[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 15 (Monday, February 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E166-E167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMARKS BY SENATOR NUNN AT NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST
______
HON. TOM LANTOS
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, February 1, 1996
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor and a great personal pleasure
for me to introduce into the Congressional Record the following
statement by our distinguished colleague and my good friend, Senator
Sam Nunn. His speech, delivered at the National Prayer Breakfast this
morning, was very powerful and given with his usual sense of
thoughtfulness and sincerity. I strongly urge all of my colleagues to
take a moment and read this moving address given the Senator Nunn.
[National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 1, 1996]
Senator Sam Nunn--Transcript of Remarks
Thank you Bob Bennett, President and Mrs. Clinton, Vice
President and Mrs. Gore, fellow sinners. Have I left anyone
out? I say to my good friend, Alan Simpson, Billy Graham
called me also, Alan. He said, as he did in his message, that
he was praying for us all. But, he felt particularly
compelled to pray for Alan Simpson and for me. Alan, I don't
know what he meant by that, but you and I appreciate it.
A few years ago during the Bresznev era, Dr. Billy Graham
returned from a highly publicized trip to Moscow and was
confronted when he returned by one of his critics with these
words, ``Dr. Graham, you have set the church back 50 years.''
Billy Graham lowered his head and replied, ``I am deeply
ashamed. I have been trying very hard to set the church back
2,000 years.''
Today we represent different political parties, different
religions and different nations, but as your invitation
states, we gather as brothers and sisters in the spirit of
Jesus who lived 2,000 years ago, and who lives in our hearts
and minds today.
The first prayer breakfast was held in 1953 in a world of
great danger. President Eisenhower was newly inaugurated and
had just returned from Korea where our young soldiers were
fighting desperately. World Communism was on the move.
Eastern Europe and the Baltics were locked behind the Iron
Curtain. All across the globe, the lights of religious
freedom and individual rights were going out, and the specter
of nuclear destruction loomed over our planet.
I wonder this morning how those who attended that first
national prayer breakfast 43 years ago would have reacted if
God had given them a window to see the world of the 1980's
and 1990's.
They would have seen truly amazing things: Catholic nuns
kneeling to pray in the path of 50-ton tanks--the power of
their faith bringing down the Philippine dictatorship; the
Iron Curtain being smashed, not by tanks of war, but by the
hands of those who built it and those who were oppressed by
it; the Cold War ending, not in a nuclear inferno, but in a
blaze of candles in the churches of Eastern Europe, in the
singing of hymns and the opening of long-closed synagogues. I
believe that God gave Joseph Stalin the answer to his
question, ``How many divisions does the Pope have?''
They also would have seen a black man in South Africa
emerge from prison after 26 years and become the President of
his nation, personifying forgiveness and reconciliation; the
first hesitant but hopeful steps toward peace between Jews
and Arabs in the Middle East, and between Protestants and
Catholics in Northern Ireland. They would see that in 1996 we
are blessed to live in a world where more people enjoy
religious freedom than at any other time in history. Can we
doubt this morning that a loving God has watched over us and
guided us through this dangerous and challenging period?
During the early days of the Russian parliament, the Duma,
I joined several other Senators in attending a meeting with a
number of newly elected members of that body. The second day,
a few of us were invited to a very small ``prayer breakfast''
with a group of Duma members who were just forming a
fellowship, no doubt stimulated by Doug Coe. As in the larger
meeting the day before, the breakfast discussion started with
a degree of coldness and tension. One of the Russians, in
obvious sadness and a little embarrassment, remarked that
Russia was in great economic distress and that the United
States was the only remaining superpower. It was clear that
this was a very sensitive point for them. It had been
abundantly clear the day before.
Senator Dirk Kempthorne and I then pointed out that in the
real sense there is only one superpower in the world, our
heavenly Father who watches over us all. The tension
immediately eased and the spirit of fellowship was built, and
we prayed together to that superpower, the God who loves us
all.
Our world is a strange and tragic place. It is very ironic
in many ways. The Cold War is now over, but in a tragic
sense, the world has now been made safer for ethnic, tribal,
and religious vengeance and savagery. Such tragedy has come
to the people of Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan,
Haiti and others.
At home, the pillar of our national strength, the American
family, is crumbling. Television and movies saturate our
children with sex and violence. We have watered down our
moral standards to the point where many of our youth are
confused, discouraged and in deep trouble. We are reaping the
harvest of parental neglect, divorce, child abuse, teen
pregnancy, school dropouts, illegal drugs, and streets full
of violence.
