[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 21, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S119-S122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        INAUGURATION CEREMONIES

  Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent that yesterday's proceedings of the 
inauguration of the President be printed in today's Congressional 
Record.
  There being no objection, the proceedings were ordered to be printed 
in the Record, as follows:

    Inauguration of the President of the United States and the Vice 
                      President, January 20, 1997

       Members of the House of Representatives, Members of the 
     Senate, Justices of the Supreme Court, members of the 
     Cabinet, members of the diplomatic corps, the Governors of 
     the States, and the Mayor of the District of Columbia, the 
     Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other distinguished guests 
     assembled on the west front.


                               Mrs. Gore

       Mr. Martin Paone, Senate Secretary for the Minority, 
     escorted Mrs. Gore, accompanied by Mrs. Lott and Mrs. 
     Gephardt, to the President's platform.


                              Mrs. Clinton

       Ms. Elizabeth B. Greene, Senate Secretary for the Majority, 
     and Ms. Amelia Fields, Joint Congressional Committee on 
     Inaugural Ceremonies, escorted Mrs. Clinton, accompanied by 
     Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Gingrich, to the President's platform.


                           The Vice President

       Mr. John Chambers, Joint Congressional Committee on 
     Inaugural Ceremonies Deputy Director, Ms. Loretta Symms, 
     Senate Deputy Sergeant at Arms, and Mr. Jim Varey, House 
     Deputy Sergeant at Arms, escorted the Vice President, 
     accompanied by Senator Lott, Representative Gephardt and 
     Representative Armey, to the President's platform.


                             The President

       Ms. Susan Magill, JCCIC Executive Director, Mr. Greg Casey, 
     Senate Sergeant at Arms, and Mr. Wilson Livingood, House 
     Sergeant at Arms, escorted the President, accompanied by 
     Senator Warner, Senator Ford, Representative Gingrich, 
     Senator Lott, Representative Gephardt and Representative 
     Armey, to the President's platform.


                         The Inaugural Ceremony

       Mr. Warner. Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, 
     Mr. Majority Leader, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the U.S. 
     Congress, their families and guests--all one-quarter million 
     who have joined here today on the grounds of their Capitol.

[[Page S120]]

       [Applause.]
       Welcome to the 53rd Inauguration of the President and the 
     Vice President of the United States of America.
       [Applause.]
       Across our Nation, and around the world, Americans join 
     William Jefferson Clinton as he reconfirms the oath of office 
     as the 42nd President of the United States, and Albert Gore, 
     Jr., as he reconfirms the oath of office as the 45th Vice 
     President of the United States.
       Our first President, George Washington, was inaugurated in 
     1789.
       Thereafter, every 4 years, our citizens have witnessed this 
     transition of authority as required by the Constitution of 
     the United States.
       It is the conferring of this trust and authority--which has 
     occurred without any interruption for 208 years--that is the 
     cornerstone of our representative democracy.
       It is a tribute to the providential vision of our Founding 
     Fathers.
       It is a tribute to the strength of character of the 
     American people and the endurance of their institutions.
       It is a tribute to successive generations of Americans who 
     have guarded our most valuable heritage--our freedom.
       And, Mr. President, may I say, on behalf of the millions 
     and millions of Americans, we express to you our gratitude 
     for this past week, having invited to the White House a true 
     man who fought for freedom, and you presented him with the 
     Presidential Medal of Freedom, Senator Dole. Thank you, Mr. 
     President.
       [Applause.]
       For two centuries, the American Presidential Inauguration 
     ceremony has represented both national renewal and continuity 
     of leadership.
       So it is altogether fitting that as the world's oldest 
     continuous constitutional democratic republic, we gather 
     today to honor this historical triumph, and to recommit 
     ourselves to keep our Nation strong for future generations.
       Mr. President, prayer has been an essential part of all 
     inaugural ceremonies.
       As I was privileged to drive up with you from the White 
     House, you held the Bible and read the passage that you will 
     read today.
       Therefore, we are honored today to have the Reverend Billy 
     Graham to lead our Nation in prayer, as he has at seven 
     previous inaugurals.
       Please stand for the invocation and remain standing for the 
     Pledge of Allegiance. Reverend Graham.


