[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 206 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 206

Honoring the memory of Dr. William R. (``Bill'') Bright and commending 
           his life as an example to succeeding generations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 30 (legislative day, July 21), 2003

   Mr. Brownback (for himself and Mrs. Dole) submitted the following 
             resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Honoring the memory of Dr. William R. (``Bill'') Bright and commending 
           his life as an example to succeeding generations.

Whereas Dr. Bright died on July 19, 2003, at age 81 in Orlando, Florida, from 
        complications related to pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease for which 
        there is no known cure or effective treatment;
Whereas Dr. Bright was an agnostic humanist and materialist, and successful 
        Hollywood businessman, until he became ``overcome by the love of our 
        great Creator God and Savior'' in 1945, whereupon he spent 5 years in 
        theological studies at Princeton and Fuller Theological Seminaries;
Whereas Dr. Bright, with his wife Vonette, in 1951 founded Campus Crusade for 
        Christ International, which now serves people in 191 countries through a 
        staff of 27,000 full-time employees and up to 500,000 trained 
        volunteers;
Whereas his life focus was on students and laypersons, and from the first he 
        emphasized the role of women as full partners in leadership in the 
        various ministries;
Whereas Dr. Billy Graham, a long-time friend of the Brights, has said: ``He is a 
        man whose sincerity and integrity and devotion to our Lord have been an 
        inspiration and a blessing to me ever since the early days of my 
        ministry'';
Whereas Dr. Bright lived simply, owning neither houses nor land, and receiving 
        no honoraria or donations for his thousands of appearances across the 
        world, and the scores of writings and video presentations he developed;
Whereas when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, he fulfilled a dream of more 
        than 40 years of praying for Russia by donating his entire pension to 
        establish a ministry to the students of Moscow State University;
Whereas Campus Crusade for Christ International operates more than 70 ministries 
        and projects which offer hope and spiritual enlightenment across the 
        globe to students on hundreds of campuses, urban residents, including 
        minorities, the well-known Athletes-in-Action ministry, leaders of 
        governments, inmates of prisons, aid to families, aid to health and 
        education programs, aid to families of military personnel, executives, 
        entertainers and musicians, and many others;
Whereas in 1979, Dr. Bright commissioned the JESUS film, a feature-length 
        documentary on the life of Christ, directed by John Heyman, which has 
        since been viewed by more than 5,100,000,000 people in 234 countries and 
        has become the most widely viewed, as well as most widely translated, in 
        786 languages, film in history;
Whereas Dr. Bright is author of more than 100 books and booklets, as well as 
        thousands of articles and pamphlets that have been distributed by the 
        millions in most major languages, including the widely regarded Four 
        Spiritual Laws of which 2,500,000,000 copies have been distributed;
Whereas Dr. Bright received 8 honorary degrees from universities in the United 
        States and other nations, and numerous awards and honors from higher 
        education, his home state of Oklahoma, and his peers in religious, 
        radio, and television broadcasting;
Whereas, Dr. Bright was awarded the unique and prestigious Templeton Prize for 
        Progress in Religion in 1996, presented by Prince Phillip at Buckingham 
        Palace in London, and was received by Pope John Paul II in Rome where he 
        addressed world spiritual leaders in accepting its $1,100,000 prize, 
        which he directed be given to worldwide fasting for peace and spiritual 
        enlightenment;
Whereas Dr. Bright sought ecumenical and trans-denominational cooperation 
        throughout the world by building more than 1,000 partnerships with other 
        ministries, and in 1983, he and former President Ronald Reagan, along 
        with Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant members of the clergy, informed 
        Congress which voted to establish The Year of the Bible to help focus on 
        timeless truths for the Nation;
Whereas he helped create what media reports describe as the largest non-
        denominational Christian ministry in the world, and he rejected appeals 
        to establish a single religious denomination and would not allow his 
        name to be attached to any single denominational enterprise;
Whereas he urged followers to be ``salt and light'', to seek civility in 
        society, and to be active in ministry to prisons, hospitals, orphanages, 
        and he declared the duties of citizenship to be reliably informed, 
        active in the study of issues, voter registration and get-out-the-vote 
        drives, and personal voting;
Whereas he never endorsed individual candidates or parties, and encouraged 
        laypersons to seek public service and often called upon people in all 
        lands to study American History, declaring President George Washington 
        as his secular hero after Jesus of Nazareth and the Apostle Paul;
Whereas in response to a suggestion from a Member of the United States Senate, 
        he helped establish the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability 
        to set high standards and monitor their compliance, setting an example 
        for all charitable organizations;
Whereas Money magazine has often cited Campus Crusade for Christ International 
        as best or one of the top 5 non-profit ministries for effective 
        stewardship of donor dollars; and
Whereas in his last months he co-founded the Global Pastors Network, a separate 
        ministry to pastors worldwide with helpful resources and a goal to start 
        5,000,000 home-based studies of the attributes of God: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) sends its condolences to Mrs. Vonette Zachary Bright, 
        their grandchildren, their sons, Zac and Brad, and their wives, 
        Terry and Katherine, all of whom are also in full-time 
        Christian ministry; and
            (2) does hereby honor the memory of Dr. William R. 
        (``Bill'') Bright, an ambassador of spiritual goodwill, whose 
        58 years of dedicated and effective service stand as an 
        outstanding example of selfless leadership to all humankind.
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