•HCON 126 IH 
Whereas, in Town of Greece v. Galloway, 134 S. Ct. 1811 
(2014), the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed 
that ‘‘people of many faiths may be united in a commu-
nity of tolerance and devotion’’; 
Whereas the principle of religious freedom ‘‘has guided our 
Nation forward’’, as expressed by the 44th President of 
the United States in a Presidential proclamation on Reli-
gious Freedom Day in 2011, and freedom of religion ‘‘is 
a universal human right to be protected here at home 
and across the globe’’, as expressed by that President of 
the United States on Religious Freedom Day in 2013; 
Whereas ‘‘[f]reedom of religion is a fundamental human right 
that must be upheld by every nation and guaranteed by 
every government’’, as expressed by the 42nd President 
of the United States in a Presidential proclamation on 
Religious Freedom Day in 1999; 
Whereas the First Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States protects— 
(1) the right of individuals to freely express and act 
on the religious beliefs of those individuals; and 
(2) individuals from coercion to profess or act on a 
religious belief to which those individuals do not adhere; 
Whereas ‘‘our laws and institutions should not impede or 
hinder but rather should protect and preserve funda-
mental religious liberties’’, as expressed by the 42nd 
President of the United States in remarks accompanying 
the signing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 
1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.); 
Whereas, for countless people of the United States, faith is 
an integral part of every aspect of daily life and is not 
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•HCON 126 IH 
limited to the homes, houses of worship, or doctrinal 
creeds of those individuals; 
Whereas ‘‘religious faith has inspired many of our fellow citi-
zens to help build a better Nation’’ in which ‘‘people of 
faith continue to wage a determined campaign to meet 
needs and fight suffering’’, as expressed by the 43rd 
President of the United States in a Presidential procla-
mation on Religious Freedom Day in 2003; 
Whereas, ‘‘from its birth to this day, the United States has 
prized this legacy of religious freedom and honored this 
heritage by standing for religious freedom and offering 
refuge to those suffering religious persecution’’, as noted 
in section 2(a) of the International Religious Freedom 
Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401(a)); 
Whereas Thomas Jefferson wrote— 
(1) in 1798 that each right encompassed in the 
First Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States is dependent on the other rights described in that 
Amendment, ‘‘thereby guarding in the same sentence, 
and under the same words, the freedom of religion, of 
speech, and of the press: insomuch, that whatever vio-
lated either, throws down the sanctuary which covers the 
others’’; and 
(2) in 1822 that the constitutional freedom of reli-
gion is ‘‘the most inalienable and sacred of all human 
rights’’; 
Whereas religious freedom ‘‘has been integral to the preserva-
tion and development of the United States’’, and ‘‘the 
free exercise of religion goes hand in hand with the pres-
ervation of our other rights’’, as expressed by the 41st 
President of the United States in a Presidential procla-
mation on Religious Freedom Day in 1993; and 
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•HCON 126 IH 
Whereas we ‘‘continue to proclaim the fundamental right of 
all peoples to believe and worship according to their own 
conscience, to affirm their beliefs openly and freely, and 
to practice their faith without fear or intimidation’’, as 
expressed by the 42nd President of the United States in 
a Presidential proclamation on Religious Freedom Day in 
1998: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress affirms that— 
(1) religious freedom includes the right of an 
individual to worship, think, speak, and act, includ-
ing in public and in private, in accordance with the 
beliefs of the individual; and 
(2) all people of the United States can be uni-
fied in supporting religious freedom, regardless of 
differing individual beliefs, because religious freedom 
is a fundamental human right. 
Æ 
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