House passes bill barring federal court rulings in pledge cases

Published: 2004-09-24

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The House of Representatives has approved a bill that would prevent the Supreme Court and all other federal courts from ruling on whether the words "under God" should be stricken from the Pledge of Allegiance. "Many federal judges have made no secret of their hostility to traditional values and religion in the public square," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, a supporter of the bill. Many opponents of the measure said they supported keeping the phrase in the pledge but felt that the bill was an unconstitutional attack on the federal judiciary and an effort to force a vote on a controversial issue during an election year. The bill was passed 247-173, but there is little chance the Senate will vote on the measure this year. The Supreme Court in June by an 8-0 vote upheld the use of "under God" in the pledge. It overruled, on a technicality, a lower federal court ruling that the phrase was unconstitutional. The lower court case involved a challenge by an atheist that his daughter should not be required in her public school to recite the pledge because of the reference to God.

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