I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3477 
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 Thom-
as Jefferson. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 31, 2009 
Mr. GOHMERT (for himself, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. 
LAMBORN, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. FORBES, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. 
PENCE, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. 
JORDAN of Ohio, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, and Mr. KING of Iowa) intro-
duced 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 Na-
tional 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Hope 
for 
Uniform 
Recognition 
of 
Christian 
Heritage 
(CHURCH) Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 
2. 
ACQUISITION 
AND 
DISPLAY 
OF 
HISTORICAL 
PLAQUE RECOGNIZING THE SEVEN DECADES 
OF CHRISTIAN CHURCH SERVICES BEING 
HELD IN THE CAPITOL. 
(a) ACQUISITION.—The Architect of the Capitol shall 
enter into an agreement with a private entity for the de-
sign and fabrication of a historical plaque to be perma-
nently displayed in National Statuary Hall recognizing the 
seven decades of Christian church services being held in 
the Capitol from 1800 to 1868. 
(b) DESIGN.—The plaque designed and fabricated 
pursuant to the agreement entered into under subsection 
(a) shall be of such size and design as may be provided 
under the terms of the agreement, except that the plaque 
shall contain the following statement: 
‘‘The first Christian church services in the Cap-
itol were held when the Government moved to Wash-
ington in the fall of 1800. They were conducted in 
the Hall of the House in the north wing of the build-
ing. In 1801, the House moved the church services 
to temporary quarters in the south wing, called the 
‘Oven’, which it vacated in 1804, returning services 
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to the north wing for 3 years. During church serv-
ices, the Speaker’s podium was used as the preach-
er’s pulpit. 
‘‘Within a year of his inauguration, President 
Thomas Jefferson began attending church services 
in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. 
Throughout his administration (1801–1809), Thom-
as Jefferson permitted and encouraged church serv-
ices in executive branch buildings. Sermons regard-
ing the Old and New Testaments of the Bible were 
even conducted in the Supreme Court chambers 
while the judicial branch was located in the old 
north wing of the Capitol. 
‘‘The term ‘separation of church and state’, not 
found in the Constitution, was rather first used by 
Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Bap-
tists. Though Jefferson saw no problem with having 
nondenominational Christian services in government 
buildings, he affirmed that the Government should 
not choose an official Christian denomination. The 
worship services in the Government-owned House 
Chamber—a practice that continued until after the 
Civil War—were acceptable to Jefferson because 
they were nondiscriminatory and voluntary. 
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‘‘President James Madison, the recognized au-
thor of the Constitution, followed Jefferson’s exam-
ple. In keeping with Madison’s understanding of the 
first amendment, church services were permitted in 
the halls of State on Sundays during his administra-
tion (1809–1817). However, unlike Jefferson, who 
rode on horseback to attend church in the Capitol, 
Madison traveled in a coach pulled by four horses. 
The services were interrupted in 1814 after the inte-
rior was burned by the British and had to be re-
paired. 
‘‘Preachers of every Christian denomination 
preached Christian doctrine in this Chamber. On 
January 8, 1826, Bishop John England (1786– 
1842) of Charleston, South Carolina, became the 
first Catholic clergyman to preach in the House of 
Representatives. The first woman to preach before 
the House, and likely the first woman to speak offi-
cially in Congress under any circumstances, was the 
English evangelist, Dorothy Ripley (1767–1832), 
who conducted a service on January 12, 1806.’’. 
(c) PRESENTATION CEREMONY.—The Architect of 
the Capitol is authorized to use National Statuary Hall 
for a presentation ceremony for the plaque on a date de-
termined by the Architect. The Architect of the Capitol 
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and the Capitol Police Board shall take such action as 
may be necessary with respect to physical preparations 
and security for the ceremony. 
(d) DISPLAY.—Upon receiving the plaque designed 
and fabricated pursuant to the agreement entered into 
under this section, the Architect of the Capitol shall dis-
play the plaque permanently in a place of prominence in 
National Statuary Hall. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Archi-
tect of the Capitol such sums as may be necessary to carry 
out this Act. 
Æ 
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