[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 14, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E784-E785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  REV. BILLY GRAHAM: A SOCIETY POISED ON THE BRINK OF SELF-DESTRUCTION

                                 ______


                         HON. ROBERT K. DORNAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 14, 1996

  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, I commend to you and our colleagues the 
following transcript from the marvelous speech by the Rev. Billy Graham 
delivered in a jam-packed rotunda on May 2, 1996. I urge everyone to 
heed its words.

                          The Hope for America

                         (By Dr. Billy Graham)

       Mr. Vice President; Speaker Newt Gingrich; Majority Leader 
     Bob Dole; Senator Strom Thurmond; Members of the House of 
     Representatives and the Senate; distinguished guests and 
     friends.
       Ruth and I are overwhelmed by the very kind words that have 
     been spoken today, and especially by the high honor you have 
     just bestowed on both of us. It will always be one of the 
     high points of our lives, and we thank you from the bottom of 
     our hearts for this unforgettable event. We are grateful for 
     all of you in the Senate and House who have had a part in it; 
     and President Clinton for his support in signing the 
     resolution.
       As we read the list of distinguished Americans who have 
     received the Congressional Gold Medal in the past--beginning 
     with George Washington in 1776--we know we do not belong in 
     the same company with them, and we feel very unworthy. One 
     reason is because we both know this honor ought to be shared 
     with those who have helped us over the years--some of whom 
     are here today. As a young boy I remember gazing at that 
     famous painting of Washington crossing the Delaware. Only 
     later did it occur to me that Washington did not get across 
     that river by himself. He had the help of others--and that 
     has been true of us as well. Our ministry has been a team 
     effort, and without our associates and our family we never 
     could have accomplished anything.
       I am especially grateful my wife Ruth and I are both being 
     given this honor. No one has sacrificed more than Ruth has, 
     or been more dedicated to God's calling for the two of us.
       However, I would not be here today receiving this honor if 
     it were not for an event that happened to me many years ago 
     as a teenager on the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina. 
     An evangelist came through our town for a series of meetings. 
     I came face-to-face with the fact that God loved me, Billy 
     Graham, and had sent His Son to die for my sin. He told how 
     Jesus rose from the dead to give us hope of eternal life.
       I never forgot a verse of Scripture that was quoted. ``As 
     many as received him, to them gave he power to become the 
     sons of God, even to them that believe on his name'' (John 
     1:12, KJV). That meant that I must respond to God's offer of 
     mercy and forgiveness. I had to repent of my own sins and 
     receive Jesus Christ by faith.
       When the preacher asked people to surrender their lives to 
     Christ, I responded. I had little or no emotion; I was 
     embarrassed to stand with a number of other people when I 
     knew some of my school peers saw me; but I meant it. And that 
     simple repentance and open commitment to Jesus Christ changed 
     my life. If we have accomplished anything at all in life 
     since then, however, it has only been because of the grace 
     and mercy of God.
       As Ruth and I receive this award we know that some day we 
     will lay it at the feet of the One we seek to serve.
       As most of you know, the President has issued a 
     proclamation for this day, May 2, 1996, to be a National Day 
     of Prayer. Here in Washington you will see and hear of people 
     throughout the District of Columbia praying today. It is 
     encouraging and thrilling that here, and across the country 
     people have committed themselves to pray today for our 
     leaders, our nation, our world, and for ourselves as 
     individuals. I am so glad that before business each morning, 
     both the House of Representatives and the Senate have a 
     prayer led by Chaplain Ogilvie of the Senate, who has had so 
     much to do with this event today, and Chaplain Jim Ford, who 
     used to be chaplain at West Point when I went almost every 
     year to bring a message to the cadets.
       Exactly 218 years ago today--on May 2, 1778--the first 
     recipient of this award, George Washington, issued a General 
     order to the Amrican people. He said, ``The . . . instances 
     of Providential Goodness which we have experienced and have 
     now almost crowned our labors with complete success demand 
     from us . . . the warmest returns of Gratitude and Piety to 
     the Supreme Authority of all Good.'' it was a message of hope 
     and trust, and it also was a challenge for the people to turn 
     to God in repentance and faith.
       We are standing at a similar point in our history as less 
     than four years from now the world will enter the Third 
     Millennium. What will it hold for us? Will it be a new era of 
     unprecedented peace and prosperty? Or will it be a 
     continuation of our descent into new depths of crime, 
     oppression sexual immorality, and evil?
