Political Quotes

“probably not many Members are aware of this but perhaps the first day after our return from Memorial Day recess, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook) will make an effort to do something that has never been done in the history of the United States. On that Wednesday when we return he will move that we vote on a constitutional amendment, for the first time in the history of our country, to amend the Bill of Rights, not only the Bill of Rights but the first 16 words of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights designed to defend religion against intrusion by the Federal Government. Mr. Speaker, I have spoken previously from the well of this House outlining that the arguments in favor of this constitutional amendment are really based on false premises. The premise that there is no religion in school, that somehow government and liberal Federal judges have taken religion out of our schools when, in fact, Time Magazine recently documented that there are thousands of public schools all over America that have bible worship groups and religion prayer groups both before and after school. The fact is that prayer is allowed in America's public schools, as long as that prayer is not prescribed by government officials or forced upon students involuntarily. I have talked about all of these issues and I have talked about the downside of some of the things that could happen under the Istook amendment.”