Ernest Istook: “That is not the job or the responsibility of the Congress of the United States or the Supreme Court to decide what…”

“That is not the job or the responsibility of the Congress of the United States or the Supreme Court to decide what should be the scheduling of a public school if a school chooses to make an opportunity during homeroom time or at school assemblies or whatever it may be, depending upon what are the wishes of the people that are involved there. You see, unfortunately some people have gotten so accustomed to a system where people say Washington, D.C. is going to tell us how to do everything, that we have to get all the details and all the instructions and all the fine print out of Washington, D.C. That is contrary to the notion of freedom. It is contrary to the notion of federalism that says the Federal Government is intended to be a government of limited powers. So it is not for us to decide or dictate how a particular school or State may implement different things. It is merely for us to enunciate the standards. That is the purpose of the Constitution.”