Whereas America’s Founding was rooted in the belief that every man, woman, and child is endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness;

Whereas references to God and divine providence have long been part of the Nation’s civic traditions, including in the Declaration of Independence;

Whereas the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776;

Whereas President Abraham Lincoln first said the phrase Nation, under God, in the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery;

Whereas the Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy to express loyalty to the United States and its constitutional republic;

Whereas Congress formally recognized the Pledge of Allegiance on June 22, 1942, during World War II, as a symbol of national unity and patriotism;

Whereas the Pledge of Allegiance became formally recognized in the Federal Flag Code (4 U.S.C. § 4—Pledge of allegiance to the flag);

Whereas Louis Charles Rabaut represented the 14th District of Michigan in the United States House of Representatives from 1935 to 1947 and 1949 to 1961;

Whereas, on April 20, 1953, Louis Charles Rabaut of Michigan sponsored and introduced H.J.Res. 243, a resolution to include the words Under God in the Pledge to the Flag;

Whereas Louis Charles Rabaut of Michigan was inspired to sponsor H.J.Res. 243 to distinguish the United States from the Soviet Union, stating that, the unbridgeable gap between America and Communist Russia is a belief in Almighty God;

Whereas the words under God in the Pledge of Allegiance reflect the understanding that individual rights and liberties are derived from a higher and divine authority, and not from the government alone;

Whereas, on June 14, 1954, Congress passed and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed H.J.Res. 243 that amended the Pledge of Allegiance to read: I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all;

Whereas millions of Americans voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day in schools, civic ceremonies, public meetings, and patriotic observances across the United States;

Whereas the words under God in the Pledge of Allegiance continue to symbolize the humility of the Nation and the principle that governmental power is limited and accountable to enduring moral truths;

Whereas, on January 1, 2026, Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States of America, proclaimed 2026 as a Year of Celebration and Rededication to the Nation’s Founding;

Whereas, on July 4, 2026, the Nation will celebrate and commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, marking the United States of America’s Semiquincentennial; and

Whereas, as part of America’s Semiquincentennial, on May 17, 2026, the Rededicate 250 prayer event took place on the National Mall, led by President Trump and conservative religious leaders to mark America’s 250th anniversary as one nation under God: Now, therefore, be it