The prayer-in-government bill now heads for a full floor vote in Congress. The Christian Coalition pledges to spend $2,000,000 in order to insure passage.

he House Judiciary Committee approved the controversial Religious Freedom Amendment Wednesday, splitting along party lines after repeated revisions and numerous rounds of public hearings. Proposed by Rep. Ernest Istook (R- OK), the measure would permit a wide range of religious expression and ritual in secular public institutions including schools. Istook and supporters of the proposed amendment defended the measure, saying that it was necessary in order to guarantee religious freedom in the United States against government hostility. But critics charge that those freedoms are already protected adequately under the First Amendment, and that the RFA constitutes a dangerous violation of state-church separation.

   The amendment reads:

"To secure the people's right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience: The people's right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage or traditions on public property, including schools, shall not be infringed. The government shall not 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."

    Wednesday's action marks the first time that the controversial prayer-in- government measure has moved beyond the House Judiciary Committee. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a supporter of RFA, can most probably be expected to put the measure into the legislative hopper for a full House vote, unless some Republicans can convince the leadership that the amendment is too controversial and a potential political liability.

    Chris Prokop, Washington, D.C. Director for American Atheists, said that debate on the committee over RFA was spirited. "When the members finally got around to discussing the amendment, it was by far the most passionate topic they had covered." Reps. Canady (Florida) and Goodlatte (Virginia) made mention of two speakers they had brought to the hearings, including a youngster who supposed had a copy of the Bible taken away from him in a class room. "They're using these 'horror stories' to make it appear that people are losing their right to express themselves religiously," Prokop added.

    But not everyone on the committee supported the RFA. "A lot of Representatives expressed concern over issues like the vague and unspecific language in the measure, and the fact that a constitutional amendment really is not required to solve any legitimate problems," said Mr. Prokop. Rep. Boucher of Virginia even quoted Thomas Jefferson's view on government and religion, pointing out that they are the primary pillars of the First Amendment.

   Prokop noted that Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) briefly mentioned the civil rights of atheists and agnostics.

Christian Coalition Director Randy Tate sees a win-win situation regardless of the vote on RFA

    Christian Coalition praised Wednesday's action in the House Judiciary Committee. Randy Tate, CC Executive Director gushed, "This is monumental -- it's the first time in 27 years that the issue of voluntary school prayer will make it to the House floor." He added that his group "has led the charge in this since it began, and it has not wavered in its efforts to persuade Congress to adopt this amendment."

   Even if the Religious Freedom Amendment fails in the House during the next session, though, expect Christian Coalition to use the vote tally to "get Congress on record" and include the results in subsequent voters guides which have become a stock campaign weapon. Critics have charged that the millions of guides which the Coalition pumps out through a network of over 100,000 participating churches often over-simplify and even distort candidates' stands on key issues. The Federal Election Commission, which has filed suit against Christian Coalition, charges that the guides are partisan political tools.

    Despite today's 16-11 vote on the Republican dominated Judiciary Committee, the Religious Freedom Amendment faces a tough challenge ahead. Despite the support of powerful religious conservatives like Christian Coalition, Salvation Army, Southern Baptists and the Traditional Values Coalition, the RFA must clear both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate by a 2/3 vote, then be ratified by majority votes in 3/4 of the state legislatures. A seven year period is allotted for that process, since RFA is a proposed amendment to the Constitution. The Christian Coalition has pledged $2,000,000 for campaign support and other projects to back officials who support the amendment.

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