{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=1D2C7BDF-EE65-4A23-92C0-23E315CB214D", "McConnell, Paul, and 36 Senate Republicans File Brief Urging Supreme Court to Reaffirm Religious Liberty Still Exists in a Pandemic", "2020-12-05", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "U.S. Senators McConnell (R-KY), Rand Paul (R-KY), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), David Perdue (R-GA), John Thune (R-SD) ,John Barasso (R-WY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Todd Young (R-IN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AZ), Mike Braun (R-IN), Richard Burr (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Jerry Moran (R-KS), James Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Roger Wicker (R-MS), issued the following statement Friday regarding the amicus brief they are submitting to the Supreme Court concerning Danville Christian Academy v. Beshear:\n\nU.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), and 36 of their fellow Republican Senators announced Friday they are submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron\u2019s religious liberty lawsuit, Danville Christian Academy v. Beshear.\n\nIn the brief, Senators McConnell, Paul, Loeffler (R-GA), Perdue (R-GA), and their colleagues explain that the Constitution cannot permit the selective and overzealous targeting of religious institutions by local officials who seek to impose stricter restrictions in the name of public health than the restrictions enforced against similar but non-religious establishments. In this case, Governor Beshear in Kentucky has unconstitutionally ordered K-12 schools including religious schools to shut their doors while permitting preschools, colleges, business offices, entertainment venues, and many other secular institutions to remain open.\n\n\u201cEveryone understands this has been a challenging time for local leaders, but pandemics don\u2019t erase our First Amendment rights,\u201d said McConnell. \u201cCourts have repeatedly had to defend Americans of faith from overzealous officials who have tried to treat religious institutions in a uniquely disfavored way relative to other parts of society. Enough is enough. I am proud that Kentucky\u2019s own Attorney General Daniel Cameron is leading the way to defend the religious liberty of Kentuckians and all Americans.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m proud to co-lead this brief on behalf of all Kentuckians, whose fundamental right to religious liberty is guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and stand up to our power-hungry Governor who continues to overstep his authority with yet another unconstitutional shutdown of the free exercise of religion,\u201d said Paul.\n\n\u201cAcross the country, Democrat governors are using the pandemic as an excuse to trample Americans\u2019 Constitutional rights, most especially their religious freedom,\u201d said Loeffler. \u201cGovernor Beshear\u2019s order is a complete disgrace to both common sense and the Constitution, and I am proud to join Majority Leader McConnell and Senator Paul in standing up for religious freedom.\u201d\n\n\u201cDemocrats across the country have shown that they are willing to shut down houses of worship and religious schools,\u201d said Perdue. \u201cThese decisions trample on the Constitutional rights of their citizens and are a disturbing overreach by the government. Religious schools are at the forefront of innovation in finding ways to keep their doors open and mitigate the effects of the coronavirus. Rather than using the heavy hand of government to trample on the constitutional rights of parents and these schools, we should be looking to their example as we work to get all kids safely back in the classroom, reopen the economy, and lead our country through this crisis.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen imposing coronavirus restrictions, lawmakers and other government officials need to exercise the greatest respect for our first freedom \u2013 the free exercise of religion \u2013 and ensure that churches and other religious institutions are not subjected to disproportionately severe measures,\u201d said Thune. \u201cI\u2019m hopeful that the Supreme Court will continue to safeguard religious freedom.\u201d\n\n\u201cReligious liberty is a first freedom. Parents have a right to send their kids to religious schools,\u201d said Barrasso. \u201cFor families, for parents, for kids, this case is crucial.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is completely unconstitutional to ban in-person religious activities when many other in-person secular activities face no similar restrictions,\u201d said Blunt. \u201cThere are precautions we need to take to protect public health and safety. Those precautions do not require Americans to arbitrarily give up their constitutionally protected rights.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf people are permitted to congregate in casinos and shopping centers, folks can safely and responsibly go to church and kids to school,\u201d said Ernst. \u201cThese orders are fundamentally unfair and in violation of basic constitutional rights, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re urging the Supreme Court to step in and uphold the freedoms of these institutions and individuals.