                               Invocation

       Reverend Graham. President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, Vice 
     President Gore, Mrs. Gore, I am going to ask that we all bow 
     our heads in prayer.
       Our Father and our God, we thank You today for the 
     privilege of coming into Your presence on this historic and 
     solemn occasion.
       We thank You for Your gracious hand which has preserved us 
     as a Nation. We praise You for the peaceful continuity of 
     Government that this inauguration represents.
       We recall that the Bible says, ``Except the Lord build a 
     house, they labor in vain that build it.'' You also said that 
     to whom much has been given, much will be required.
       We look gratefully to the past, and thank You that from the 
     very foundations of America You granted our forefathers 
     courage and wisdom, as they trusted in You. So we ask today 
     that You would inspire us by their example. Where there has 
     been failure, forgive us; where there has been progress, 
     confirm; where there has been success, give us humility, and 
     teach us to follow Your instructions more closely as we enter 
     the next century.
       Give to all those to whom You have entrusted leadership 
     today a desire to seek Your will and to do it.
       So today, we ask Your blessing on President Clinton and his 
     wife, Hillary, and their daughter, Chelsea, and upon Vice 
     President Gore and his wife, Tipper, and their children.
       Give to all our leaders the vision of what You desire 
     America to become and the wisdom to accomplish it and the 
     strength to cross the bridges into the 21st century.
       We pray also for the Members of the House and the Senate, 
     for the Supreme Court, and for all who bear responsibility of 
     leadership in this Nation which is blessed with such ethnic 
     diversity.
       We have not solved all the social problems of our times, 
     such as drugs and racism. Technology and social engineering 
     have not solved the basic problems of human greed, pride, 
     intolerance, and selfishness. We need your insight, we need 
     your compassion, we need your strength. As both President 
     Clinton and Senator Dole urged us in the recent Presidential 
     campaign, may this be a time of coming together to help us 
     deal with the problems we face.
       O Lord, help us to be reconciled first to You and secondly 
     to each other. May Dr. Martin Luther King's dream finally 
     come true for all of us. Help us to learn true courtesy to 
     our fellow countrymen that comes from the One who taught us 
     that ``whatever you want me to do to you, do also to them.''
       Remind us today that You have shown us what is good and 
     what You require of us--to do justly, to love mercy, and to 
     walk humbly with our God.
       We ask that as a people we may humble ourselves before You 
     and seek Your will for our lives and for this great Nation. 
     Help us in our Nation to work as never before to strengthen 
     our families and to give our children hope and a moral 
     foundation for the future.
       So may our desire be to serve You and, in so doing, serve 
     one another.
       This we pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the 
     Holy Spirit. Amen.
       Mr. Warner. Thank you, Reverend Graham.


                        The Pledge of Allegiance

       Mr. Warner. The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Eagle 
     Scout David Morales, Boy Scout Troop 152, Vienna, VA.
       (The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Eagle Scout David 
     Morales.)
       Mr. Warner. Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my privilege to 
     present the Children of the Gospel Mass Choir, under the 
     auspices of the Washington Performing Arts Society.
       More than 100 voices from the Washington metropolitan area 
     make up this unique choir.
       Accompanied by the United States Marine Band, the choir 
     will perform an original composition by its director, Mr. 
     Rickey Payton, entitled, ``Let's Build a Bridge Across 
     America.''
       (The Children of the Gospel Mass Choir sang ``Let's Build a 
     Bridge Across America.'')
       Mr. Warner. Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my distinct 
     privilege and honor to present the Associate Justice of the 
     Supreme Court of the United States, the Honorable Ruth Bader 
     Ginsburg, who will administer the oath of office to the Vice 
     President of the United States, Albert Gore, Jr.


         ADMINISTRATION OF OATH OF OFFICE TO THE VICE PRESIDENT

       Associate Justice Ginsburg. If you are ready to take the 
     oath, Mr. Vice President, please repeat after me.
       Associate Justice of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg 
     administered to the Vice President-elect the oath of office 
     prescribed by the Constitution, which he repeated, as 
     follows:
       ``I, Albert Gore, Jr., do solemnly swear that I will 
     support and defend the Constitution of the United States 
     against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear 
     true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this 
     obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose 
     of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the 
     duties of the office of which I am about to enter. So help me 
     God.''
       Associate Justice Ginsburg. Every good wish, Mr. Vice 
     President.
       Vice President Gore. Thank you.
       [Applause.]
       Mr. Warner. Ladies and gentlemen, participating in today's 
     program is a person with talent described by music critics as 
     a catalog of all that is virtuous in singing.
       Accompanied by the U.S. Army Chorus and Chorale, please 
     welcome the world renowned Jessye Norman, who will perform a 
     medley of American music entitled ``O Freedom.''
       Miss Norman.
       [Applause.]
       (Jessye Norman sang a medley of American music entitled ``O 
     Freedom.'')
       Mr. Warner. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, as 
     chairman of the Joint Inaugural Committee, it is now my 
     privilege to introduce my cochairman, Senator Wendell Ford of 
     Kentucky, who will introduce the Chief Justice of the United 
     States.
       Senator Ford.
       Mr. Ford. Thank you, my friend, John Warner. President 
     Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, Vice President Gore, Mrs. Gore, my 
     fellow Americans, and my colleagues.
       Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of the President-elect, will 
     hold the Clinton family Bible. They are joined by their 
     daughter Chelsea.
       It is now my great privilege and high honor to present the 
     Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the 
     Honorable William Hobbs Rehnquist, who will administer the 
     oath of office to the President and President-elect of the 
     United States, William Jefferson Clinton.
       [Applause.]


