DOCSLIB.ORG

Congressional Record—House H5397

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Congressional Record—House H5397 July 19, 2006 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5397 The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Walsh Westmoreland Wolf XVIII, the Chair declares the House in question is on the resolution. Wamp Whitfield Young (AK) the Committee of the Whole House on Weldon (FL) Wicker Young (FL) The question was taken; and the Weldon (PA) Wilson (NM) the State of the Union for the consider- Speaker pro tempore announced that Weller Wilson (SC) ation of the bill, H.R. 2389. the ayes appeared to have it. NAYS—168 b 1225 Mr. GINGREY. Madam Speaker, on Abercrombie Hinojosa Owens IN THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE that I demand the yeas and nays. Ackerman Holden Pallone The yeas and nays were ordered. Allen Holt Pascrell Accordingly, the House resolved Andrews Honda The vote was taken by electronic de- Payne itself into the Committee of the Whole Baird Hooley Pelosi House on the State of the Union for the vice, and there were—yeas 257, nays Baldwin Hoyer Pomeroy consideration of the bill (H.R. 2389) to 168, not voting 7, as follows: Barrow Inslee Price (NC) Bean Israel amend title 28, United States Code, [Roll No. 383] Rangel Becerra Jackson (IL) Rothman with respect to the jurisdiction of Fed- YEAS—257 Berman Jackson-Lee Roybal-Allard Bishop (NY) (TX) eral courts over certain cases and con- Ruppersberger Aderholt Foxx Miller (FL) Blumenauer Jefferson troversies involving the Pledge of Alle- Rush Akin Franks (AZ) Miller (MI) Boswell Johnson, E. B. Sabo giance, with Mr. LATOURETTE in the Alexander Frelinghuysen Miller, Gary Boucher Jones (OH) Sa´ nchez, Linda chair. Baca Gallegly Mollohan Brady (PA) Kanjorski T. Bachus Garrett (NJ) Moran (KS) Brown (OH) Kaptur The Clerk read the title of the bill. Baker Gerlach Murphy Brown, Corrine Kennedy (RI) Sanchez, Loretta The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the Barrett (SC) Gibbons Musgrave Butterfield Kildee Sanders rule, the bill is considered read the Bartlett (MD) Gilchrest Myrick Capps Kilpatrick (MI) Schakowsky Barton (TX) Gillmor Neugebauer Capuano Kind Schiff first time. Bass Gingrey Ney Cardin Kucinich Schwartz (PA) The gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Beauprez Gohmert Norwood Cardoza Langevin Scott (GA) BLUNT) and the gentleman from New Berkley Goode Nunes Scott (VA) Carnahan Lantos York (Mr. NADLER) each will control 30 Berry Goodlatte Nussle Carson Larsen (WA) Serrano Biggert Gordon Ortiz Case Larson (CT) Shays minutes. Bilbray Granger Osborne Clay Lee Sherman The Chair recognizes the gentleman Bilirakis Graves Otter Cleaver Levin Skelton from Missouri. Bishop (GA) Green (WI) Oxley Clyburn Lewis (GA) Slaughter Bishop (UT) Green, Al Pastor Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Chairman, I yield Conyers Lipinski Smith (WA) Blackburn Green, Gene Paul Cooper Lofgren, Zoe Snyder myself such time as I may consume. Blunt Gutknecht Pearce Costa Lowey Solis As we approach this bill today, Mr. Boehlert Hall Pence Costello Lynch Spratt Chairman, I want to make the point Boehner Hart Peterson (MN) Crowley Maloney Bonilla Hastings (WA) Peterson (PA) Stark that clearly the Pledge of Allegiance is Cummings Markey Strickland Bonner Hayes Petri Davis (AL) Matsui well understood by this body and the Bono Hayworth Pickering Stupak Davis (CA) McCarthy Tauscher Members of this body. It is repeated Boozman Hefley Pitts Davis (FL) McCollum (MN) Taylor (MS) here every day. The words of the Boren Hensarling Platts Davis (IL) McDermott Thompson (CA) Boustany Herger Poe DeFazio McGovern Pledge are words that we have learned Thompson (MS) Boyd Herseth Pombo DeGette McNulty since our childhood: Tierney Bradley (NH) Higgins Porter Delahunt Meehan ‘‘I pledge allegiance to the Flag of Brady (TX) Hobson Price (GA) DeLauro Meek (FL) Towns Brown (SC) Hoekstra Pryce (OH) Dicks Meeks (NY) Udall (CO) the United States of America, and to Brown-Waite, Hostettler Putnam Dingell Michaud Udall (NM) the Republic for which it stands, one Ginny Hulshof Radanovich Doggett Millender- Van Hollen nation under God, indivisible, with lib- Burgess Hunter Rahall Vela´ zquez Doyle McDonald erty and justice for all.’’ Burton (IN) Hyde Ramstad Engel Miller (NC) Visclosky Buyer Inglis (SC) Regula Eshoo Miller, George Wasserman When Congress passed the bill adding Calvert Issa Rehberg Etheridge Moore (KS) Schultz the words ‘‘under God,’’ Congress stat- Camp (MI) Istook Reichert Farr Moore (WI) Waters ed its belief that those words in no way Campbell (CA) Jenkins Renzi Fattah Moran (VA) Watson Cannon Jindal Reyes Filner Murtha Watt run contrary to the first amendment, Cantor Johnson (CT) Reynolds Frank (MA) Nadler Waxman but recognize ‘‘only the guidance of Capito Johnson (IL) Rogers (AL) Gonzalez Napolitano Weiner God in our national affairs.’’ Carter Johnson, Sam Rogers (KY) Grijalva Neal (MA) Wexler Two words, ‘‘under God,’’ in the Castle Jones (NC) Rogers (MI) Harman Oberstar Woolsey Chabot Keller Rohrabacher Hastings (FL) Obey Wu Pledge helped define our national her- Chandler Kelly Ros-Lehtinen Hinchey Olver Wynn itage as the beneficiaries of a Constitu- Chocola Kennedy (MN) Ross Coble King (IA) Royce NOT VOTING—7 tion sent to the States for ratification ‘‘in the year of our Lord,’’ as the ratifi- Cole (OK) King (NY) Ryan (WI) Evans Harris Ryan (OH) Conaway Kingston Ryun (KS) Ford McKinney cation statement said, 1787, by a found- Cramer Kirk Salazar Gutierrez Northup ing generation that saw itself as guided Crenshaw Kline Saxton Cubin Knollenberg Schmidt b 1223 by a providential God. These two words Cuellar Kolbe Schwarz (MI) were added to the Pledge in the 1950s, Culberson Kuhl (NY) Sensenbrenner So the resolution was agreed to. and at that time President Eisenhower Davis (KY) LaHood Sessions The result of the vote was announced made the point that in those days of Davis (TN) Latham Shadegg as above recorded. Cold War, those days after World War Davis, Jo Ann LaTourette Shaw A motion to reconsider was laid on Davis, Tom Leach Sherwood II, that it was important that we real- the table. Deal (GA) Lewis (CA) Shimkus ize that there was something bigger Dent Lewis (KY) Shuster f Diaz-Balart, L. Linder Simmons than ourselves and that our country Diaz-Balart, M. LoBiondo Simpson GENERAL LEAVE was guided by that. Doolittle Lucas Smith (NJ) For decades children have been recit- Drake Lungren, Daniel Smith (TX) Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I ask Dreier E. Sodrel unanimous consent that all Members ing the Pledge of Allegiance in class- Duncan Mack Souder may have 5 legislative days in which to rooms across America. The Pledge of Edwards Manzullo Stearns revise and extend their remarks on Allegiance is an important civic ritual. Ehlers Marchant Sullivan It binds us together as Americans. But Emanuel Marshall Sweeney H.R. 2389. Emerson Matheson Tancredo The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there last year that daily ritual was halted English (PA) McCaul (TX) Tanner objection to the request of the gen- in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Everett McCotter Taylor (NC) The court actually told teachers and Feeney McCrery Terry tleman from Missouri? Ferguson McHenry Thomas There was no objection. children in Alaska and Arizona, in Fitzpatrick (PA) McHugh Thornberry f California and Hawaii, in Idaho and Flake McIntyre Tiahrt Montana, in Nevada, Oregon, and Foley McKeon Tiberi PLEDGE PROTECTION ACT OF 2005 Washington that they could not recite Forbes McMorris Turner Fortenberry Melancon Upton The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- the Pledge of Allegiance as they had Fossella Mica Walden (OR) ant to House Resolution 920 and rule for decades in their classrooms. VerDate Aug 31 2005 07:11 Nov 16, 2006 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORDCX\T37X$J0E\H19JY6.REC H19JY6 CCOLEMAN on PROD1PC71 with CONG-REC-ONLINE H5398 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE July 19, 2006 The Court’s reasoning? The words it was against his or her religion. In been able to find any other case like ‘‘under God’’ constituted a violation of 1943, the Supreme Court in West Vir- this. They report, ‘‘We found one in- the establishment clause of the first ginia Board of Education v. Barnette stance of a bill, a joint resolution, be- amendment. According to the court, it held that children, in that case Jeho- tween the 100th Congress and the cur- was unconstitutional to lead students, vah’s Witnesses, had a first amendment rent Congress, in which a committee even voluntarily, in the Pledge of Alle- right not to be compelled to swear an specifically voted not to report a meas- giance because it included the phrase oath or recite a pledge in violation of ure that was later considered by the ‘‘under God.’’ their religious beliefs. House.’’ That measure was a 1996 agri- Any of the phrases in the Pledge do This legislation would, of course, culture bill that was rejected in com- not need to be subject to this kind of strip those families of the right to go mittee and later folded into a rec- court interpretation. The Pledge of Al- to court and to defend their religious onciliation bill. legiance, an act of Congress, modified liberty. Schools would be able to expel Now the Republican majority exceeds by the Congress in 1950s, still continues children for acting according to the to be the Pledge of Allegiance said by dictates of their religious faith, and even that arrogance. We are asked to school students and Members of this Congress will have slammed the court- vote on a bill that guts our system of body and others all over the country house door in their faces. government and guts the protection of today. Judges should not be able to re- As dangerous as this legislation is, our individual rights when the com- write the Pledge. Passing this bill will even for an election season, it is part of mittee tasked with the consideration protect the Pledge from Federal judges a more general attack on our system of of this bill rejected it.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Structural Safeguards of Federal Jurisdiction
    College of William & Mary Law School William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository Faculty Publications Faculty and Deans 2011 The trS uctural Safeguards of Federal Jurisdiction Tara Leigh Grove William & Mary Law School, [email protected] Repository Citation Grove, Tara Leigh, "The trS uctural Safeguards of Federal Jurisdiction" (2011). Faculty Publications. 1165. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/facpubs/1165 Copyright c 2011 by the authors. This article is brought to you by the William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/facpubs VOLUME 124 FEBRUARY 2011 NUMBER 4 © 2011 by The Harvard Law Review Association ARTICLE THE STRUCTURAL SAFEGUARDS OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION Tara Leigh Grove TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 870 II. THE THEORY .......................................................................................................................... 874 A. The Search for a Judicially Enforceable Baseline in Article III ............................... 874 B. The Structural Safeguards of Article I ........................................................................... 880 III. STRUCTURAL VETO POINTS IN POST–CIVIL WAR AMERICA ..................................... 888 A. Jurisdictional Battle: Suits Involving Corporations .................................................... 890 1. Establishing the Battleground: The Jurisdictional Expansion of 1875 ................ 891 2. Jurisdiction-Stripping
    [Show full text]
  • Congressional Record—House H7451
    September 23, 2004 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H7451 and environmentally responsible thing with respect to the jurisdiction of Fed- fect of invalidating the Pledge across to do. eral courts inferior to the Supreme several States, or nationwide, H.R. 2028 f Court over certain cases and controver- will preserve to State courts the au- sies involving the Pledge of Allegiance, thority to decide whether the Pledge is OUTRAGEOUS SALES TAX with Mr. SHAW in the chair. valid within that State’s boundaries. It (Mr. SHERMAN asked and was given The Clerk read the title of the bill. will place final authority or a State’s permission to address the House for 1 The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the pledge policy in the hands of the States minute and to revise and extend his re- rule, the bill is considered as having themselves. marks.) been read the first time. H.R. 2028 as reported by the