[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 5, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S5161]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The guest Chaplain, the Honorable Rabbi Israel Poleyeff, Brooklyn, 
NY, offered the following prayer:
  Almighty God: We ask Thy blessings upon the distinguished Members of 
this Senate of the United States of America. Give them insight to 
understand the concerns and problems of all the people of this blessed 
land; bless them with wisdom to enact laws that will benefit all its 
inhabitants, and imbue them with courage to make difficult decisions 
for the public good.
  For more than a century, millions of immigrants, my father's family 
amongst them, came to these shores seeking freedom from tyranny and 
oppression. To this very day our beloved country still serves as a 
beacon of light to those to whom freedom is but an elusive ideal.
  To this very day our country still stands as a shining example of 
individual liberty and limitless opportunity.
  More than two centuries ago, our Founding Fathers created a nation in 
which every individual had the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness.
  The Members of this Senate have the awesome responsibility of seeing 
that those goals remain the hallmark of our Nation.
  We beseech Thee, O Lord, imbue them with wisdom, understanding, and 
knowledge to hold aloft the banner of freedom and the torch of liberty, 
so that all the inhabitants of this country shall be privileged to 
live, work, and worship their God as they choose and without fear. May 
our country be the leader among nations in ushering in an era of 
universal peace and harmony so that the words of the prophet may be 
fulfilled in our time, when ``they shall beat their swords into 
plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift 
up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore.'' May this 
by Thy will. Amen.


                          ____________________