the it began several years ago when the freedom forum first amendment center which is charles haines associated with the first half amendment and the freedom forum with the mccormick to be in an freedom museum hosted a conference and brought many of us together to talk about the future of religious liberty. at that conference we discussed some ways in which some previous to my statements of current law have helped us educate americans about church state law. these statements some of you may remember or about religious expression in public schools and charles played an instrumental role in the development of these statements as did mark stern who will speak in just a moment. so we talked about those statements, their usefulness and decided that it would be a good idea to draft another joint statement. this one addressing some issues of religious expression in the wider public square including religion and politics, religious gatherings on government property, chaplains and the descent of bodies, prisons in the military, and religion in the workplace. i offered to convene a and facilit