Com- Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise Under the rule, the gentleman from mittee on the Judiciary is identical to to address a bill by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. SENSENBRENNER) and H.R. 3313, the Marriage Protection Act, which the House passed just prior to Georgia (Mr. LINDER). It is co-spon- the gentleman from New York (Mr. sored by the majority leader, a bill NADLER) each will control 30 minutes. the August recess except that it ad- which the President has indicated he The Chair recognizes the gentleman dresses the Pledge rather than the De- looks upon favorably. It is to abolish from Wisconsin (Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Jurisdiction Stripping in Three Acts: a Three String Serenade
    Volume 51 Issue 3 Article 3 2006 Jurisdiction Stripping in Three Acts: A Three String Serenade Caprice L. Roberts Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the Jurisdiction Commons Recommended Citation Caprice L. Roberts, Jurisdiction Stripping in Three Acts: A Three String Serenade, 51 Vill. L. Rev. 593 (2006). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr/vol51/iss3/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Villanova Law Review by an authorized editor of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. Roberts: Jurisdiction Stripping in Three Acts: A Three String Serenade 2006] Article JURISDICTION STRIPPING IN THREE ACTS: A THREE STRING SERENADE1 CAPRICE L. ROBERTS* INTRODUCTORY NOTE Jurisdiction Stripping.2 Impeachment. Inspector General. Appointments. Same- Sex Marriage. The Pledge of Allegiance. Nuclear Option. 1. This subtitle stems from MAZZY STAR, Five String Serenade, on So TONIGHT THAT I MIGHT SEE (Capitol Records 1993). My intention with the alteration from "five" to "three" is to have the three strings symbolize the axes of tension between the three branches of federal government: executive, legislative and judicial. Although a separate string represents each branch to signify the separation of powers, the three together exist on one instrument to symbolize that they are linked together on a larger device upon which success or failure of one affects all. The instrument itself reveals the blending of relations and power that occurs when the three strings attempt to escape dissonance by achieving harmony through a certain level of balance.
    [Show full text]
  • The Supreme Court and Pledge of Allegiance: Does God Still Have a Place in American Schools?
    University of Dayton eCommons Educational Leadership Faculty Publications Department of Educational Leadership 2004 The uprS eme Court and Pledge of Allegiance: Does God Still Have a Place in American Schools? Charles J. Russo University of Dayton, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/eda_fac_pub Part of the Education Law Commons, Elementary Education Commons, Religion Law Commons, Secondary Education Commons, and the Supreme Court of the United States Commons eCommons Citation Russo, Charles J., "The uS preme Court and Pledge of Allegiance: Does God Still Have a Place in American Schools?" (2004). Educational Leadership Faculty Publications. 129. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/eda_fac_pub/129 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Educational Leadership at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Leadership Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. THE SUPREME COURT AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: DOES GOD STILL HAVE A PLACE IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS? Charles]. Russo* I. INTRODUCTION The dearth of statistical or anecdotal1 evidence aside, combined with the relative lack of reported litigation, it appears that most students and teachers regularly participate in perhaps the most common daily school ritual by joining in the patriotic recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance (Pledge) and the salute to the American Flag. 2 Yet, as discussed throughout this article, this daily practice has had a history of controversy, whether in schools or political settings.3 Turning specifically to schools, in Newdow v. United States Congress (Newdow), 4 the Ninth Circuit set off a firestorm of controversy when, in a ' Charles ].
