IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1279 

Calling for an appeal of the ruling which found the National Day of Prayer 

to be unconstitutional and expressing the support of the House of Representatives for the institution of an annual National Day of Prayer. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 20, 2010 

Mr. TIAHRT (for himself, Mr. FORBES, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. POSEY, 

Mr. HERGER, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. HARPER, Mr. 

ADERHOLT, Mr. PENCE, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, 

Mr. WAMP, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. KLINE of Minnesota, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. HUNTER, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. LAMBORN, 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, and Mr. LATTA) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for an appeal of the ruling which found the National 

Day of Prayer to be unconstitutional and expressing 

the support of the House of Representatives for the 

institution of an annual National Day of Prayer. 

Whereas the first action of America’s first Congress in 1774 

was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead 

Congress in the reading of 4 chapters of the Bible; 

Whereas the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment 

to the United States Constitution was intended by our 

Founding Fathers to prohibit one religious denomination 

from enjoying the exclusive backing of government and to 

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prohibit the Federal establishment of any type of religious uniformity or orthodoxy that rewards observers and 

punishes violators; 

Whereas the First Amendment guarantees the right of elected and appointed officials to express their religious beliefs 

through public prayer; 

Whereas public prayer and national days of prayer are a 

long-standing American tradition to bolster national resolve and summon the national will for victory; 

Whereas the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray 

for wisdom in forming a Nation in 1775; 

Whereas Benjamin Franklin proposed that the Constitutional 

Convention begin each day with a prayer; 

Whereas General George Washington, as he prepared his 

troops for battle with the British in May 1776, ordered 

them to pray for the campaign ahead, that it would 

please the Almighty to ‘‘prosper the arms of the united 

colonies’’ and ‘‘establish the peace and freedom of America upon a solid and lasting foundation’’; 

Whereas President John Adams declared May 9, 1798, as a 

National Day of Prayer, ‘‘that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it’’; 

Whereas President James Madison, who wrote the First 

Amendment to the Constitution, issued four proclamations calling the Nation to a day of prayer; 

Whereas President Abraham Lincoln, on March 30, 1863, 

issued a proclamation, ‘‘recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God,’’ and designated April 30, 1863, as a National Day of Prayer; 

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Whereas President Harry S. Truman, on April 17, 1952, by 

signing Public Law 82–324, established an annual National Day of Prayer; 

Whereas, in 1988, President Ronald Reagan designated the 

first Thursday in May as the annual National Day of 

Prayer; 

Whereas, since 1988, each President has issued a nonsectarian proclamation of the National Day of Prayer; 

Whereas, in 1998, President Bill Clinton called on ‘‘people of 

every religious denomination gather to worship according 

to their faith. In churches, synagogues, temples, and 

mosques, Americans come together to pray’’; 

Whereas, in 2002, President George W. Bush issued a proclamation calling on, ‘‘our citizens to reaffirm the role of 

prayer in our society and to honor the religious diversity 

our freedom permits by recognizing annually a ‘National 

Day of Prayer’ ’’; 

Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed 

the integral in an unanimous ruling declaring ‘‘This is a 

religious people. . . . From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making 

this affirmation’’; 

Whereas the Supreme Court has a lengthy history of affirming the practice of public prayer conducted and encouraged by the Federal Government; 

Whereas, in 2008, a lawsuit was brought against the Federal 

Government questioning the constitutionality of the annual National Day of Prayer; and 

Whereas, on April 15, 2010, U.S. District Judge Barbara 

Crabb ruled that the annual National Day of Prayer was 

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a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) encourages Attorney General Eric Holder to 

3 appeal the ruling by United States District Judge 

4 Barbara Crabb, which found the National Day of 

5 Prayer to be unconstitutional; and 

6 (2) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

7 States House of Representatives to the institution of 

8 an annual National Day of Prayer. 

Æ 

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