           ADMINISTRATION OF OATH OF OFFICE TO THE PRESIDENT

       Mr. Chief Justice Rehnquist. Are you ready to take the 
     oath, Mr. President?
       President Clinton. Yes, I am.
       Mr. Chief Justice Rehnquist. Please raise your right hand 
     and repeat after me.
       The Chief Justice of the United States, William Hobbs 
     Rehnquist, administered to the President-elect the oath of 
     office prescribed by the Constitution, which he repeated, as 
     follows:
       ``I, William Jefferson Clinton, do solemnly swear that I 
     will faithfully execute the office of President of the United 
     States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, 
     protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So 
     help me God.''
       [Applause.]
       (Herald Trumpets play ``Ruffles and Flourishes'' and ``Hail 
     to the Chief '', and 21-gun salute.)
       Mr. Ford. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United 
     States of America, William Jefferson Clinton.


                           INAUGURAL ADDRESS

       President Clinton. My fellow citizens:
       At this last Presidential inauguration of the 20th century, 
     let us lift our eyes toward the challenges that await us in 
     the next century. It is our great good fortune that time and 
     chance have put us not only at the edge of a new century in a 
     new millennium, but

[[Page S121]]

     on the edge of a bright new prospect in human affairs. A 
     moment that will define our course and our character for 
     decades to come. We must keep our old democracy forever 
     young. Guided by the ancient vision of a promised land, let 
     us set our sights upon a land of new promise.
       The promise of America was born in the 18th century out of 
     the bold conviction that we are all created equal. It was 
     extended and preserved in the 19th century, when our Nation 
     spread across the continent, saved the Union, and abolished 
     the awful scourge of slavery.
       Then, in turmoil and triumph, that promise exploded onto 
     the world stage to make this the American century.
       And what a century it has been. America became the world's 
     mightiest industrial power, saved the world from tyranny in 
     two world wars and a long cold war, and time and again 
     reached out across the globe to millions who, like us, longed 
     for the blessings of liberty.
       Along the way, Americans produced the great middle class 
     and security in old age; built unrivaled centers of learning 
     and opened public schools to all; split the atom and explored 
     the heavens; invented the computer and the microchip; and 
     deepened the wellspring of justice by making a revolution in 
     civil rights for African Americans and all minorities, and 
     extending the circle of citizenship, opportunity, and dignity 
     to women.
       Now, for the third time, a new century is upon us, and 
     another time to choose. We began the 19th century with a 
     choice to spread our Nation from coast to coast. We began the 
     20th century, with a choice to harness the Industrial 
     Revolution to our values of free enterprise, conservation, 
     and human decency. Those choices made all the difference. At 
     the dawn of the 21st century, a free people must now choose 
     to shape the forces of the Information Age and the global 
     society, to unleash the limitless potential of all our 
     people, and, yes, to form a more perfect union.
       When last we gathered, our march to this new future seemed 
     less certain than it does today. We vowed then to set a clear 
     course, to renew our Nation.
       In these 4 years, we have been touched by tragedy, 
     exhilarated by challenge, strengthened by achievement. 
     America stands alone as the world's indispensable nation. 
     Once again, our economy is the strongest on Earth. Once 
     again, we are building stronger families, thriving 
     communities, better educational opportunities, a cleaner 
     environment. Problems that once seemed destined to deepen, 
     now bend to our efforts: our streets are safer and record 
     numbers or our fellow citizens have moved from welfare to 
     work.
       And once again, we have resolved for our time a great 
     debate over the role of Government. Today we can declare: 
     Government is not the problem; and Government is not the 
     solution. We, the American people, we are the solution.
       [Applause.]
       Our Founders understood that well, and gave us a democracy 
     strong enough to endure for centuries, flexible enough to 
     face our common challenges and advance our common dreams in 
     each new day.
       As times change, so Government must change. We need a new 
     Government for a new century, a government humble enough not 
     to try to solve all our problems for us, but strong enough to 
     give us the tools to solve our problems for ourselves. A 
     Government that is smaller, lives within its means, and does 
     more with less. Yet where it can stand up for our values and 
     interests around the world, and where it can give Americans 
     the power to make a real difference in their everyday lives, 
     Government should do more, not less. The preeminent mission 
     of our new Government is to give all Americans an 
     opportunity--not a guarantee--but a real opportunity to build 
     better lives.
       [Applause.]
       Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to us. 
     Our Founders taught us that the preservation of our liberty 
     and our Union depends upon responsible citizenship.
       And we need a new sense of responsibility for a new 
     century. There is work to do, work that Government alone 
     cannot do. Teaching children to read. Hiring people off 
     welfare rolls. Coming out from behind locked doors and 
     shuttered windows to help reclaim our streets from drugs and 
     gangs and crime. Taking time out of our own lives to serve 
     others.
       Each and every one of us, in our own way, must assume 
     personal responsibility--not only for ourselves and our 
     families, but for our neighbors and our Nation.
       [Applause.]
       Our greatest responsibility is to embrace a new spirit of 
