U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (Mo.), Steve Daines (Mont.), James Lankford (Okla.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Roy Blunt (Mo.) Mike Rounds (S.D.), James Risch (Idaho), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Jim Inhofe (Okla.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Rick Scott (Fla.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Bill Cassidy (La.) and Tim Scott (S.C.) introduced a resolution designating January 16th as Religious Freedom Day. This Resolution also commemorates the Virginia Statute’s for Religious Freedom’s 234th anniversary, a statute that laid the foundations for the First Amendment.
“In a time when religious freedom is denied in so many parts of the world, it is an honor to celebrate the right to worship freely as Americans,” Hawley said. “Across our history, religious freedom has been at the core of who we are, and today we reaffirm our commitment to preserve and protect that freedom for generations to come.”
“It is important we recognize and celebrate the role religious freedom has played in the history of our country and the framework of our constitution,” Daines said. “In America, we have the right to worship freely and safely, for so many across the world, this fundamental right to religious freedom is suppressed.”
To read the resolution, click here.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute’s for Religious Freedom, which passed the Virginia General Assembly on January 16th, 1786. Many historians credit the language of Jefferson’s Statute for inspiring the groundwork for the First Amendment.
Every year since 1992, January 16th has been designated as Religious Freedom Day.