Dale Bumpers: “In the 1980's we debated a constitutional amendment presented to this body by President Reagan, a constitutional…”

“In the 1980's we debated a constitutional amendment presented to this body by President Reagan, a constitutional amendment dealing with voluntary prayer in school. There was just one thing that was fatally flawed about that amendment. It did not provide for voluntary prayer. It provided for mandatory prayer to be written by whoever happened to control the school board of any particular school. And to the eternal credit of the U.S. Senate it was soundly defeated. Some of us who feel strongly about the religious Judeo-Christian principles of this Nation went to work and crafted a bill called freedom of access. The freedom of access bill, which was essentially the product of Senator Hatfield, I believe, and a few others, who had voted against the constitutional amendment. Hearings were held on it. The Senate passed it, and you know something? The constitutionality of it was challenged, and the U.S. Supreme Court...said it was constitutional.”