Charles T. Canady: “More than 100 years ago our young Nation faced the first great test in its dedication to the principle that all men are…”

“More than 100 years ago our young Nation faced the first great test in its dedication to the principle that all men are free. In that Civil War more than 600,000 soldiers gave up their lives, more casualties than any other war in our country's history, for the moral cause of ending slavery and securing freedom. During that war, the abolitionist Julia Ward Howe visited a Union camp near Washington, and amidst the carnage of war, the valor and courage she saw there inspired her to write one of our Nation's favorite songs, the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The final stanza of this hymn is particularly moving to me: ``In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me. As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, while God is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah.'' Today in this Congress we fight a new moral battle. Through this battle we will determine whether or not our sons and daughters will be free to practice their faith in accordance with their conscience and whether the constitutional guarantees that our Founding Fathers wrote into that document of religious freedom will live on or will perish.”