"Congress has acted decisively today, to stop the overreaching, unconstitutional and wrongful exercise of judicial power from continuing to threaten the foundational principles of our Republic," Franks said.  "The 9th Circuit Court astounded us all when they determined that children do have a "right" NOT to hear the Pledge of Allegiance because it contains the words 'under God.' It was imperative that this legislative body act to overcome this judicial madness."

Passage of the Pledge Protection Act serves to safeguard the free-exercise rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.  It is also an effective check on the power of the court when it abuses its power of judicial review.

"The greatest divisions in the United States have come on the heels of some errant court decision: the Civil War, Separate But Equal Education, Obscenity Rulings, Abortion, Taking God out of the classroom, Partial Birth Abortion, and most recently, the utter denial of God.  The very rule of law is at stake if we continue to allow such judicial activism and law-breaking by those who would seek to impose their social policies on the rest of this nation by circumventing the legislative process through judicial feat.  I commend my colleagues, for taking action today, to stop the court's threat to the very underpinning that holds this nation together."