A bill to reaffirm the reference to one Nation under God in the Pledge of Allegiance.
PL 107-293 (S.2690), enacted 11/13/2002

PUBLIC LAW 107-293—NOV. 13, 2002 
116 STAT. 2057 
Public Law 107-293 
107th Congress 
An Act 
To reaffirm the reference to one Nation under God in the Pledge of Allegiance. 
Nov. 13, 2002 
[S. 2690] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
4 USC 4 note. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) On November 11, 1620, prior to embarking for the 
shores of America, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact 
that declared: "Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and 
the advancement of the Christian Faith and honor of our King 
and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern 
parts of Virginia,". 
(2) On July 4, 1776, America's Founding Fathers, after 
appealing to the "Laws of Nature, and of Nature's God" to 
justify their separation from Great Britain, then declared: "We 
hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and 
the Pursuit of Happiness". 
(3) In 1781, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration 
of Independence and later the Nation's third President, in 
his work titled "Notes on the State of Virginia" wrote: "God 
who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of 
a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only 
firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these 
liberties are of the Gift of God. That they are not to be violated 
but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when 
I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.". 
(4) On May 14, 1787, George Washington, as President 
of the Constitutional Convention, rose to admonish and exhort 
the delegates and declared: "If to please the people we offer 
what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward defend 
our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and 
the honest can repair; the event is in the hand of God!". 
(5) On July 21, 1789, on the same day that it approved 
the Establishment Clause concerning religion, the First Con-
gress of the United States also passed the Northwest Ordinance, 
providing for a territorial government for Isinds northwest of 
the Ohio River, which declared: "Religion, morality, and knowl-
edge, being necessary to good government and the happiness 
of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever 
be encouraged.". 
(6) On September 25, 1789, the First Congress unanimously 
approved a resolution calling on President George Washington 
116 STAT. 2058 
PUBLIC LAW 107-293—NOV. 13, 2002 
to proclaim a National Day of Thanksgiving for the people 
of the United States by declaring, "a day of public thanksgiving 
and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful 
hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially 
by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a con-
stitution of government for their safety and happiness.". 
(7) On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln 
delivered his Gettysburg Address on the site of the battle 
and declared: "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the 
great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead 
we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave 
the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve 
that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this Nation, 
under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that Govern-
ment of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not 
perish from the earth.". 
(8) On April 28, 1952, in the decision of the Supreme 
Court of the United States in Zorach v, Clauson, 343 U.S. 
306 (1952), in which school children were allowed to be excused 
from public schools for religious observances and education, 
Justice William O. Douglas, in writing for the Court stated: 
"The First Amendment, however, does not say that in every 
and all respects there shall be a separation of Church and 
State. Rather, it studiously defines the manner, the specific 
ways, in which there shall be no concern or union or dependency 
one on the other. That is the common sense of the matter. 
Otherwise the State and religion would be aliens to each other— 
hostile, suspicious, and even unfriendly. Churches could not 
be required to pay even property taxes. Municipalities would 
not be permitted to render police or fire protection to religious 
groups. Policemen who helped parishioners into their places 
of worship would violate the Constitution. Prayers in our legis-
lative halls; the appeals to the Almighty in the messages of 
the Chief Executive; the proclamations making Thanksgiving 
Day a holiday; 'so help me God' in our courtroom oaths— 
these and all other references to the Almighty that run through 
our laws, our public rituals, our ceremonies would be flouting 
the First Amendment. A fastidious atheist or agnostic could 
even object to the supplication with which the Court opens 
each session: 'God save the United States and this Honorable 
Court.'". 
(9) On June 15, 1954, Congress passed and President Eisen-
hower signed into law a statute that was clearly consistent 
with the text and intent of the Constitution of the United 
States, that amended the Pledge of Allegiance to read: "I pledge 
allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and 
to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, 
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.". 
(10) On July 20, 1956, Congress proclaimed that the 
national motto of the United States is "In God We Trust", 
and that motto is inscribed above the main door of the Senate, 
behind the Chair of the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives, and on the currency of the United States. 
(11) On June 17, 1963, in the decision of the Supreme 
Court of the United States in Abington School District v. 
Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963), in which compulsory school 
prayer was held unconstitutional. Justices Goldberg and 
PUBLIC LAW 107-293—NOV. 13, 2002 
116 STAT. 2059 
Harlan, concurring in the decision, stated: "But untutored devo-
tion to the concept of neutraHty can lead to invocation or 
approval of results which partake not simply of that noninter-
ference and noninvolvement with the religious which the Con-
stitution commands, but of a brooding and pervasive devotion 
to the secular and a passive, or even active, hostility to the 
religious. Such results are not only not compelled by the Con-
stitution, but, it seems to me, are prohibited by it. Neither 
government nor this Court can or should ignore the significance 
of the fact that a vast portion of our people believe in and 
worship God and that many of our legal, political, and personal 
values derive historically from religious teachings. Government 
must inevitably take cognizance of the existence of religion 
and, indeed, under certain circumstances the First Amendment 
may require that it do so.". 