     community for a new century. For any one of us to succeed, we 
     must succeed as one America.
       The challenge of our past remains the challenge of our 
     future: Will we be one nation, one people, with one common 
     destiny--or not? Will we all come together, or come apart?
       The divide of race has been America's constant curse. And 
     each new wave of immigrants gives new targets to old 
     prejudices. Prejudice and contempt, cloaked in the pretense 
     of religious or political convictions, are no different.
       [Applause.]
       These forces have nearly destroyed our Nation in the past. 
     They plague us still. They fuel the fanaticism of terror, and 
     they torment the lives of millions in fractured nations all 
     around the world.
       These obsessions cripple both those who hate and, of 
     course, those who are hated, robbing both of what they might 
     become. We cannot--we will not--succumb to the dark impulses 
     that lurk in the far regions of the soul, everywhere. We 
     shall overcome them.
       [Applause.]
       We shall replace them with the generous spirit of a people 
     who feel at home with one another.
       Our rich texture of racial, religious and political 
     diversity will be a godsend in the 21st century. Great 
     rewards will come to those who can live together, learn 
     together, work together, forge new ties that bind together.
       As this new era approaches, we can already see its broad 
     outlines. Ten years ago, the Internet was the mystical 
     province of physicists; today, it is a commonplace 
     encyclopedia for millions of schoolchildren. Scientists now 
     are decoding the blueprint of human life. Cures for our most 
     feared illnesses seem close at hand.
       The world is no longer divided into two hostile camps; 
     instead, now we are building bonds with nations that once 
     were our adversaries. Growing connections of commerce and 
     culture give us a chance to lift the fortunes and spirits of 
     people the world over. And for the very first time in all of 
     history, more people on this planet live under democracy than 
     dictatorship.
       [Applause.]
       My fellow Americans, as we look back at this remarkable 
     century, we may ask, can we hope not just to follow, but even 
     to surpass the achievements of the 20th century in America, 
     and to avoid the awful bloodshed that stained its legacy? To 
     that question, every American here and every American in our 
     land today must answer a resounding ``Yes.''
       [Applause.]
       This is the heart of our task: With a new vision of 
     Government, a new sense of responsibility, a new spirit of 
     community, we will sustain America's journey. The promise we 
     sought in a new land, we will find again in a land of new 
     promise.
       [Applause.]
       In this new land, education will be every citizen's most 
     prized possession. Our schools will have the highest 
     standards in the world, igniting the spark of possibility in 
     the eyes of every girl and every boy, and the doors of higher 
     education will be open to all. The knowledge and power of the 
     information age will be within reach, not just of the few but 
     of every classroom, every library, every child. Parents and 
     children will have time not only to work, but to read and to 
     play together, and the plans they make at their kitchen table 
     will be those of a better home, a better job, a certain 
     chance to go to college.
       Our streets will echo again with the laughter of our 
     children, because no one will try to shoot them or sell them 
     drugs anymore. Everyone who can work will work, with today's 
     permanent underclass part of tomorrow's growing middle class. 
     New miracles of medicine at last will reach not only those 
     who can claim care now, but the children and hard-working 
     families too long denied.
       We will stand mighty for peace and for freedom and maintain 
     a strong defense against terror and destruction. Our children 
     will sleep free from the threat of nuclear, chemical, or 
     biological weapons. Ports and airports, farms and factories 
     will thrive with trade and innovation and ideas. And the 
     world's greatest democracy will lead a whole world of 
     democracies.
       Our land of new promise will be a Nation that meets its 
     obligations: A Nation that balances its budget, but never 
     loses the balance of its values.
       [Applause.]
       A nation where our grandparents have secure retirement and 
     health care, and their grandchildren know we have made the 
     reforms necessary to sustain those benefits for their time.
       [Applause.]
       A Nation that fortifies the world's most productive 
     economy, even as it protects the great natural bounty of our 
     water, air, and majestic land.
       And in this land of new promise, we will have reformed our 
     politics so that the voice of the people will always speak 
     louder than the din of narrow interests, regaining the 
     participation and deserving the trust of all Americans.
       [Applause.]
       Fellow citizens, let us build that America, a nation ever 
     moving forward toward realizing the full potential of all its 
     citizens. Prosperity and power, yes, they are important, and 
     we must maintain them, but let us never forget: The greatest 
     progress we have made, and the greatest progress we have yet 
     to make, is in the human heart. In the end, all the world's 
     wealth and a thousand armies are no match for the strength 
     and decency of the human spirit.
       [Applause.]
       Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate 
     today spoke to us down there, at the other end of this Mall, 
     in words that moved the conscience of a Nation. Like a 
     prophet of old, he told of his dream that one day America 
     would rise up and treat all its citizens as equals before the 
     law and in the heart. Martin Luther King's dream was the 
     American dream. His quest is our quest: the ceaseless 
     striving to live out our true creed. Our history has been 
     built on such dreams and labors, and by our dreams and 
     labors, we will redeem the promise of America in the 21st 
     century.

