SENATE MEMORIAL 46

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

William E. Sharer

A MEMORIAL

RECOGNIZING THE SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INCLUSION OF THE WORDS "UNDER GOD" IN THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.

     WHEREAS, the pledge of allegiance stands as a testament to the freedoms and ideals of the United States of America; and

     WHEREAS, originally written in 1892, the pledge has been revised at least four times, the most recent being in 1954 with the addition of the words "under God"; and

     WHEREAS, recognition that the United States of America is at once a nation under God and a nation that guarantees the freedom to not worship or recognize God stands as enduring proof of a commitment to protect the freedoms and rights of all; and

     WHEREAS, inclusion of the words "under God" and the principle it expresses in the pledge of allegiance was enacted into law by congress in 1954 at the urging of President Dwight D. Eisenhower; and

     WHEREAS, in a speech on flag day in 1954 when he signed the legislation into law, President Eisenhower noted that the inclusion of "under God" in the pledge reaffirms "the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future" and that "in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource in peace and war"; and

     WHEREAS, the inclusion of "under God" in the pledge has not been without controversy, but in yet another tribute to the civil and reasoned manner in which disputes over the innumerable freedoms afforded all residents of the United States of America are resolved, the federal courts have considered challenges to the inclusion of the phrase and refused to strike it from the pledge;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the sixtieth anniversary of the inclusion of "under God" in the pledge of allegiance be recognized.

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