William Helms: “I genuinely regret that it is not possible for me to offer an amendment at the present time, but I do wish to raise an…”

“I genuinely regret that it is not possible for me to offer an amendment at the present time, but I do wish to raise an issue that continues to cause confusion and frustration and hard feelings in the schools and in the courts at all levels. It involves an issue that deserves careful consideration by the Senate, and it seldom comes up; but I have made the decision that I am going to bring it up from time to time and have the Senate vote on it. All of us should be willing to stop pussyfooting and take a stand, unequivocally, clearly and honestly on the issue of school prayer. There is no question about the absurdity of the Senate remaining silent while some judge somewhere says that a high school football team cannot even engage in a simple prayer before the whistle blows the start of the game. Equally absurd is the denial of a valedictorian of a high school of the right to include a brief invocation in her remarks. But that sort of thing is going on all over the country.”