    [Show full text]
  • Congress Gave and Congress Hath Taken Away:1 Jurisdiction Withdrawal and the Constitution Travis Christopher Barham
    Washington and Lee Law Review Volume 62 | Issue 3 Article 7 Summer 6-1-2005 Congress Gave and Congress Hath Taken Away:1 Jurisdiction Withdrawal and the Constitution Travis Christopher Barham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the Jurisdiction Commons Recommended Citation Travis Christopher Barham, Congress Gave and Congress Hath Taken Away:1 Jurisdiction Withdrawal and the Constitution, 62 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 1139 (2005), https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/ wlulr/vol62/iss3/7 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington and Lee Law Review at Washington & Lee University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington and Lee Law Review by an authorized editor of Washington & Lee University School of Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Congress Gave and Congress Hath Taken Away:1 Jurisdiction Withdrawal and the Constitution Travis Christopher Barham* Table of Contents I. Introduction ................................................................................ 114 1 II. Current Legislation ..................................................................... 1143 A. The Marriage Protection Act of 2005-H.R. 1100 .............. 1144 B. The Constitution Restoration Act of 2005- H .R . 1070 & S. 520 ............................................................. 1145 C. The Pledge Protection Act of 2005- H .R . 2389 & S. 1046 ........................................................... 1146 III. Congress's Control of Federal Jurisdiction ................................. 1148 A. Constitutional Text-Article III ........................................... 1148 1. The Judicial Power-Article III, § 1 ............................. 1149 2. The Recipients of the Judicial Power- Article III, § 1................................................................ 1149 1. See Job 1:21 KJV ("[Tlhe LORD gave, and the LoRD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LoRD ...
    [Show full text]
  • The Pledge of Allegiance: One Nation Under God?
    THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: ONE NATION UNDER GOD? Linda P. McKenzie∗ I. INTRODUCTION On June 26, 2002, Ninth Circuit Judge Alfred T. Goodwin, writing for the majority, held that teachers cannot lead public elementary students in the Pledge of Allegiance (“Pledge”).1 According to the three-judge panel, such conduct violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment in two ways.2 First, the words “under God” constitute religious speech, which public school teachers and other state employees are prohibited from endorsing.3 Second, the 1954 Congressional Act that inserted the words “under God” into the Pledge was itself unconstitutional.4 The Ninth Circuit’s ruling was the end result of a complaint filed by Dr. Michael A. Newdow, a forty-nine-year-old emergency room physician and attorney,5 whose eight-year-old daughter attends an elementary school within the Elk Grove Unified School District.6 Dr. Newdow brought suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, challenging both the constitutionality of the 1954 Act and the practice of public school teachers reciting the Pledge in their classrooms.7 Newdow, a self-described “avowed atheist,” specifically objected that his young child was required to listen each day as her ∗ J.D. Candidate, University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, 2004. 1. Newdow v. U.S. Cong., 292 F.3d 597, 612 (9th Cir. 2002), pet. for reh’g en banc denied, Feb. 28, 2003. 2. Id. 3. Id. at 605. “The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment states that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,’ U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • 109TH CONGRESS 2ND SESSION U.S. House of Representatives And
