TIA Board Member Testifies Against Proposed "Religious Equality
Amendment"
During the fall legislative period, Congress will likely begin consideration of proposals in
order to amend the free exercise and religious establishment clauses of the First
Amendment to allow state-sponsored 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 Directors member 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 said in
his testimony 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 the
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, 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
state-sponsored school prayer. 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 the these hearings likely made the spectacle of
further hearings extremely unappealing to the amendment's strongest supporters.
President Clinton's Remarks
Read excerpts from a speech delivered by President Clinton concering The Religious
Coercion Amendment
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