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http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=32396

""Christian lawmakers want to protect chaplains' speech"
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, October 21, 2005

Leo Shane III / S&S

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON — A group of Christian congressmen want a presidential order protecting military chaplains after receiving anecdotal evidence that the religious personnel have been punished for using overtly Christian language in public settings.

Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., said he has received letters from chaplains, both stateside and deployed overseas, complaining that superior officers have criticized and even reprimanded them for using Bible verses and invoking the name of Jesus in memorial services, pre-mission remarks and other events outside of their religious services.

“This is a First Amendment right,” Jones said. “Our chaplains should not have any second thoughts about how they should pray. Let their heart speak with what God puts in their mind to pray.”

Jones was joined Wednesday by five of the 35 House members who have agreed to sign a letter to President Bush asking for an executive order protecting “the constitutional right of military chaplains to pray according to their faith.” One senator, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., has also pledged his support.

At issue are proposed guidelines introduced by the Air Force in August that emphasize nondenominational prayers in military ceremonies, and similar warnings from the Defense Department to all chaplains not to “transform such non-faith-specific observances to reflect the chaplain’s denominational commitment.”"