Vote on ‘Religious Freedom’ Falls Short

A majority of the House voted Thursday for a “religious freedom” constitutional amendment that would allow prayers in public schools, religious icons on government property and the use of tax dollars to pay for parochial schools. But the 224-203 vote fell 65 short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.

The proposal was designed to reverse what its backers called three decades of court rulings that have stifled religious expression “right and left all over the country,” in the words of Rep. Ernest J. Istook Jr. (R-Okla.), the measure’s author.

Istook and his conservative allies said that the measure simply would afford religious speech the same protection as nonreligious speech in schools or on other public properties.

But opponents called the proposed constitutional amendment counterproductive, warning that it was an attack on the 1st Amendment and actually would threaten religious freedom.

Calling the measure “a horrible solution in search of a problem,” Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) said that it would “open school doors to government-sanctioned prayer, allow government to endorse religious messages in public places and permit tax money to flow to all religious groups and missions.”

The Clinton administration also opposed the amendment, saying that “Congress should not tamper with this most precious liberty.” The White House statement also noted that under federal guidelines students are already free to pray privately at school, say grace at lunch and meet in religious groups before and after school.

But Istook and his allies argued that courts have “attacked and twisted and warped” the 1st Amendment. They cited cases in which courts have prevented a first-grader from reading from a Bible storybook, refused to allow students to wear rosaries, banned prayer at commencement ceremonies and restricted nativity scenes and caroling on public property.

The language of Istook’s proposed amendment, “to secure the people’s right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience,” would ensure that “neither the United States nor any State shall establish any official religion but the people’s right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage or traditions on public property, including schools, shall not be infringed. Neither the United States nor any state shall require any person to join in prayer or other religious activity, prescribe school prayers, discriminate against religion or deny equal access to a benefit on account of religion.” Action on the amendment was just one of many votes demanded recently by influential Christian conservatives who have been disgruntled over what they regard as the GOP leadership’s lack of commitment to social issues.

Another such vote is scheduled for today, with the House expected to vote on a budget that calls for reducing the so-called marriage penalty by as much as $100 billion over the next five years.

With the election campaign heating up, Republicans and Democrats are preparing to bring up issues that seem designed not so much to pass legislation as to inspire their core constituencies.

Democrats, for instance, intend to force votes on raising the minimum wage and imposing new regulations on managed care organizations. The GOP plans to try again to abolish the National Endowment for the Arts and to override President Clinton’s veto of a bill to end “partial-birth” abortions.

The Istook amendment was one such symbolic measure. Its backers conceded defeat well before the vote--while pointedly noting that the Christian Coalition and other groups intend to “score” how members voted on the issue when they distribute voter guides this autumn.

The Southern Baptist Convention and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes were among the groups supporting the measure.

As House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) noted earlier this week, implicitly foreshadowing the measure’s defeat: “You might expect to have the vote more than once before you get the necessary two-thirds.” The House last took up such a measure in 1971.

Proponents of the Istook amendment said that the measure would have simply corrected court rulings, particularly by the Supreme Court, that they believe have misinterpreted the 1st Amendment.

The measure was opposed by many religious groups, including the American Jewish Congress and the Episcopal Church.