,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #aehf  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #af1 #bjac    
,mr4 ,gohmert 7for himself1 ,mr4        
,chabot1 ,mr4 ,barton1 and ,mr4         
,scalise7 introduced the following bill2
 which was referred to the ,committee on
 ,house ,administration  ,a ,,bill  ,to 
direct the ,architect of the ,capitol to
 acquire and place a historical plaque  
to be permanently displayed in ,national
 ,statuary ,hall recognizing the seven  
decades of ,christian church services   
being held in the ,capitol from #ahjj to
 #ahfh1 which included attendees ,james 
,madison and ,thomas ,jefferson4  #a4   
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,congressional ,hope for ,uniform   
,recognition of ,christian ,heritage    
7,,church7 ,act of #bjac4  #b4          
,acquisition and ,display of ,historical
 ,plaque ,recognizing the ,seven        
,decades of ,christian ,church ,services
 ,being ,held in the ,capitol  7a7      
,acquisition ,the ,architect of the     

,capitol shall enter into an agreement  
with a private entity for the design and
 fabrication of a historical plaque to  
be permanently displayed in ,national   
,statuary ,hall recognizing the seven   
decades of ,christian church services   
being held in the ,capitol from #ahjj to
 #ahfh4  7b7 ,design ,the plaque        
designed and fabricated pursuant to the 
agreement entered into under subsection 
7a7 shall be of such size and design as 
may be provided under the terms of the  
agreement1 except that the plaque shall 
contain the following statement3  ,the  
first ,christian church services in the 
,capitol were held when the ,government 
moved to ,washington in the fall of     
#ahjj4 ,they were conducted in the ,hall
 of the ,house in the north wing of the 
building4 ,in #ahja1 the ,house moved   
the church services to temporary        
quarters in the south wing1 called the  
,oven1 which it vacated in #ahjd1       
returning services to the north wing for
 #c years4 ,during church services1 the 

,speaker's podium was used as the       
preacher's pulpit4  ,within a year of   
his inauguration1 ,president ,thomas    
,jefferson began attending church       
services in the ,chamber of the ,house  
of ,representatives4 ,throughout his    
administration 7#ahja-ahji71 ,thomas    
,jefferson permitted and encouraged     
church services in executive branch     
buildings4 ,sermons regarding the ,old  
and ,new ,testaments of the ,bible were 
even conducted in the ,supreme ,court   
chambers while the judicial branch was  
located in the old north wing of the    
,capitol4  ,the term separation of      
church and state1 not found in the      
,constitution1 was rather first used by 
,thomas ,jefferson in a letter to the   
,danbury ,baptists4 ,though ,jefferson  
saw no problem with having              
nondenominational ,christian services in
 government buildings1 he affirmed that 
the ,government should not choose an    
official ,christian denomination4 ,the  
worship services in the                 

,government-owned ,house ,chamber--a    
practice that continued until after the 
,civil ,war--were acceptable to         
,jefferson because they were            
nondiscriminatory and voluntary4        
,president ,james ,madison1 the         
recognized author of the ,constitution1 
followed ,jefferson's example4 ,in      
keeping with ,madison's understanding of
 the first amendment1 church services   
were permitted in the halls of ,state on
 ,sundays during his administration     
7#ahji-ahag74 ,however1 unlike          
,jefferson1 who rode on horseback to    
attend church in the ,capitol1 ,madison 
traveled in a coach pulled by four      
horses4 ,the services were interrupted  
in #ahad after the interior was burned  
by the ,british and had to be repaired4 
,preachers of every ,christian          
denomination preached ,christian        
doctrine in this ,chamber4 ,on ,january 
#h1 #ahbf1 ,bishop ,john ,england       
7#aghf-ahdb7 of ,charleston1 ,south     
,carolina1 became the first ,catholic   

clergyman to preach in the ,house of    
,representatives4 ,the first woman to   
preach before the ,house1 and likely the
 first woman to speak officially in     
,congress under any circumstances1 was  
the ,english evangelist1 ,dorothy       
,ripley 7#agfg-ahcb71 who conducted a   
service on ,january #ab1 #ahjf4  4  7c7 
,presentation ,ceremony ,the ,architect 
of the ,capitol is authorized to use    
,national ,statuary ,hall for a         
presentation ceremony for the plaque on 
a date determined by the ,architect4    
,the ,architect of the ,capitol and the 
,capitol ,police ,board shall take such 
action as may be necessary with respect 
to physical preparations and security   
for the ceremony4  7d7 ,display ,upon   
receiving the plaque designed and       
fabricated pursuant to the agreement    
entered into under this section1 the    
,architect of the ,capitol shall display
 the plaque permanently in a place of   
prominence in ,national ,statuary ,hall4
  #c4 ,use of existing funds ,any       

amounts obligated or expended by the    
,architect of the ,capitol to carry out 
this ,act shall be derived from funds   
available to the ,architect as of the   
date of the enactment of this ,act4