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justice.gov/opa/speech/att…
Thank you, Beth, for that generous introduction and thank you for your outstanding leadership at the Office of Legal Policy.
I want to thank Deputy A.G. Rosenstein and our acting Associate A.G., Jesse Pannuccio, for their leadership, as well.
And thank you to Archbishop Kurtz, my good friend Senator Lankford, as well as all of our panelists:
I want to thank all of you for your courage and insight to speak out for religious liberty.
A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt. This is no little matter. It must be confronted and defeated.
This President and this Department of Justice are determined to protect and even advance this magnificent heritage.
This has been a core American principle from the beginning.
It is one of the reasons that this country was settled in the first place.
Each one knew what it was like to have a majority try to force them to deny their natural right to practice the faith they held dear.
It arose in large part from the principals delineated in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom—and its effective advocates: Madison and Jefferson.
Every day across America, they feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, educate our young people, and care for the sick.
Their faith provides something the state can never provide—meaning and purpose and joy in their life.
We’ve seen U.S. Senators ask judicial and executive branch nominees about dogma—even though the Constitution explicitly forbids a religious test for public office.
Americans from a wide variety of backgrounds are concerned about what this changing cultural climate means for the future of religious liberty in this country.
President Trump heard this concern.
This is a permanent injunction and a major victory for the Little Sisters of the Poor and religious freedom.
And since day one, this administration has been delivering on that promise.
Those include the principle that free exercise means a right to act—or to abstain from action.
We don’t give up our rights when we go to work, start a business, talk about politics, or interact with the government.
And this Department of Justice is going to court across America to defend the rights of people of faith.
Three weeks ago, we obtained a jury verdict against a man who set fire to a mosque in Texas and sentenced for a man from Missouri for threatening to kill members of a mosque.
We are taking steps to become even more effective.
In June I announced the Place to Worship Initiative. Under this initiative, the Department of Justice is holding public events across America and...
When I was in the Senate, we passed a law called the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, or RLUIPA.
Under my tenure as Attorney General, we have not hesitated to use this tool when necessary.
We are going to keep going to court. And I believe that we’re going to keep winning.
Today I am announcing our next step: the Religious Liberty Task Force, to be co-chaired by the Associate Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy—Jesse and Beth.
This admin. is animated by that same American view that has led us for 242 years: that every American has a right to believe, worship, and exercise their faith in the public square.
As our nation grows order, we must not let it depart from this magnificent tradition.
He was named a Monsignor in 1986 and appointed a pastor in 1988.
In 2017 he was elected chairman of the Conference’s Committee for Religious Liberty.