MORNING BUSINESS: FAITH MONTH
Congressional Record Vol. 172, No. 66
(Senate - April 15, 2026) PDF
FAITH MONTH
Mrs. HYDE-SMITH. Mr. President, every April, faithful Americans come
together in prayer and thanksgiving to celebrate Faith Month. I embrace
the unique opportunity that we have to recognize this time and
acknowledge one of the foundational virtues of our great country. I
also commend Concerned Women for America, the Nation's largest public
policy organization for women, and other faith-based organizations for
encouraging people to use this month to actively strengthen their
faith.
A group of courageous Americans met in Philadelphia 250 years ago to
sign a document declaring the birth of a new nation, one "conceived in
Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
equal." Thus was born a nation that became the greatest force for
prosperity, goodness, justice, and freedom that the world has ever
known.
Those words were only made possible by a culture founded on faith.
Generations before that clandestine meeting, the Pilgrims, fleeing
religious persecution in their European homelands, sailed to the shores
of Massachusetts. They undertook a perilous journey to an unknown world
in pursuit of the right to freely worship God. Ever since, that right
has been central at the heart of the American experience.
Our Founders understood that belief in God was key to the success of
the new Nation. When tensions ran high at the Constitutional
Convention, Benjamin Franklin proposed that the delegates begin each
day with prayer, arguing that "God governs in the affairs of men."
John Adams believed that our Nation could not function without faith,
famously writing that "Our constitution was made only for a moral and
religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any
other." Thomas Jefferson promoted and attended regular church services
here in the Capitol, recognizing that faith was a core part of the
Republic.
The United States is the result of a people, a society, steeped in
the tenets of the Christian faith. America as we know it would not
exist otherwise. Only through Christianity can men be created equal in
the image of their Creator. Only through ultimate allegiance to a God
in Heaven can a people declare themselves free of the yoke of
tyrannical, earthly governments. By accepting "the Laws of Nature"
established by "Nature's God," we can claim to have inalienable
rights that are not granted by any legislative body.
On this, our 250th anniversary as a nation, we look back to our
beginning, rooted in faith in God. By our continued steadfast trust in
Him, we see how richly we have been blessed. Americans have reached
heights no nation has ever dreamed of, from the wild Western frontier
to the surface of the Moon, the eradication of slavery and the fight
against communism, by the animating spirit of faith.
Yet millions around the world do not have the freedom to practice
their faith that we do here. As we celebrate Faith Month in America,
there are Christians in Nigeria, Syria, and Bangladesh having their
churches burned, their businesses destroyed, and their families
tortured or murdered simply for their belief in Jesus Christ. We can
never take for granted the blessed freedom that we have as Americans.
Though the faithful here do not face that level of persecution, the
erosion of faith's influence in our society is evident. The climbing
rates of abortions, the declining numbers of marriages, confusion over
sexual reality, normalization of assisted suicide, the loss of
Christianity's moral foundations are sadly more apparent.
As we look forward to the next 250 years, we must remain diligent
against efforts to further remove faith from the public square. Let us
remain on guard against those who wish to restrict this most cherished
right of freedom to worship, which has made America great.
This Faith Month, I join Concerned Women for America and millions of
Americans to celebrate our shared Christian foundations. We thank God
for the riches our Nation has enjoyed so far, for the blessing it is to
live in a country that cherishes the right to worship freely. May we
hold steadfast to our national motto, "In God We Trust," and continue
to look for guidance from Him who has made this Nation great.