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Press Release Archive
May 6, 2003
Press Conference on Pledge Protection Act
Resolution prohibits lower federal courts from ruling on Pledge’s constitutionality
Washington, D.C. - On Thursday, May 8, Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO) will hold a press conference announcing the introduction of the Pledge Protection Act of 2003. The Pledge Protection Act defends the constitutionality of the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance by restricting the jurisdiction of lower federal courts from ruling on the pledge. The resolution now has 154 cosponsors.
“By exercising the authority of Congress to regulate the jurisdiction of federal courts, the Pledge Protection Act will do more than express a sense of Congress that the Pledge is constitutional,” said Akin. “It will rein in a renegade judiciary that has confused the freedom for religion with freedom from religion.
“Preventing children from saying ‘under God’ is nothing less than coercion, and Congress needs to act to defend this essential matter of religious liberty and freedom of speech,” the Congressman noted.
The power of Congress to limit the jurisdiction of the lower federal courts is granted in Article III of the Constitution, which states, “The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.”
WHAT:
Press Conference announcing the introduction of the Pledge Protection Act
WHERE:
House Radio and TV Gallery H-321 in the U.S. Capitol Building
WHEN:
2:30 p.m. EST, Thursday, May 8
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