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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights, joined Senate colleagues Wednesday to support the Pledge of Allegiance against judicial threat. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco, ruled last year that it is unconstitutional for teachers to lead the pledge in public schools because of the phrase “under God.” The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the issue Wednesday. "The decision by the 9th Circuit is troubling: Judges are supposed to interpret the law, not write the law. Judges are supposed to enforce decisions made by the legislature, not make political decisions,” Cornyn said. “Yet judges have been making political decisions in a number of cases – whether it’s regarding the Pledge of Allegiance, the Ten Commandments, partial birth abortion act, redefining marriage, or even the war on terrorism. Judges have become so hostile to religion that they are prohibiting even a non-religious, patriotic reference in the Pledge of Allegiance.” in November, Cornyn filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, the first to be filed on the merits in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow. It argues that “the Supreme Court should reverse the decision of the Ninth Circuit and uphold both the Pledge of Allegiance and the school district’s policy providing for the voluntary recitation of the Pledge.” Sen. Cornyn, the Counsel of Record on the brief, was joined by Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), members of the subcommittee. "The Pledge of Allegiance was designed for all Americans, regardless of religious faith, to express their devotion and allegiance to this great nation, founded upon a commitment to religious liberty and justice for all,” the Senators wrote in the brief. Cornyn pointed out that the First Amendment says government cannot establish an official state religion – it nowhere says that government must be silent about religion altogether. And in the brief, the Senators point out that references to God can be found in the nation’s founding documents, its currency, its national motto, on public buildings, and can be heard during the commencement of daily sessions of our courts and legislatures. "Logic and reason dictate that these commonplace and customary references to the Almighty, found in the basic civic documents and institutions of our nation, do not establish an official state religion in violation of the First Amendment, any more or less than does the reference to God that is contained in the Pledge of Allegiance.” the Senate unanimously approved a resolution (S. Res. 71) on March 4, 2003 in support of the Pledge of Allegiance and to declare that the Senate strongly disapproved of the Newdow decision.