During the fall legislative period, Congress will likely begin consideration of proposals to amend the free exercise and religious establishment clauses of the First Amendment to allow state-sponsored or state-mediated prayer and other religious practices. According to Congressman Istook (R-OK), one of the primary amendment sponsors, proponents plan to introduce formal legislation in September and expect a vote before the full US House of Representatives by the end of 1995. The Senate's time line is more difficult to predict, though most observers anticipate that the Senate will address this issue at roughly the same time as does the House.

In an effort to galvanize support among their constituencies, Istook and his co-sponsors convened summer field hearings in Virginia, Florida, New York, and Oklahoma. While this strategy enjoyed enormous success in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where over four hundred vocal amendment supporters attended the hearing and overwhelmed the opposition, the mainstream religious community has since recognized the considerable danger of ignoring these hearings.

On Monday July 10th the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the U.S. Constitution held its field hearing at Manhattan's Hunter College in New York City (NYC) to discuss the so-called "Religious Equality Amendment." TIA Board of Director Rabbi Hertzberg, who delivered testimony on behalf of TIA, reminded the subcommittee members that "personal religious speech is absolutely protected" by the constitution and outlined our reasons for opposition to changes in these First Amendment clauses. Hertzberg alluded to the dangers of state-sponsored school prayer in religiously and culturally diverse America and linked our desire to preserve religious liberty in America to the original intent of the First Amendment's author, James Madison. Hertzberg testified, for example, that "Madison believed that church-state separation was the best way not only of protecting religious liberty, but also of promoting the vitality and integrity of his own religious community."

TIA and its allies in the Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty also demonstrated their grass roots appeal and broad range of constituencies by turning out more than half of this hearing's total audience. Although subcommittee Chairman Charles Canady (R-FL) accorded the two primary witnesses promoting the "Religious Equality Amendment" far more time than he gave our four witnesses (a decision that reflects both his desire to see an amendment ratified and the right-wing's penchant to tip the scales in their favor through dishonorable tactics), Hertzberg's persuasive testimony, coupled with our strong presence at the hearing, buttressed our opposition to state-sponsored or sanctioned religious expression.

The subcommittee also held a field hearing in Oklahoma City on July 14th during which Donna Compton, an ordained Disciples of Christ minister, articulated TIA's objections to the subcommittee. As in New York, those opposed to school prayer represented close to half of the overall crowd in attendance at Oklahoma City. Although the subcommittee had also planned an additional hearing on July 17 in Los Angeles, the leadership canceled it less than a week before its scheduled date. There is considerable speculation that our substantial presence at Oklahoma City and New York may have undermined their assumption that opposition to the amendment was non-existent. In other words, our demonstrated strength at these hearings likely made the spectacle of further hearings extremely unappealing to the amendment's strongest supporters.