It's as if our house, having survived the great earthquake
we call the Cold War, is now being eaten away by termites.
Where should we turn this morning and in the days ahead?
Our problems in America today are primarily problems of the
heart. The soul of our nation is the sum of our
individual characters. Yes, we must balance the federal
budget and there are a lot of other things we need to do
at the Federal level, but unless we change our hearts we
will still have a deficit of the soul.
The human inclination to seek political solutions for
problems of the heart is nothing new. It is natural. Two
thousand years ago, another society found itself in deeper
trouble than our own. An oppressive empire strangled
liberties. Violence and corruption were pervasive.
Many of the people of the day hoped for the triumphant
coming of a political savior, a long-expected king to
establish a new, righteous government. Instead, God sent his
son, a baby, born in a stable. Jesus grew up to become a
peasant carpenter in a backwater town called Nazareth. He
condemned sin but made it clear that he loved the sinner. He
befriended beggars and prostitutes and even
[[Page E167]]
tax collectors while condemning the hypocrisy of those in power. He
treated every individual with love and dignity and taught
that we should do the same. He died like a common criminal,
on a cross, and gave us the opportunity for redemption and
the hope of eternal life.
He also put the role of government in proper perspective
when he said, ``Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and
unto God that which is God's.''
Shortly after I announced that I would not seek reelection,
a reporter asked me, ``You've been in the Congress for 24
years; what do you consider to be your greatest
accomplishment?'' I paused for a moment and replied,
``Keeping my family together for 24 years and helping my wife
Colleen raise two wonderful children, Michelle and Brian.''
Upon hearing this, the reporter scoffed, ``Don't give me that
soft sound-bite stuff. What laws did you get passed?
When he said that, I had several thoughts--only a couple of
them I can share with you this morning. Four years ago, my
daughter, Michelle, and a few of her friends started an
organization in Atlanta called Hands on Atlanta, making it
exciting, efficient and fun for young people to volunteer
their time to help those in need. Now, about 5 years later,
10,000 volunteers each month render about 20,000 hours of
personal, one-on-one service. What laws have I passed that
have had this impact?
I also thought about the difference between being a Senator
and being a father. When we in the Senate make a mistake, we
have checks and balances--99 other Senate colleagues, plus
the House of Representatives, plus the President, plus a
final review by the Supreme Court. But, when we as parents
make a mistake with our children, where are the checks and
where are the balances?
Congress can pass laws cracking down on those who refuse to
support their children. But we cannot force husbands to honor
their wives, wives to love their husbands, and both parents
to nurture their children. Congress can pass laws on civil
rights and equal rights, but we cannot force people of
different races to love each other as brothers. Congress can
promote fairness and efficiency in our tax code, but we
cannot force the rich to show compassion toward the poor. We
can join with our NATO allies to separate the warring
factions in Bosnia, as we are doing, and give them a
breathing space, but we cannot force Muslims, Croats and
Serbs to live together as brothers in peace.
I recently heard a story on the radio. It happened in
Bosnia, but I think it has meaning for all of us. A reporter
was covering that tragic conflict in the middle of Sarajevo,
and he saw a little girl shot by a sniper. The back of her
head had been torn away by the bullet. The reporter threw
down his pad and pencil, and stopped being a reporter for a
few minutes. He rushed to the man who was holding the child,
and helped them both into his car.
As the reporter stepped on the accelerator, racing to the
hospital, the man holding the bleeding child said, ``Hurry,
my friend, my child is still alive.''
A moment or two later, ``Hurry, my friend, my child is
still breathing.''
A moment later, ``Hurry, my friend, my child is still
warm.''
Finally, ``Hurry. Oh my God, my child is getting cold.''
When they got to the hospital, the little girl had died. As
the two men were in the lavatory, washing the blood off their
hands and their clothes, the man turned to the reporter and
said, ``This is a terrible task for me. I must go tell her
father that his child is dead. He will be heartbroken.''
The reporter was amazed. He looked at the grieving man and
said, ``I thought she was your child.''
The man looked back and said, ``No, but aren't they all our
children?''
Aren't they all our children?