(12) On March 5, 1984, in the decision of the Supreme 
Court of the United States in Ljnich v. Donelly, 465 U.S. 
668 (1984), in which a city government's display of a nativity 
scene was held to be constitutional. Chief Justice Burger, 
writing for the Court, stated: "There is an unbroken history 
of official acknowledgment by all three branches of government 
of the role of religion in American life from at least 1789 
. . . [EJxamples of reference to our religious heritage are found 
in the statutorily prescribed national motto 'In God We Trust' 
(36 U.S.C. 186), which Congress and the President mandated 
for our currency, see (31 U.S.C. 5112(d)(1) (1982 ed.)), and 
in the language 'One Nation under God', as part of the Pledge 
of Allegiance to the American flag. That pledge is recited by 
many thousands of public school children—and adults—every 
year . . . Art galleries supported by public revenues display 
religious paintings of the 15th and 16th centuries, predomi-
nantly inspired by one religious faith. The National Gallery 
in Washington, maintained with Government support, for 
example, has long exhibited masterpieces with religious mes-
sages, notably the Last Supper, and paintings depicting the 
Birth of Christ, the Crucifixion, smd the Resurrection, among 
many others with explicit Christian themes and messages. The 
very chamber in which oral arguments on this case were heard 
is decorated with a notable and permanent—^not seasonal— 
symbol of religion: Moses with the Ten Commandments. Con-
gress has long provided chapels in the Capitol for religious 
worship and meditation.". 
(13) On June 4, 1985, in the decision of the Supreme 
Court of the United States in Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 
38 (1985), in which a mandatory moment of silence to be 
used for meditation or voluntary prayer was held unconstitu-
tional. Justice O'Connor, concurring in the judgment and 
addressing the contention that the Court's holding would render 
the Pledge of Allegismce unconstitutional because Congress 
amended it in 1954 to add the words "under Grod," stated 
"In my view, the words 'under God' in the Pledge, as codified 
at (36 U.S.C. 172), serve as an acknowledgment of religion 
with 'the legitimate secular purposes of solemnizing public occa-
sions, [and] expressing confidence in the future.'". 
(14) On November 20, 1992, the United States Court of 
Appeals for the 7th Circuit, in Sherman v. Community Consoli-
dated School District 21, 980 F.2d 437 (7th Cir. 1992), held 
116 STAT. 2060 
PUBLIC LAW 107-293—NOV. 13, 2002 
that a school district's policy for voluntary recitation of the 
Pledge of Allegiance including the words "under God" was 
constitutional. 
(15) The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals erroneously held, 
in Newdow v. U.S. Congress (9th Cir. June 26, 2002), that 
the Pledge of Allegiance's use of the express religious reference 
"under God" violates the First Amendment to the Constitution, 
and that, therefore, a school district's policy and practice of 
teacher-led voluntary recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance 
is unconstitutional. 
(16) The erroneous rationale of the 9th Circuit Court of 
Appeals in Newdow would lead to the absurd result that the 
Constitution's use of the express religious reference "Year of 
our Lord" in Article VII violates the First Amendment to the 
Constitution, and that, therefore, a school district's policy and 
practice of teacher-led voluntary recitations of the Constitution 
itself would be unconstitutional. 
SEC. 2. ONE NATION UNDER GOD. 
(a) REAFFIRMATION.—Section 4 of title 4, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows: 
"§4. Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery 
"The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: 1 pledge allegiance 
to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic 
for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty 
and justice for all.', should be rendered by standing at attention 
facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not 
in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with 
their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being 
over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the 
flag, and render the military salute.". 
4 use 4 note. 
(b) CODIFICATION.—In codifying this subsection, the Office of 
the Law Revision Counsel shall show in the historical and statutory 
notes that the 107th Congress reaffirmed the exact language that 
has appeared in the Pledge for decades. 
SEC. 3. REAFFIRMING THAT GOD REMAINS IN OUR MOTTO. 
(a) REAFFIRMATION.—Section 302 of title 36, United States 
Code, is amended to read as follows: 
PUBLIC LAW 107-293—NOV. 13, 2002 
116 STAT. 2061 
*
"
§ 302. National motto 
" In God we trust' is the national motto.". 
(b) CODIFICATION.—In codifying this subsection, the Office of 
the Law Revision Counsel shall make no change in section 302, 
title 36, United States Code, but shall show in the historical and 
statutory notes that the 107th Congress reaffirmed the exact lan-
guage that has appeared in the Motto for decades. 
Approved November 13, 2002. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2690: 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 107-659 (Comm. on the Judiciary). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 148 (2002): 
June 27, considered and passed Senate. 
Oct. 7, 8, considered and passed House, amended. 
Oct. 17, Senate concurred in House amendment.