Stating findings of the Legislature and providing for a joint rule of the Senate and the House of Representatives for the display of the words “In God We Trust” above the chairs of the presiding officers.

The purpose of this Resolution is to recognize the historical significance of our nation's motto "In God We Trust." President Abraham Lincoln was the first President to recognize the importance of these four words. In a time of national strife and Civil War, President Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Chase, received a request from a Pennsylvanian calling for some recognition of God in a national motto. While some would say this motto represents one faith, its purpose was proposed to bring the nation back to one united country, which embraces many different faiths and spiritual persuasions. The motto also recognizes the significant trust it took for the first Europeans to leave their family roots and sail off into an unknown world. It recognizes the faith of so many of American immigrants of all previous and current generations who recognized something very unique about our great nation. It was a recognition that true freedom originates from a source higher than any king or government. The authors of our nation's Declaration of Independence openly declared the following: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [and women] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States declares the following: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence [sic], promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Placing "In God We Trust" in the Senate and House Chambers will acknowledge the importance that these four little words have had on the formation of our nation and will serve as a constant reminder of the importance of the work done in the Idaho Legislature as we serve