Yes, they are all our children. They are also God's
children as well, and he has entrusted us with their care in
Sarajevo, in Somalia, in New York City, in Los Angeles, in my
hometown of Perry, Georgia and here in Washington, D.C.
In the book of Micah, the prophet asks, ``Shall I give my
firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the
sin of my soul?''
The cruelest aspect of our wars and our sins is what they
do to our children. Jesus said, ``Suffer the little children
to come unto me . . . For of such is the kingdom of God.''
Too often today we shorten this commandment to--suffer--
little children.
Mrs. Clinton, thank you for the emphasis you have put on
children and the spotlight you have shined on our challenges.
You are great.
The world is watching America today. People around the
world are watching not just our President or our Congress or
our economy or even our military deployments. They are
watching our cities, our towns, and our families to see how
much we value our children, and whether we care enough to
stop America's moral and cultural erosion. Do we in America
in 1996 love our neighbors as ourselves as explained by Bob
Bennett as our theme for the morning and by Tom Lantos and
his personal example?
I do not have the answer to these questions this morning,
and I don't pretend to. These problems can be solved only in
the hearts and minds of our people and one child at a time. I
do, however, have a few observations.
The Cold War provided as with a clarity of purpose and a
sense of unity as a people. Our survival as a nation was at
stake. We came together often in fear. The challenges that
confront as today are far different, but the stakes are the
same. I pray that our children, all of our children, will be
the bridge that brings us together, not in fear, but in love.
Each year millions of our children are abused, abandoned
and aborted. Millions more receive little care, discipline
and almost no love. While we continue to debate our deeply-
held beliefs as to which of these sins should also be
violations of our criminal code, I pray that we as parents,
as extended families, and as communities, will come together
to provide love and spiritual care to every mother and to
every child, born or unborn.
Government at every level must play a role in these
challenges, but I do not believe that it will be the decisive
role. What, then, are our duties as leaders, not just in the
world of politics and government, but in every field
represented here this morning and throughout our land? Like
basketball stars Charles Barkley and Dennis Rodman, we are
role models whether we like it or not.
I believe that the example we set, particularly for
our young people, may be the most important responsibility
of public service. We must demonstrate with our daily
lives that it is possible to be involved in politics and
still retain intellectual honesty and moral and ethical
behavior.
We are all sinners, so we will slip and we will fall. But I
have felt God's sustaining hand through every phase of my
life--growing up in Perry, Georgia, raising a family, my
relationship with my wife Colleen, in Senate floor debates,
in committee meetings, visiting our troops in war, or being
part of a mission for peace.
In the years ahead, when I think back on my public service,
I am certain that my most cherished memories will be those
moments spent with my colleagues in the Senate prayer
breakfasts and in my meetings with leaders from around the
world, usually arranged by Doug Coe, in the spirit of Jesus.
I have also been blessed by many friends in the Senate and
also a small fellowship with a group of Senate brothers like
the late Dewey Bartlett, Republican of Oklahoma; Lawton
Chiles, Democrat of Florida; Pete Domenici, Republican of New
Mexico; Harold Hughes, Democrat of Iowa; and Mark Hatfield,
Republican of Oregon. No one can accuse that group of being
of like minds politically.
Yet, these brothers have listened to my problems, shared in
my joys, held me accountable and upheld me in their prayers.
Fellowship in the spirit of Jesus does amazing things. It
puts political and philosophical differences, even profound
differences, even profound differences, in a totally
different perspective.
I believe that 2,000 years ago Jesus was speaking to each
of us when he delivered his Sermon on the Mount. And, my
prayer this morning for our leaders and our nation is in the
spirit of his words then.
May we who would be leaders always be aware that we must
first be servants. May we who compete in the arena of
government and politics remember that we are commanded to
love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. I can't
find any exception for the news media or our opponents. May
we who seek to be admired by others remember that when we
practice our piety before men in order to be seen by them, we
will have no reward in heaven. May we who have large egos and
great ambitions recall that the Kingdom of Heaven is promised
to those who are humble and poor in spirit. May we who depend
on publicity as our daily bread recall that when we do a
secret kindness to others, our Father, who knows all secrets,
will reward us. May the citizens whom we serve as stewards of
government be sensitive to the fact that we are human beings
subject to error and that while we need their critiques, we
also desperately need their prayers. May we never forget that
the final judgment of our tenure here on earth will not be
decided by a majority vote, and that an election is not
required to bring us home.
May God bless each of you.
____________________