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 Rep-
resentatives 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 Min-
nesota, 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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•HRES 1279 IH 
prohibit the Federal establishment of any type of reli-
gious uniformity or orthodoxy that rewards observers and 
punishes violators; 
Whereas the First Amendment guarantees the right of elect-
ed 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 re-
solve 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 Amer-
ica 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 pro-
tected from all the dangers which threaten it’’; 
Whereas President James Madison, who wrote the First 
Amendment to the Constitution, issued four proclama-
tions calling the Nation to a day of prayer; 
Whereas President Abraham Lincoln, on March 30, 1863, 
issued a proclamation, ‘‘recognizing the Supreme Author-
ity and just Government of Almighty God,’’ and des-
ignated April 30, 1863, as a National Day of Prayer; 
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•HRES 1279 IH 
Whereas President Harry S. Truman, on April 17, 1952, by 
signing Public Law 82–324, established an annual Na-
tional 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 non-
sectarian 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 proc-
lamation 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 con-
tinent to the present hour, there is a single voice making 
this affirmation’’; 
Whereas the Supreme Court has a lengthy history of affirm-
ing the practice of public prayer conducted and encour-
aged by the Federal Government; 
Whereas, in 2008, a lawsuit was brought against the Federal 
Government questioning the constitutionality of the an-
nual 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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•HRES 1279 IH 
a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) encourages Attorney General Eric Holder to 
appeal the ruling by United States District Judge 
Barbara Crabb, which found the National Day of 
Prayer to be unconstitutional; and 
(2) reaffirms the commitment of the United 
States House of Representatives to the institution of 
an annual National Day of Prayer. 
Æ 
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