational Christian services in government 

19 buildings, he affirmed that the Government should 

20 not choose an official Christian denomination. The 

21 worship services in the Government-owned House 

22 Chamber—a practice that continued until after the 

23 Civil War—were acceptable to Jefferson because 

24 they were nondiscriminatory and voluntary. 


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1 ‘‘President James Madison, the recognized au2 thor of the Constitution, followed Jefferson’s exam3 ple. In keeping with Madison’s understanding of the 

4 first amendment, church services were permitted in 

5 the halls of State on Sundays during his administra6 tion (1809–1817). However, unlike Jefferson, who 

7 rode on horseback to attend church in the Capitol, 

8 Madison traveled in a coach pulled by four horses. 

9 The services were interrupted in 1814 after the inte10 rior was burned by the British and had to be re11 paired. 

12 ‘‘Preachers of every Christian denomination 

13 preached Christian doctrine in this Chamber. On 

14 January 8, 1826, Bishop John England (1786– 

15 1842) of Charleston, South Carolina, became the 

16 first Catholic clergyman to preach in the House of 

17 Representatives. The first woman to preach before 

18 the House, and likely the first woman to speak offi19 cially in Congress under any circumstances, was the 

20 English evangelist, Dorothy Ripley (1767–1832), 

21 who conducted a service on January 12, 1806.’’. 

22 (c) PRESENTATION CEREMONY.—The Architect of 

23 the Capitol is authorized to use National Statuary Hall 

24 for a presentation ceremony for the plaque on a date de25 termined by the Architect. The Architect of the Capitol 


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1 and the Capitol Police Board shall take such action as 

2 may be necessary with respect to physical preparations 

3 and security for the ceremony. 

4 (d) DISPLAY.—Upon receiving the plaque designed 

5 and fabricated pursuant to the agreement entered into 

6 under this section, the Architect of the Capitol shall dis7 play the plaque permanently in a place of prominence in 

8 National Statuary Hall. 

9 SEC. 3. USE OF EXISTING FUNDS. 

10 Any amounts obligated or expended by the Architect 

11 of the Capitol to carry out this Act shall be derived from 

12 funds available to the Architect as of the date of the enact13 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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