CONTACT: Michael Steel, Kevin Smith, Steve Forde, 202-225-4000; all with John Boehner's Office

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 /Standard Newswire/ -- During remarks at today's opening of the Capitol Visitors Center, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) praised Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) and members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus for promoting America's spiritual heritage as part of the new facility.  During construction of the Visitors Center, Rep. Forbes and his colleagues ensured it included appropriate references to America's spiritual foundation, including the national motto, "In God We Trust." 

Boehner issued the following statement on Rep. Forbes and the Congressional Prayer Caucus' efforts:

"I commend Congressman Randy Forbes and the Congressional Prayer Caucus for their effort to ensure this historical building includes appropriate references to our nation's spiritual heritage, including our national motto, 'In God We Trust.'  The Founding Fathers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to build a new society - one based not on the tyranny of kings, but one based on laws and divided power.  And when they wrote the document in which America declared her independence from Britain, they were careful to note that America was doing so 'with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.'

"America today remains One Nation Under God, as President Lincoln envisioned in the Gettysburg Address, and as we've professed in the Pledge of Allegiance since 1951.  This historical facility would be incomplete without similar acknowledgement of our spiritual heritage."