FFRF Endorses Rep. Mark Pocan
Since 2013, Mark Pocan has represented Wisconsin’s 2nd District in Congress, the home base for FFRF and FFRF Action Fund in Madison, Wis. Pocan is now running for his seventh term.
Pocan has worked with FFRF multiple times during his career, the highlight of which has been his nomination of Dan Barker, FFRF’s co-president and a former minister, to deliver a secular invocation in front of the U.S. House as guest chaplain. The denial of his request resulted in FFRF’s court challenge on the restrictive prayers that open each day for the U.S. House of Representatives, and Pocan signed onto an amicus brief along with Huffman and Raskin opposing this censorship. Pocan is again nominating Barker for this role. Pocan’s efforts show his dedication to the rights of freethinkers and the 54 percent of nonreligious residents within Dane County, Pocan’s represented area of Wisconsin.
Pocan was named a “Champion of the First Amendment” at FFRF’s annual national convention due to his work in the Congressional Freethought Caucus and his support for a secular invocation. He identified himself as one of the growing number Americans who don’t follow a specific religion. He said in his acceptance speech, “I was one of the lonely few members of Congress who swore their oath of office on the Constitution instead of a bible because, after all, wasn’t that the document that mattered the most to my job? I’m proud to be a part of the Freethought Caucus in Congress that works toward the very efforts that you all do to protect the Constitution.” Pocan was interviewed some years ago on “Freethought Matters” about his secular activism.
FFRF Action Fund is joined by Common Defense, Communications Workers of America, Equality PAC, Everytown for Gun Safety, MoveON.org Political Action and NARAL Pro-Choice America in endorsing Pocan. Pocan is a shining example of what freethinking representation looks like in Congress.