       Ironically, many people heralded the dawn of the 20th 
     Century with optimism. The steady march of scientific and 
     social progrsss, they believed would vanquish our social and 
     economic problems. Some optimistic theologian even predicted 
     the 20th Century would be ``The Christian Century'', as 
     humanity followed Jesus' exhortation to love your neighbor as 
     yourself. But no other century has been ravaged by such 
     devastating wars, genocides and tyrannies. During this 
     century we have witnessed the outer limtis of human evil.
       Our mood on the brink of the 21st Century is far more 
     somber. Terms like ``ethnic cleansing'' ``random violence'' 
     and ``suicide bombing'' have become part of our daily 
     vocabulary.
       Look at our own society. There is much, of course, that is 
     good about America, and we thank God for our heritage of 
     freedom and our abundant blessings. America has been a nation 
     that has shown a global compassion that the rest of the world 
     seemingly does not understand. After World War II because we 
     had the Atom Bomb, we had the opportunity to rule the world, 
     but America turned from that and instead helped rebuild the 
     countries of our enemies.
       Nevertheless, something has happened since those days and 
     there is much about America that is no longer good. You know 
     the problems as well as I do; racial and ethnic tensions that 
     threaten to rip apart our cities and neighborhoods; crime and 
     violence of epidemic proportions in most of our cities; 
     children taking weapons to school; broken families; poverty; 
     drugs; teenage pregnancy; corruption; the list is almost 
     endless. Would the first recipients of this award even 
     recognize the society they sacrificed to establish? I fear 
     not. We have confused liberty with license--and we are paying 
     the awful price. We are a society poised on the brink of 
     self-destruction.
       But what is the real cause? We call conferences and 
     consultations without end, frantically seeking solutions to 
     all our problems; we engage in shuttle diplomacy; and yet in 
     the long run little seems to change. Why is that? What is the 
     problem? The real problem is within ourselves.
       Almost three thousand years ago King David, the greatest 
     king Israel ever had, sat under the stars and contemplated 
     the reasons for the human dilemma. He listed three things 
     that the world's greatest scientists and sociologists have 
     not been able to solve, and it seems the more we know, and 
     the greater our technology, the more difficulties we are in. 
     In perhaps the best-known passage of the Old Testament, Psalm 
     23, he touches on the three greatest problems of the human 
     race.
       First, David said, is the problem of emptiness. David 
     wrote: ``The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.'' He was 
     not talking just about physical want, but spiritual want.
       I stood on the campus of one of our great universities some 
     time ago, and I asked the Dean, ``What is the greatest 
     problem on your campus?'' He replied in one word: 
     ``Emptiness.'' The human heart craves for meaning, and yet we 
     live in a time of spiritual emptiness that haunts millions.
       ``Nirvana'' is the Hindu word for someone who has arrived 
     into the state of perpetual bliss. Media reports said that 
     Kurt Cobain, the NIRVANA rock group's leader, was the 
     pacesetter for the nineties, and the ``savior of rock and 
     roll.'' But he said the song in the end which best described 
     his state of mind was ``I hate myself and I want to die!'' 
     And at age 27 he committed suicide with a gun.
       Second, is the problem of guilt. David wrote: ``He 
     restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the paths of 
     righteousness.'' Down inside we all know that we have not 
     measured up even to our own standards, let alone God's 
     standard.
       Third, David pointed to the problem of death. ``Yea, though 
     I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear 
     no evil: for thou art with me.'' Death is the one common 
     reality of all human life. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown 
     did not realize his time had come when he stepped on that 
     plane in Croatia a few weeks ago.
       From time to time I have wandered through Statuary Hall and 
     looked at all those statues of some of the greatest men and 
     women in our nation's history. But one thing is true of every 
     one of them: They are all dead.
       Yes, these three things--emptiness, guilt, and the fear of 
     death--haunt our souls. We frantically seek to drown out 
     their voices, driving ourselves into all sorts of 
     activities--from sex to drugs or tranquilizers--and yet they 
     are still there.
       But we must probe deeper. Why is the human heart this way? 
     The reason is because we are alienated from our Creator. That 
     was the answer David found to these three problems: ``The 
     Lord is my shepherd.'' This is why I believe the fundamental 
     crisis of our time is a crisis of the spirit. We have lost 
     sight of the moral and spiritual principles on which this 
     nation was established--principles drawn largely from the 
     Judeo-Christian tradition as found in the Bible.
       What is the cure? Is there any hope?
       Ruth and I have devoted our lives to the deep conviction 
     that the answer is yes. There

