SALT LAKE CITY — A resolution directing “compliance” with a statute requiring K-12 schools to recite the pledge of allegiance daily has passed in the Utah House of Representatives.

The  resolution,  sponsored by Rep. Melissa Ballard, intends to emphasize the values the United States was founded upon and “directs compliance with the statute and administrative rule requirements to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily in school.”

The resolution claims that the Pledge of Allegiance embodies the inspired ideals and values of the founding fathers and is a “solemn promise to support and defend” those ideals and values.

The resolution explains that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance would instill a child with appreciation for the principles outlined.

Utah Code Section 53G-10-304 requires the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited once at the beginning of each day in every public school classroom.

House Concurrent Resolution 010 2023 by LarryDCurtis on Scribd

The resolution concludes, “NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the State of Utah, the Governor concurring therein, directs that the State Board of Education remind all LEAs of the obligation under statute and to take sufficient measures in ensuring that the Pledge of Allegiance is recited in every Utah classroom at the beginning of every school day.”

The resolution will now head to the Senate.

The idea of a Pledge of Allegiance in the United States came from a Civil War veteran, Colonel George Balch, who wrote a version that read,  “We give our heads and our hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag.”

Then in 1892, Francis Bellamy was asked to write a pledge for celebrations surrounding the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus in North America for a magazine titled the Columbian Exposition.

It read, “I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

The Pledge of Allegiance was standardized after the U.S. entered World War II.

The phrase “under God” was placed into the pledge in 1954. The Supreme Court ruled in 1943 that forcing religious groups to recite the pledge was a violation of First Amendment rights.

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Larry D. Curtis contributed to this report.