'The taxpayers' greatest ally'

Congress: But conservative Sen. Jim DeMint is no friend to status quo politics | Edward Lee Pitts

Associated Press/Photo by Mary Ann Chastain

Sen. Jim DeMint had 
four words to say to the designers of the new $621 million Capitol Visitors Center: "In God We Trust."

During a tour of the new entryway to the U.S. Capitol, which opened Dec. 2, 2008, the 57-year-old lawmaker from South Carolina noticed architects had ignored the phrase, which Congress established as the national motto in 1956.

Instead, a prominently displayed stone marker misidentified "E pluribus unum" as the motto. DeMint also noticed the museum's replica of the House chamber omitted "In God We Trust" despite its prominent appearance above the speaker's rostrum in the actual House.

"There seems to be a trend of whitewashing God out of our history," a disgusted DeMint said on the Senate floor last fall. DeMint put a hold on the bill allowing the center to open, and the designers added the phrase in the House display. The marker incorrectly depicting "Out of many, one" as the nation's motto was more difficult: Even by July 4 it had been only clumsily rubbed out.