statements" also violate "the oaths or affirmations that each chaplain took - pursuant to Article VI, Clause 3 of the Constitution - as a condition of assuming office." Id. ^ 71. Both claims are without any substantive merit.
The Supremacy Clause, Art. VI, cl. 2, states:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
By its terms the Supremacy Clause deals with the relationship of the national government to the states, and, specifically, provides that the laws of the national government take precedence over any state laws to the contrary. As one court of appeals explained:
The primary function of the Supremacy Clause is to define the relationship between state and federal law. It is essentially a power conferring provision, one that allocates authority between the national and state governments; thus, it is not a rights conferring provision that protects the individual against government intrusion.
White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Williams, 810 F.2d 844, 848 (9th Cir. 1987); see also Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 817 F.2d 222,225 (2d Cir. 1987) (citing White Mountain Apache, 810 F.2d at 848). The alleged statements in the prayers of the Senate and House Chaplains simply do not implicate any conflict between federal and state law - or any issue concerning the relationship of the federal government to the states - that could involve the Supremacy Clause. Plaintiffs Supremacy Clause claim fails to state a claim.
Plaintiff also asserts that statements in the prayers of the House and Senate Chaplains regarding the sovereignty of God's law violate the Chaplains' oaths to uphold the Constitution. However, plaintiff cites no provision of law that grants him a private cause of action for a
-41-