A new bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives aims to permanently display the national motto in every federal building across the country.
Rep. Mary Miller, R-Illinois, introduced the House companion to a bill spearheaded by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri. The In God We Trust Act requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to display or inscribe the phrase prominently within one year of enactment.
“For nearly 70 years, our national motto, ‘In God We Trust,’ has served as a declaration of faith that has guided our nation,” Miller said.
“As we approach America’s 250th anniversary, I’m proud to introduce the House companion to Senator Hawley’s In God We Trust Act to permanently display our national motto in every federal building across this country. We will never apologize for being one nation that places its trust in Almighty God.”
If passed, the responsibility to ensure the phrase is displayed in a “place of prominence” will fall directly on the GSA.
History of the national motto
The “In God We Trust” motto was first placed on U.S. coins during the Civil War in 1864.
In 1883, the Reverend William Harris of Garrison Avenue Congregational Church in St. Louis told a multi-congregation Thanksgiving Day service how the motto was “stamped on the coins of our country” and how he “hoped to God the same motto was stamped upon the hearts of the American people.”
President Theodore Roosevelt made the decision to remove the motto from certain coins in 1905, calling it “sacrilegious.” Rabbi Leon Harrison of Temple Israel in St. Louis was among the first to support the motto’s removal, saying the president was “right in saying that such words should not be cheapened by the associations of petty trading.” W.C. Bitting of Second Baptist Church in St. Louis said, “Things are not made pious by stamping words on them.”
The removal was short-lived because of an immediate public outcry. Congress passed legislation in 1908 restoring the motto and made it mandatory on all coins where it had previously appeared.
Congress officially designated “In God We Trust” as the national motto in 1956.
