Congressional Committee Starts Hearings on Prayers in Public Schools

The House Judiciary Committee began hearings today on the issue of prayers in public schools with a massive array of friends and foes of such practices scheduled to testify in the coming three weeks.

In the committee files there are about 150 resolutions, sponsored by a fourth of the total membership of the House of Representatives, aimed at nullifying the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last June banning such prayers in public schools. Thousands of letters have inundated the lawmakers on both sides of the issue.

One of the key House figures in the drive, Rep. Frank J. Becker, New York Republican, who has introduced a proposed Constitutional amendment to permit such prayers, was the first witness before the Committee, of which Rep. Emanuel Celler, New York Democrat, is chairman. Rep. Becker attacked foes of such prayer as “cynics” and atheists. He implied that Congress would be showed under with protests if it did not act on his proposed amendment. About 60 other Representatives, sponsors of similar legislation, will testify, as will some 80 church leaders, legal experts and others.

Foes of the proposed amendment include the United Parents Association of New York, which notified Rep. Celler, in a letter, of its “vigorous opposition” to the proposed amendments. The UPA said that school prayer was “a state-conducted religious activity in violation of the conscience and religious freedom of some or all of the children, their parents and their teachers.” This is roughly the long-stated position of the organized Jewish community in the United States.

While the hearing was getting under way, a delegation representing a “Committee To Protect the Right of Prayer,” from Cincinnati displayed a list of signatures on a petition in support of the proposed amendments. The list was 67 yards long and was said to contain 16,000 signatures from the Cincinnati area.

One group of churchmen and lay leaders met with the Maryland delegation to give a preview of their views. About 30 clergymen mostly Protestant and Jewish, told the Maryland Congressmen that the Becker amendment would threaten the Bill of Rights and make it possible to force religious beliefs of a majority on minorities in the United States.

Rep. Celler, who has made clear his reluctance to consider the proposed amendments, opened the hearings without commenting on his position. The expected schedule calls for testimony first from Representatives supporting the amendment and next week, the representatives of various church groups will present arguments for and against the amendment.