(KXNET) — North Dakota lawmakers took a step toward reinforcing the saying of the pledge of allegiance around the state.

While House Bill 1120 doesn’t require that all elected officials recite the pledge, it states they must be given the opportunity to participate in the pledge to the flag before meetings.

On the House floor on Tuesday, the bill passed with unanimous support.

House Bill 1172 reinforces the words in the pledge and doesn’t allow for any words to be removed from the pledge of allegiance.

“I was watching some meetings on budgets from around the state and I noticed nobody was doing the pledge of allegiance anymore,” Rep. Pat Heinert said. “And I started to think, we do it every day here, why aren’t we doing it in these meetings that are important to people? And why aren’t we starting with that thought process in mind that we are one nation under God?”

Both bills passed the State House with large support.