Knowing of your interest in traditional values, I thought you might appreciate learning of my support for two important pieces of legislation that recognize and reaffirm our nation's spiritual heritage.  First, I recently cosponsored H. Res. 397, which would: (1) affirm the rich and diverse spiritual history of our nation's founding and subsequent history; (2) recognize that the religious foundations of faith on which America was built are critical underpinnings of our nation's most valuable institutions; (3) reject any effort to remove or omit such history from public buildings and educational resources; and (4) express support for designation of an "America's Spiritual Heritage Week" every year.  I also cosponsored H. Con Res. 131, which would require the national motto, "In God We Trust," and the pledge of allegiance be engraved at the new Capitol Visitors' Center.   There have been recent news stories about how this new facility does not adequately display of our nation's spiritual heritage.  This greatly concerns me, and I believe the failure to recognize this heritage at the Visitors' Center should be promptly corrected.

The Founding Fathers believed that Americans should be able to hold and exercise the religious beliefs of their choosing.  Unfortunately, in recent years some groups have used the principle of separation of church and state-a phrase not found in the U.S. Constitution-as a mandate to remove the mention of God from all matters of public life.  The Supreme Court has largely embraced this notion, prohibiting the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools (notwithstanding their historical significance and importance in the creation of the U.S. legal system), moments of silent prayer or meditation in public schools, and student-initiated, voluntary prayers at after-school events.  Instead of trying to stamp out any mention of God and rewrite or ignore our nation's spiritual heritage, I believe we should embrace the importance of religious freedom in our great country and recognize not only our true heritage, but also the importance religion plays in our society even today in helping to address some of our most challenging social problems