an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. He formerly served as the Baptist Joint Committee's general counsel, and he has testified before Congress on a number of occasions. We welcome him again here today.

Judge Roy S. Moore is the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law and the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has served as a captain in the Military Police Corps of the United States Army and as a company commander in Vietnam. He has also served as a deputy district attorney and a circuit judge in Gadsden, Alabama, before he was elected to the office of Chief Justice in November of 2000. He received national attention when his defense of the placement of the Ten Commandments in public buildings eventually led to his forced departure from the court.

And, finally, Kelly Shackelford, like Mr. Clark, also hails from my home State of Texas. Mr. Shackelford is the chief counsel for the Liberty Legal Institute. In that capacity, he represented the senior citizens involved in the controversy at the Balch Springs Senior Center. He has also represented a number of other citizens who faced hostility for their private religious expressions. Mr. Shackelford formed the Liberty Legal Institute to fight for religious liberty and protect freedoms in the courts in Texas and nationwide. He has argued both before the United States Supreme Court and testified before Congress and the Texas Legislature. He is also an adjunct professor of law at the University of Texas Law School.

I would like to thank each of you for being here today, and I know many of you traveled a long distance to be here. And I am sorry to tell you that while I want to hear an opening statement, the Committee wants to hear an opening statement from each of you, I am going to have to ask you to keep that opening statement to about 5 minutes, and I will enforce that with this gavel they left for me up here. Then we will have an opportunity to ask some questions and hear from the next panel of witnesses that follow

you.

Of course, we will accept longer written remarks for the record, and I will take this opportunity to mention that we will leave the record open until 5:00 p.m. next Tuesday, June the 15th, for any other Members of the Committee to submit additional documents into the record and to ask questions in writing of any of the parties.

At this time we will hear from the first witness, and, Nashala, you have a microphone there in front of you, and you just need toSenator SESSIONS. Mr. Chairman, I might say a word of welcome to my

Chairman CORNYN. Senator Sessions, certainly.

STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF SESSIONS, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALABAMA

Senator SESSIONS. Judge Moore, it is great to have you here. He is from my wife's home town of Gadsden. As Attorney General of Alabama, I had the pleasure of working with you.

And I would just say this, Mr. Chairman: Judge Moore did not come to the question of church/state issues lightly. He has read virtually every document of our Founding Fathers. He has analyzed

carefully what they said, how the Constitution was adopted, and he has developed some ideas about it. And, unfortunately, that ran into conflict with Federal courts, and he stood by those beliefs. He is a man of integrity and conviction and was willing and, in fact, gave up his office-not a rich man, a man who served his State and his country in Vietnam. He gave up his office in adherence to what he believed was correct. And I think we owe him great respect. There are two aspects of our Constitution. One is the Establishment Clause that prohibits the establishment of a religion, and the other one protects the free exercise thereof. And I think we do have issues here of significance to discuss, and I like the way the discussion is going so far. I think it is important. And, Judge Moore, we are glad you are here. I wish you were still on the court. I am sorry things worked out the way they did. God bless you.

Chairman CORNYN. Thank you, Senator Sessions.

Nashala, we will be glad to hear from you first, so if you will speak into that microphone in front of you and loud enough so we can all hear you, we would appreciate any statement you would like to make.

STATEMENT OF NASHALA HEARN, MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA Miss HEARN. Thank you, Senator Cornyn. It is an honor to be here. And thank you, Senator Feingold, too.

My name is Nashala Hearn. I am 12 years old, and I live in Muskogee, Oklahoma, with my father-who is here with me today and my mother, my brother, and my sister. I attend the Ben Franklin Science Academy, which is a public elementary school in my home town.

On October 1, 2003, I was suspended for 3 days from the Muskogee Public Schools for wearing my hijab-which is a headscarf required by my religion, Islam.

I didn't know it was going to be a problem because on August 18, 2003, my first day of school, I explained to my homeroom teacher that I am a Muslim and I wear a hijab, and that I also pray between 1:00 and 1:30. She said that was fine and that she had a room for me to pray in.