    FRC ACTION AND FOCUS ON THE FAMILY ACTION VOTE SCORECARD 109TH CONGRESS 2ND SESSION U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate Dear Voter and Friend of the Family: FRC Action and Focus on the Family Action present our Vote Scorecard for the Second Session of the 109th Congress. This Scorecard contains a compilation of significant votes representing a cross section of issues affecting the family. These recorded votes occurred in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006. This scorecard shows how your elected officials voted on some of the critical issues involving the family. It is important to remember, however, that the votes you see here are only a few of the hundreds of votes cast by Members of Congress in 2006. We have singled out for inclusion the most clear-cut, pro-family votes that came before Congress. With the 2006 mid-term elections fast approaching, Congress renewed its efforts in protecting the family by promising action on a list of Values Votes. The House acted on legislation that included protecting parental involvement for minors receiving interstate abortions, enhancing the enforcement of laws prohibiting Internet gambling, rejection of funding for unethical embryonic stem cell research, a rejection of human fetus farming, and a renewed effort to preserve traditional marriage by amending the U.S. Constitution. Unfortunately, the House did not act on two promised items on the Values agenda: a bill to inform women of fetal pain and a ban on human cloning. With the exception of confirming to the Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, last year we were unable to report on activity by the Senate due to a lack of substantial pro-family votes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Structural Safeguards of Federal Jurisdiction
    Alabama Law Scholarly Commons Working Papers Faculty Scholarship 4-8-2010 The Structural Safeguards of Federal Jurisdiction Tara Leigh Grove University of Alabama - School of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/fac_working_papers Recommended Citation Tara L. Grove, The Structural Safeguards of Federal Jurisdiction, (2010). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/fac_working_papers/640 This Working Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Alabama Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Working Papers by an authorized administrator of Alabama Law Scholarly Commons. VOLUME 124 FEBRUARY 2011 NUMBER 4 © 2011 by The Harvard Law Review Association ARTICLE THE STRUCTURAL SAFEGUARDS OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION Tara Leigh Grove TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 870 II. THE THEORY .......................................................................................................................... 874 A. The Search for a Judicially Enforceable Baseline in Article III ............................... 874 B. The Structural Safeguards of Article I ........................................................................... 880 III. STRUCTURAL VETO POINTS IN POST–CIVIL WAR AMERICA ..................................... 888 A. Jurisdictional Battle: Suits Involving Corporations ...................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Crusading Against the Courts
    Crusading Against the Courts The New Mission to Weaken the Role of the Courts in Protecting Our Religious Liberties Written by Bert Brandenburg and Amy Kay Crusading Against the Courts The New Mission to Weaken the Role of the Courts in Protecting Our Religious Liberties Justice at Stake is a nonpartisan national campaign of more than 45 partners working to keep our courts fair, impartial and independent. Justice at Stake Campaign partners educate the public and work for reforms to keep politics and special interests out of the courtroom—so judges can do their job protecting our Constitution, our rights and the rule of law. The positions and policies of Justice at Stake partners are their own, and do not necessarily reflect those of other campaign partners. The Campaign’s Bola Omisore provided research support for this report. Publication of this report was supported by a grant from the Open Society Institute. Justice at Stake’s work is also supported by grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Joyce Foundation, and the Moriah Fund. Written by Bert Brandenburg and Amy Kay Crusading Against the Courts The New Mission to Weaken the Role of the Courts in Protecting Our Religious Liberties I. Introduction For more than two centuries, America has shown the world how a constitutional democracy can support faith and freedom. Helping both to thrive will never be simple. Religion by its nature often deals in profound faith and personal absolutes. Political society seeks to accommodate difference and diversity. A democracy could attempt to echo the religious beliefs of the majority, but America’s founders chose a different course.
