During the recent vote on a school prayer measure, the House failed to reach the majority needed to pass the proposed Religious Freedom Amendment. The vote was in favor of the measure, with 224 in favor and 203 against. However, this fell short of the two-thirds support required to advance an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Prior to the vote, there was a four-hour debate focused on religious expression in public schools. Supporters of the amendment argued that it was necessary to address the perceived hostility towards religious expression by the U.S. Supreme Court, lower courts, and public school administrators over the past 35 years.
During the floor debate, Rep. Ernest Istook, the principal sponsor of the measure, argued that the First Amendment’s religion clauses had been "attacked and twisted and warped by the Supreme Court". He emphasized that prayer is unifying, not divisive, and that it is important to teach children to respect the prayers of others. Rep. Charles T. Canady, another leading supporter of the Religious Freedom Amendment, added that there is a problem when students are told they cannot bring their Bibles to school. However, opponents of the amendment contended that many of the examples cited by conservatives to demonstrate curtailment of religious expression were situations in which current laws were simply not properly applied.
Rep. Barney Frank, one of the opponents of the amendment, argued that the amendment sought to solve a problem that does not exist, and that matters of religion should be left to families and individual choice.
Supporters of the amendment argued that it would restore the rights of students to have organized voluntary prayers in public schools, including over the intercom and at graduation ceremonies. They also claimed that it would ensure publicly funded voucher programs can benefit children attending religious schools. A similar amendment proposed by Rep. Istook failed to advance in the last Congress due to disagreements among Republicans over the wording.
The last time the House voted on a school prayer amendment was in 1971, when a measure to reverse Supreme Court decisions prohibiting official prayers in public schools was defeated. Rep. Istook’s amendment received support from 197 Republicans and 27 Democrats, while 174 Democrats, 28 Republicans, and one independent opposed it. Proposals to soften the amendment were rejected by the House. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich had promised that a prayer amendment would be a priority since Republicans gained control of the House in the 1994 elections.
While it was not expected for the amendment to win the necessary two-thirds majority, Republican leaders fulfilled their promise to religious conservative groups, such as the Christian Coalition, by scheduling a vote on the measure. President Clinton used his radio address to express his opposition to the proposed amendment, arguing that the First Amendment already allows for voluntary student prayers in public schools. The administration also released updated guidelines from Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley on what forms of religious expression are legally permitted in public schools. These guidelines were first issued in 1995 and have been updated to reflect a Supreme Court decision from last year that struck down the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Overall, the amendment failed to gather enough support to advance, and the Senate has shown little interest in similar prayer amendments. President Clinton and opponents of the amendment maintain that the First Amendment already adequately protects religious freedom and does not need to be rewritten.