From that day forward, I received compliments from other kids as well as school officials.

But my problems started on September 11, 2003. I was in the breakfast line when my teacher came up to me and said that after I was done eating to call my parents because my hijab looks like a bandanna or a handkerchief and that I wasn't allowed to wear

it.

So after I was finished, I went to the office.

Ms. Walker had already called my parents. When my parents got there, they were very upset. The principal said it was a bandanna and I had to change it or go home.

And this is how the battle of being obedient to God by wearing my hijab to be modest in Islam versus the school dress code policy began.

I continued to wear my hijab because it would be against my religion not to.

So like I said before, I was suspended from school on October 1st for 3 days. When I came back to school on October 7th, I was suspended again. This time it was for 5 days.

I was able to go back to school after that until the problem was fixed.

This experience has been very stressful, very depressing, and humiliating.

By the grace of God and thanks to the DOJ, the Rutherford Institute, and my lawyer, Ms. Farish, the problem no longer exists in the Muskogee public schools. The school agreed to let me and other kids wear our religious clothing.

Thank you for listening and thank you very much for having me here today. Praise to Allah.

[The prepared statement of Miss Hearn appears as a submission for the record.]

Chairman CORNYN. Thank you, Nashala, for your statement, and we appreciate your courage and your presence here today, and also your father for making it possible for you to be here.

Mr. Rosenauer, we would be glad to hear any opening statement you would care to make, sir.

STATEMENT OF STEVEN ROSENAUER, BRADENTON, FLORIDA Mr. ROSENAUER. Good afternoon. My name is Steven Rosenauer, and I live with my wife and two children in Bradenton, Florida. At the request of this Committee, I am here to testify about the important issue of religious liberty in America as it has recently affected my family.

Both my children attend public school in Manatee County, where we live. Last spring, my wife and I were very proud when we were invited to the school board meeting on May 5th, along with my son Joshua, so that the board could recognize and honor him for winning first place in several events at the Technology Student Association State Competition. Several other students were at the meeting so that they could also be recognized for similar achievements. As my wife and son and I sat in the audience, the school board's Chair called the meeting to order. Then, to my surprise, she told everyone in the audience to "please stand for the Lord's Prayer" and the Pledge of Allegiance. The board members then stood, bowed their heads, and led most of the audience in reciting the Lord's Prayer, a well-known Christian prayer considered by most Christians to be the prayer taught by Jesus to his disciples. My family.is Jewish, and we were shocked and felt uncomfortable and excluded by these actions of our community's elected officials at an official school board meeting. On our way home, my son, my wife, and I were all upset. As I explained in a letter I wrote that same night to the school board Chair, "I was very offended when you had everyone present rise for a ceremony that I consider against my religion."

For the next several months, board members continued to lead the Lord's Prayer at board meetings, despite my letter as well as letters from People for the American Way Foundation, which had agreed to help me and my family. Some community members made disturbing statements, such as one urging the board to "stand on Jesus Christ" and not to bend to "foreign gods." Some board mem

bers strongly defended their actions as permissible religious expressions of their faith. One went so far as to state that the Supreme Court isn't "the eternal supreme court," and that perhaps he would have to be taken out in handcuffs 1 day. But even Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice recognized that the board's practice was unconstitutional and that the only type of invocation that can possibly be legal would have to be truly nonsectarian and clearly voluntary. As the Sarasota Herald Tribune explained, "Manatee is home to a diverse mix of religious faiths. It's chauvinistic for the board to impose a distinctly Christian prayer on everyone attending its meetings. Doing so sends a message, intentional or not, that citizens who don't share the board's faith are viewed in a lesser light...Out of respect for the community's religious diversity-not to mention the Constitution-the board should drop the prayer and end this controversy."

