According to the Thomas More Law Center in Michigan, newly minted $1 Presidential coins -- under a 2005 law -- had relegated the phrase "In God We Trust" to the "virtually unreadable edge of the coin." The result, says the legal group, is that the national motto "appeared to be merely scratches on the edge, unless one looked for it with a magnifying glass." But President Bush recently signed into law a massive omnibus spending bill that included legislation returning the national motto to the face of the coin.
The "In God We Trust" provision was sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) and newly appointed Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi).
Last month Brownback says he met with Treasury Department officials, who were supportive of restoring the motto to prominence. "Well, it may not seem like much of a victory [but] I think it's significant -- and I think it's significant that we win that fight," he says.
The Kansas Republican doubts the legislation will deter atheist Michael Newdow from continuing his litigious campaign to get the national motto removed from the Pledge of Allegiance and off of U.S. Coins. But he does point out that he believes Americans in general are tiring of efforts to remove religion from public venues.
"[F]AR and away the majority of the country want [public expression of] faith," the senator observes. "And you're even hearing the candidates on both sides of the aisle talk more in terms of faith and morality."
In 2005 the motto "In God We Trust" was moved to the edges of the $1 coin, prompting fears that it would one day be completely removed from the currency.
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