IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 126 
Affirming the importance of religious freedom as a fundamental human right 
that is essential to a free society and protected for all people of the 
United States under the Constitution of the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 28, 2018 
Mr. LOUDERMILK (for himself, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. THOMPSON of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. JODY B. HICE of 
Georgia, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. LATTA, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. 
KING of Iowa, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. GRAVES of Georgia, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. 
HARRIS, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. OLSON, Mr. RUTHERFORD, 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. ROKITA, Mr. TAYLOR, 
and Mr. GARRETT) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Affirming the importance of religious freedom as a funda-
mental human right that is essential to a free society 
and protected for all people of the United States under 
the Constitution of the United States. 
Whereas the democracy of the United States is rooted in the 
fundamental truth that all people are created equal, en-
dowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights, in-
cluding life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; 
Whereas the freedom of conscience was highly valued by— 
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•HCON 126 IH 
(1) individuals seeking religious freedom who settled 
in the colonies in the United States; 
(2) the founders of the United States; and 
(3) Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in a letter to the 
Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church at New Lon-
don, Connecticut, dated February 4, 1809, that ‘‘[n]o 
provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man 
than that which protects the rights of conscience against 
the enterprizes of the civil authority’’; 
Whereas the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was— 
(1) drafted by Thomas Jefferson, who considered 
the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom to be one of 
his greatest achievements; 
(2) enacted on January 16, 1786; and 
(3) the forerunner to the Free Exercise Clause of 
the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States; 
Whereas section 2(a) of the International Religious Freedom 
Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401(a)) states that— 
(1) ‘‘[t]he right to freedom of religion undergirds 
the very origin and existence of the United States’’; and 
(2) religious freedom was recognized by the founders 
of the United States ‘‘in law, as a fundamental right and 
as a pillar of our Nation’’; 
Whereas the role of religion in society and public life in the 
United States has a long and robust tradition; 
Whereas individuals who have studied the democracy of the 
United States from an international perspective, such as 
Alexis de Tocqueville, have noted that religion plays a 
central role in preserving the Government of the United 
States because religion provides the moral base required 
for democracy to succeed; 
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