I became hopeful in August when the board adopted guidelines for its meetings to begin with nonsectarian invocations. But the board repeatedly violated those guidelines as ministers invited by the board led public, sectarian prayer, including praying in the name of Jesus, despite repeated letters from us. In February, after trying for more than 6 months to resolve the issue, we, with the pro bono help of People for the American Way and the law firm of Hunton and Williams, filed suit in Federal court.

For a while-excuse me.

Chairman CORNYN. It is all right. Take your time.

Mr. ROSENAUER. For a while, things got even worse. We received anonymous threatening phone calls, like the one telling us we should move out of the country if "we didn't like the way they do things here," and the call that threatened, "We know where you Jews live and if you don't drop the lawsuit, there will be trouble." During the Jewish holiday of Passover in April, someone vandalized our home by throwing red oil-based paint on the front door and garage door of our house and our truck outside. It reminded us all too chillingly of what has happened to Jews and other religious minorities in other countries where they don't have the religious freedom and separation of church and state that are the foundation of our great country. My family believes that some board members and others in the community helped foster the atmosphere where these types of actions occurred when they made public statements of intolerance and their own disdain for the

courts.

Both newspapers in our area have strongly supported our position, and I am pleased to report that just last week, the court approved a settlement that we reached with the board, which includes an enforceable consent decree calling for the board to make sure that only truly nonsectarian prayer can be used to open board meetings.

We are hopeful that this situation is now behind us. But it has reminded us of the importance of true religious liberty in America and the dangerous consequences of allowing improper Government promotion of religion and eroding the separation of church and state. The Constitution protects the religious liberty of all Americans, not just those of one faith. My family's situation has high

lighted the importance of our Federal courts in protecting that fundamental principle.

Thank you very much.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Rosenauer appears as a submission for the record.]

Chairman CORNYN. Thank you very much, Mr. Rosenauer, for being here and for your testimony and sharing that story with us. I know it wasn't easy, but it is important that we hear it.

Mr. Clark, we would be glad to hear any opening statement that you would care to make.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM “BARNEY” CLARK, BALCH SPRINGS, TEXAS

Mr. CLARK. Chairman Cornyn, Ranking Member Mr. Feingold, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the privilege you gave me to come and testify before you today.

Chairman CORNYN. Mr. Clark, you may want to pull that microphone just a little bit closer to you so we can make sure not to miss a word.

Mr. CLARK. My name is Barney Clark. I am a member of the Balch Springs Senior Center, and my wife and I have been members for 10 years. We started our 11th year the 1st of May.

it has always been a pleasure, a fun place to go, people your own age, things to do together. And it has really been a pleasure. But in the last 6 to 8 months, it has all changed.

We have been singing religious songs, listening to inspirational messages, and praying over food, they tell me, for 20 years. I know this went on for 10 years that I have been there. But every Monday, Brother Barton comes in and gives an inspirational message. He doesn't preach a sermon. He gives an inspirational message right out of the Bible. He has no altar call. He doesn't take no offering. He prays for the sick. He visits them in the hospital. He has even buried two or three people that passed on. He is a wonderful

man.

Back in August 2003, after we had our gospel singing and inspiration, Ms. Deborah, the director, came and told us that we cannot have no more gospel songs, we cannot stand up and pray over our food, we can't have Brother Barton to come in and preach no more, bring inspiration. This message came from the city manager and was passed down to her by the city attorney. This was the first time that we was told that we couldn't do this that had been going on for 20 years.

I don't mind telling you, we was in limbo for 2 or 3 days around that. We didn't know what we was going to do, nothing. We prayed about it. We turned it over to the Lord, and we prayed for the people that was bringing it on us.

Lo and behold, we got a call out of the clear blue sky from the Liberty Legal Institute. They said, "They are treating you wrong. If you want a representative, we will represent you, no cost to you." That was our first prayer that was answered. If you wanted to see a bunch of smiling faces, you should have seen those people over there that day. They said, "It is not right the way they are treating you, it is against your religious freedom, your freedom of speech,