Prayer Amendment Rejected

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After about five hours of debate, the House of Representatives on June 4 failed to approve by the required margin a controversial constitutional amendment strongly backed by Christian conservatives that would have allowed organized prayer in public schools. The vote was 224 to 203 in favor of the measure--61 votes shy of the two-thirds vote necessary for passage of a constitutional amendment. Twenty-seven Democrats and 197 Republicans voted in favor.

While there was little doubt that the measure would not gain the two-thirds margin, the first House vote on a prayer-related constitutional amendment since 1971 produced more negative votes than even the most ardent opponents had hoped for. "This was a real surprise," said Joseph Conn, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "This was a tremendous defeat for the Religious Right. We were thinking that anything over 175 would be …