Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema takes oath on U.S. Constitution instead of Bible

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was sworn in with her hand on a copy of the U.S. Constitution rather than a Bible on Thursday.

Sinema, a Democrat, is the first openly bisexual person to be elected to the U.S. Senate. While she hasn’t confirmed that she is an atheist, she has identified her religion as unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center for Religion and Public Life, and is the only member of the House or Senate ever to do so.

During the ceremony, Sinema had her hand on a book from the Library of Congress that had texts of the U.S. and Arizona constitutions, according to Sinema’s spokeperson John LaBombard, while U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, a devout evangelical Christian, was standing across from her.

When Pence asked “so help you God?” at the end of the oath, Sinema responded, “I do.”

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Pence commented afterward that he looks forward to working with Sinema in the Senate.

“Krysten always gets sworn in on a Constitution simply because of her love for the Constitution,” LaBombard told The Arizona Republic.

The atheist website Friendly Atheist says that Sinema was sworn in to Congress with a copy of the Constitution in 2013 as well.

Sinema is the first female to win a Senate race in Arizona, which has not had a Democrat Senator since 1994.

More than a dozen books and documents were used for the latest Congress swearing-in ceremonies, such as the Quran, according to CNN.