[[Page E785]]

     is hope! Our lives can be changed, and our world can be 
     changed. The Scripture says, ``You must be born again.'' You 
     could have a spiritual rebirth right here today.
       What must be done? Let me briefly suggest three things.
       First, we must repent. In the depths of the American Civil 
     War, Abraham Lincoln called for special days of public 
     repentance and prayer. Our need for repentance is no less 
     today. What does repentance mean? Repentance means to change 
     our thinking and our way of living. It means to turn from our 
     sins and to commit ourselves to God and His will. Over 2700 
     years ago the Old Testament prophet Isaiah declared: ``Seek 
     the Lord while he may be found: call on him while he is near. 
     Let the wicked forsake his way, and the evil man his 
     thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on 
     him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon'' (Isaiah 
     55:6-7, NIV). Those words are as true today as they were over 
     two and a half millennia ago.
       Second, we must commit our lives to God, and to the moral 
     and spiritual truths that have made this nation great. Think 
     how different our nation would be if we sought to follow the 
     simple and yet profound injunctions of the Ten Commandments 
     and the Sermon on the Mount. But we must respond to God, Who 
     is offering us forgiveness, mercy, supernatural help, and the 
     power to change.
       Third, our commitment must be translated into action--in 
     our homes, in our neighborhoods, and in our society.
       Jesus taught there are only two roads in life. One is the 
     broad road that is easy and well-traveled, but which leads to 
     destruction. The other, He said, is the narrow road of truth 
     and faith that at times is hard and lonely, but which leads 
     to life and salvation.
       As we face a new millennium, I believe America has gone a 
     long way down the wrong road. We must turn around and go back 
     and change roads. If ever we needed God's help, it is now. If 
     ever we needed spiritual renewal, it is now. And it can begin 
     today in each one of our lives, as we repent before God and 
     yield ourselves to Him and His Word.
       What are YOU going to do?
       The other day I heard the story of a high school principal 
     who held an assembly for graduating seniors, inviting a 
     recruiter from each branch of the service: Army, Navy, Air 
     Force, Marines to each give a twelve minutes presentation on 
     career opportunities they offered to the students. He 
     stressed the importance of each staying within their 
     allocated time.
       The Army representative went first, and was so eloquent 
     that he got a standing ovation, but went eighteen minutes. 
     Not to be outdone, the Navy presentation was equally superb, 
     but took nineteen minutes. Air Force then gave a sterling 
     presentation, which lasted twenty minutes. By now, the 
     principal was irate, and admonished the Marine recruiter that 
     he had only three minutes before the students had to leave 
     for the next class!
       During the first two minutes of his shortened time, the 
     Marine didn't say a word, but individually and carefully 
     studied the faces of each student. Finally, he said, ``I've 
     looked across this crowd and I see three or four individuals 
     who have what it takes to be a United States Marine. If you 
     think you are one of them, I want to see you down front 
     immediately after the assembly.''
       Who do you think drew the biggest crowd!
       This afternoon, as I look out across this distinguished 
     group gathered here, I see more than a few men and women who 
     have what it takes, under God to lead our country forward 
     ``through the night'' into the next millenium--individuals 
     who represent civic and governmental authority--as well as 
     doctors, lawyers, clergy, artists and media.
       Again, Ruth and I are deeply humbled by this award, and we 
     thank you for all that it represents.
       We pledge to continue the work that God has called us to do 
     as long as we live.
       Thank you.

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