1Designating the week of May 6 through 12, 2013, as "American
2Religious History Week" in Pennsylvania.

3WHEREAS, Religious faith was not only important in official
4American life during the periods of discovery, exploration,
5colonization and growth, but has also been acknowledged and
6incorporated into all three branches of American Federal
7Government from their very beginning; and

8WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of the United States affirmed this
9self-evident fact in a unanimous ruling declaring "This is a
10religious people ... From the discovery of this continent to the
11present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation";
12and

13WHEREAS, The first act of America's first Congress in 1774
14was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress
15in the reading of four chapters of the Bible; and

16WHEREAS, The Liberty Bell was named for the Biblical

1inscription from Leviticus 25:10 emblazoned around it: "Proclaim
2liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof";
3and

4WHEREAS, In 1782, Congress pursued a plan to print a Bible
5that would be "a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use
6of schools" and therefore approved the production of the first
7English language Bible printed in America that contained the
8congressional endorsement that "the United States in Congress
9assembled ... recommend this edition of the Bible to the
10inhabitants of the United States"; and

11WHEREAS, In 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in
12Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin declared, "God governs in the
13affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground
14without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise
15without His aid? ... Without His concurring aid, we shall
16succeed in this political building no better than the builders
17of Babel"; and

18WHEREAS, In 1853, the United States Senate declared that the
19Founding Fathers "had no fear or jealousy of religion itself,
20nor did they wish to see us an irreligious people ... they did
21not intend to spread over all the public authorities and the
22whole public action of the nation the dead and revolting
23spectacle of atheistical apathy"; and

24WHEREAS, Beginning in 1904 and continuing for the next half-
25century, the Federal Government printed and distributed The Life 
26and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth for the use of Members of
27Congress because of the important teachings it contained; and

28WHEREAS, The constitutions of each of the 50 states, either
29in the preamble or body, explicitly recognize or express
30gratitude to God; and

1WHEREAS, President Andrew Jackson declared that the Bible "is
2the rock on which our Republic rests"; and

3WHEREAS, President Abraham Lincoln declared that the Bible
4"is the best gift God has given to men ... But for it, we could
5not know right from wrong"; and

6WHEREAS, President Franklin D. Roosevelt not only led the
7nation in a six-minute prayer during D-Day on June 6, 1944, but
8he also declared that "If we will not prepare to give all that
9we have and all that we are to preserve Christian civilization
10in our land, we shall go to destruction"; and

11WHEREAS, President John F. Kennedy declared that "The rights
12of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the
13hand of God"; and

14WHEREAS, Every other President has similarly recognized the
15role of God and religious faith in the public life of America;
16and

17WHEREAS, All sessions of the United States Supreme Court
18begin with the Court's Marshal announcing, "God save the United
19States and this honorable court"; and

20WHEREAS, Justice John Jay, an author of the Federalist Papers
21and original Justice of the United States Supreme Court, urged
22"The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our
23civil and religious liberties is always to remember with
24reverence and gratitude the Source from which they flow"; and

25WHEREAS, Numerous others of the most important American
26government leaders, institutions, monuments, buildings and
27landmarks both openly acknowledge and incorporate religious
28words, symbols and imagery into official venues; therefore be it

29RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate the
30week of May 6 through 12, 2013, as "American Religious History

1Week" for the recognition of the impact of religious beliefs on
2America's history; and be it further

3RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives affirm the rich
4spiritual and diverse religious history of our nation's founding
5and subsequent history, including up to the current day; and be
6it further

7RESOLVED, The House of Representatives reject, in the
8strongest possible terms, any effort to remove, obscure or
9purposely omit such history from our nation's public buildings
10and educational resources.