Bill Nelson: “I would hope also, as he has accurately outlined the legal course of appeal, that there would be a rush to the judicial…”

“I would hope also, as he has accurately outlined the legal course of appeal, that there would be a rush to the judicial chambers to stay that ruling, as it applies to the Ninth Circuit, because under existing law that would mean people could not pledge allegiance anywhere in that circuit, which includes the great State of California, and others in the immediate vicinity. I would certainly hope there would be a stay of that ruling until it would come up to the U.S. Supreme Court so that they could render their decision. Then, as the Senator says, God forbid that they should rule that it were constitutional; then we could start our process here of adding to the Constitution that would allow that. I just want to associate my thoughts with those articulated so eloquently by the Senator from Connecticut, who comes from a different faith perspective than mine but with whom we are joined in the historical development of this Nation to which, as he pointed out, so many people fled from a country of established religion, and, indeed, even documented in the Mayflower Compact, and then memorialized in the Declaration of Independence, that there was something different about this country. It was not going to have a state-sponsored religion; rather, it was going to be an enclave, an oasis, a place to which people of all faiths could come, and those with no faith, and within the protection of the laws they could believe and express their beliefs as they so chose.”