Our National Motto, “In God We Trust,” plays a very rich role in American history. The motto first appeared in the fourth stanza of our National Anthem, “The Star Bangled Banner” back when Francis Scott Key first wrote the lyrics to the song on September 14, 1814 following the War of 1812. That line in the song says, “And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’”

The phrase first occurred on minted coins back in 1864, but it did not appear on paper money until President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it into law as our National Motto on July 30, 1956. Since then, Congress has reaffirmed the phrase, “In God We Trust” as our National Motto in 2002 and again in 2011, where the House of Representatives affirmed it by a vote of 396-9 and encouraged states to post in public buildings and in public schools.

The National Motto is not being displayed or taught in our public schools. For this reason, I introduced LB 36 this year. This bill requires public schools to display our National Motto in a prominent place or in every classroom, and it requires the Nebraska State Attorney General to defend any school board, any school administrator, or any school teacher against a lawsuit for displaying the National Motto.

The National Motto plays a significant role in our nation’s history and heritage and it needs to be taught to our school children. Unfortunately, atheist groups, who don’t approve of the motto, stand ready to sue any school which tries to post the National Motto or any teacher who tries to teach it to students. Many of our smaller, rural school districts simply cannot afford a lawsuit of this nature, so that is why I wrote the bill in such a way that the Attorney General would be obligated to represent the defendant.

My bill is patterned after the Virginia law. Virginia passed a bill requiring their public schools to post the National Motto which was signed into law on May 17, 2002. The Loudoun County School Board in Virginia was promptly sued after they posted the National Motto in their schools. However, the Virginia Attorney General represented the school just as the law said, and the Virginia Supreme Court upheld the law. Every time atheists have filed a lawsuit against our National Motto they have lost in court.

The National Motto is neither a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment nor is it an endorsement of religion. The title ‘God’ may simply refer to a Supreme Being without identifying with any particular religion. Some have argued that it is part of America’s civil religion. But, no court that has acknowledged the existence of a civil religion in America has ever found its activities to be in violation of the First Amendment. Instead, the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the National Motto is constitutional largely because it is ceremonial and nonsectarian.

Currently, 19 states have laws on the books requiring public schools to display our National Motto. I believe it is time for Nebraska to do the same. Once this bill becomes a law in Nebraska private donors will have the opportunity to defray the costs of the posters or plaques. It is my sincere hope that no school should ever have to shoulder the cost of displaying our National Motto.