Joe Pitts: “Frankly, it is quite unfortunate that we must even have this debate today here in America, the most free country of the…”

“Frankly, it is quite unfortunate that we must even have this debate today here in America, the most free country of the world. Yet it has come to the point that a primary aspect of our freedom, our right to practice the religion of our choice, is no longer afforded to everyone. We are talking here about free speech protection for students; and we are talking about student-initiated, not teacher-initiated, not government, not school-sponsored prayer, but voluntary, student-initiated right to free religious speech. Just as they have protection on political speech or philosophical speech, they should have the right to the protection for religious speech. What we have proclaimed throughout the world now must be practiced here in the United States. Madam Speaker, the Religious Freedom Amendment is needed today to correct and clarify 36 years of Supreme Court decisions which have warped the plain and simple meaning, original meaning, of the Constitution as far as religious rights being protected under the first amendment are concerned.”