    [Show full text]
  • Jurisdiction Stripping, Constitutional Supremacy, and the Implications of Ex Parte Young
    JURISDICTION STRIPPING, CONSTITUTIONAL SUPREMACY, AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF EX PARTE YOUNG † THEODORE J. WEIMAN On July 22, 2004,1 the House of Representatives passed the Mar- riage Protection Act of 2004, a bill that would strip the federal courts of jurisdiction over cases challenging the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.2 Two months later, the House passed a simi- lar bill that would curtail federal court jurisdiction for challenges to the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance or its recitation.3 Though perhaps unlikely to pass the Senate, the bills represent an at- tempt by Congress to avoid potential federal court determination of issues involving important areas of constitutional law4 with the hope of † B.A. 2000, The University of Texas at Austin; J.D. Candidate 2006, University of Pennsylvania Law School. I would like to thank the scholars whose work I have cited in this Comment for their thoughtful and well-researched work. I have learned a great deal from them throughout this process, and I have been constantly amazed and in- spired by the depth of their analysis. I am also grateful to my parents, Liz and Larry, and my sister, Julie, for their constant support, encouragement, and inspiration. Fi- nally, I thank the editors of this Law Review for their careful work and helpful com- ments. All errors and opinions are my own. 1 Earlier in the year, a member of the House proposed a much broader bill that would remove federal court jurisdiction over claims involving same-sex marriage, the right to privacy, and state and local restrictions of free exercise or establishment of re- ligion, but this bill is still in committee.
    [Show full text]
  • Unit 1 the Pledge of Allegiance
    Unit 1 Text; The Pledge of Allegiance Origins of the Pledge of Allegiance In 1892 the popular Youth’s Companion magazine made a lot of money selling American flags to schools. For each 10 subscriptions a school bought of the magazine they received a flag for the classrooms. As magazines and flag sales slowed it was decided that the magazine would take part in the coming 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the New World. A ceremony would take place honoring Columbus and the Flag, Francis Bellamy a Baptist minister and Christian Socialist wrote the original "Pledge of Allegiance" and the flag ceremony became part of the ceremony organized by James B. Upham, to promote American nationalism, the loyalty and devotion to one’s nation. Bellamy's original pledge, which is a binding promise or agreement to do something, and included a salute, read as follows: I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Continuing in its popularity, by 1923, the National Flag Conference called for the words "my Flag" to be changed to "the Flag of", so that new immigrants would not confuse loyalties between their birth countries and the U.S. The words "of America" was added a year later. The United States Congress officially recognized the Pledge, as part of the U.S. Flag Code on June 22, 1942, as I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
    [Show full text]
  • Jurisdiction Withdrawal and the Constitution
    Congress Gave and Congress Hath Taken Away: 1 Jurisdiction Withdrawal and the Constitution Travis Christopher Barham* Table a/Contents I. Introduction 1141 II. Current Legislation 1143 A. The Marriage Protection Act of2005-H.R. 1100 1144 B. The Constitution Restoration Act of2005- H.R. 1070 & S. 520 1145 C. The Pledge Protection Act of2005- H.R. 2389 & S. 1046 1146 III. Congress's Control of Federal Jurisdiction 1148 A. Constitutional Text-Article III 1148 1. The Judicial Power-Article III, § 1 1149 2. The Recipients ofthe Judicial Power- Article III, § 1 1149 1. See Job 1:21 KJV ("[T]he LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name ofthe LORD...."); see also Senate Select Comm. on Presidential Campaign Activities v. Nixon, 366 F. Supp. 51, 55 (D.D.C. 1973) (paraphrasing and applying Job 1:21 to Congress's control over federal jurisdiction). * Candidate for J.D., Washington & Lee University School ofLaw, 2006. B.S., B.A., Grove City College, 2002, 2003. I would like to thank Dr. Virginia C. Armstrong for suggesting this topic and reviewing drafts; Professors Joan M. Shaughnessy and Lewis H. LaRue for their helpful critiques; and Leah M. Boyd for her thorough and dedicated work as Note Editor. This Note-writing process confirmed that I am indebted to Dr. Charles W. Dunn both for the intense focus on writing that he brought to all ofhis classes and for his invaluable class on congressional procedure. I would also like to thank my siblings, Jennifer, Nathanael, Mary Elizabeth, Sarah, Joshua, Joanna, and Timothy, for their encouragement and prayers.
    [Show full text]