\u201d\n\n\u201cIrresponsible governors and mayors have exploited the pandemic to target religious schools and even church services for burdensome lockdowns. These politicians claim they\u2019re acting impartially in the interest of public health,\u201d said Cotton. \u201cBut there\u2019s nothing impartial about shutting down religious institutions while allowing gambling parlors and entertainment venues to operate unimpeded. The Supreme Court should defend the free exercise of religion by striking down Kentucky\u2019s unconstitutional and arbitrary lockdown.\u201d\n\n\u201cAmericans from all walks of life have made enormous and unprecedented sacrifices to curb the spread of this virus. But elected Democrats have continually exploited this crisis to abuse their power and impose authoritarian restrictions on Americans,\u201d said Cruz. \u201cAccording to Governor Beshear, during this pandemic Kentuckians can gamble, go to college, or shop in stores, all while sending their children to preschool, but not to religious K-12 schools. Governor Beshear\u2019s orders not only subvert the Bill of Rights and our constitutional liberties, they will be profoundly destructive to students and families across the state who choose to send attend religious institutions. I\u2019m proud to join my colleagues in asking the Sixth Circuit to consider the full scope of these orders and their violation of Kentuckians\u2019 religious liberty.\u201d\n\n\u201cReligious freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution, and this amicus brief is in support of this foundational freedom,\u201d said Hoeven.\n\n\u201cWe all want COVID-19 defeated, but governors, mayors, and other leaders must not use this fight to violate constitutionally-protected rights like religious liberty,\u201d said Hyde-Smith. \u201cThis amicus brief serves as a reminder that religious-based schools and other activities cannot be illegally restricted while other nonreligious activities are open for business.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is nothing \u2018neutral\u2019 about an order that allows numerous secular entities, including preschools and universities, to continue operations while shutting down K-12 schools, including religious ones, said Inhofe. While liberal governors and mayors may abuse COVID restrictions in an effort to squash religious expression, I will continue to fight to ensure our First Amendment rights are protected.\u201d\n\n\u201cAmid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our states and nation must continue to balance health, safety, and the protection of our constitutional rights,\u201d said Lankford. \u201cI am grateful Americans like those at Danville Christian Academy continue to press that our freedoms to live our faith and attend religious services and other faith-based activities should not be treated differently than secular activities and subjected to different restrictions. I urge the Court to preserve the First Amendment free exercise of faith for Kentuckians and all Americans.\u201d\n\n\u201cInfringing on the First Amendment\u2019s right to religious practice and education cannot be arbitrary, even in the midst of a pandemic,\u201d said Moran. \u201cIn light of the facts, the Supreme Court should uphold this constitutional freedom.\u201d\n\n\u201cKentucky\u2019s Governor wants to keep gambling parlors open and Christian schools shut. This is textbook nonsense that gets handed down by ignoramuses who can only get jobs in government. Bureaucrats don\u2019t get to add \u2018except during a pandemic\u2019 to the First Amendment, and they cannot disregard religious liberty and due process during a public health crisis,\u201d said Sasse. \u201cThe Supreme Court should rule again in favor of the First Amendment and slap down this nonsense from governors like Cuomo and Beshear.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve said all along that students need to go to school. You can\u2019t close down schools while allowing other establishments to open. It\u2019s wrong,\u201d said Rick Scott. \u201cParents need to have the option to decide what makes the most sense for their families.\u201d\n\n\u201cAttempts by Democratic Governors, such as Governor Beshear, to treat Americans\u2019 freedom of religion as a second class right must be stopped. Governor Beshear\u2019s order is clearly not neutral and discriminates against faith-based schools which are prohibited from holding in-person classes,\u201d said Tillis. \u201cFaith based schools are a fundamental part of religious expression and Governor Beshear\u2019s order must be enjoined.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-28T00:42:23Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=1D2C7BDF-EE65-4A23-92C0-23E315CB214D"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0223728604614735, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}