[[Page S122]]

       To that effort, I pledge all my strength and every power of 
     my office. I ask the Members of Congress here to join in that 
     pledge. The American people returned to office a President of 
     one party and a Congress of another. Surely, they did not do 
     this to advance the politics of petty bickering and extreme 
     partisanship they plainly deplore.
       [Applause.]
       No, they call on us all instead to be repairers of the 
     breach and to move on with America's mission.
       America demands and deserves big things from us--and 
     nothing big ever came from being small.
       [Applause.]
       Let us remember the timeless wisdom of Cardinal Bernardin 
     when facing the end of his own life. He said, ``It is wrong 
     to waste the precious gift of time . . . on acrimony and 
     division.''
       Fellow citizens, we must not waste the precious gift of 
     this time, for all of us are on that same journey of our 
     lives, and our journey, too, will come to an end. But the 
     journey of our America must go on.
       And so, my fellow Americans, we must be strong, for there 
     is much to dare. The demands of our time are great, and they 
     are different. Let us meet them with faith and courage, with 
     patience and a grateful, happy heart. Let us shape the hope 
     of this day into the noblest chapter in our history. Yes, let 
     us build our bridge--
       [Applause.]
     a bridge wide enough and strong enough for every American to 
     cross over to a blessed land of new promise. May those 
     generations whose faces we cannot yet see, whose names we may 
     never know, say of us here that we led our beloved land into 
     a new century with the American dream alive for all her 
     children, with the American promise of a more perfect Union a 
     reality for all her people, with America's bright flame of 
     freedom spreading throughout all the world.
       From the height of this place and the summit of this 
     century, let us go forth. May God ``strengthen our hands for 
     the good work ahead''--and always, always bless our America.
       [Applause.]
       Mr. Warner. Mr. President, we thank you for that strong and 
     inspiring message at this very important time in our history.
       Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce 
     the Immanuel Baptist Church Sanctuary Choir and Orchestra of 
     Little Rock.
       The choir and orchestra, under the direction of Reverend 
     Lynn Madden, will present ``The Battle Hymn of the 
     Republic.''
       (The Immanuel Baptist Church Sanctuary Choir and Orchestra 
     sing ``The Battle Hymn of the Republic.'')
       Mr. Warner. Thank you for the singing of that most 
     inspiring of American music.
       As he did for his first inauguration in 1993, President 
     Clinton has asked a distinguished American scholar to compose 
     a poem for this historic day.
       Please welcome writer, editor, poet, Mr. Miller Williams.
       [Applause.]

                          Of History and Hope

     We have memorized America,
     how it was born and who we have been and where.
     In ceremonies and silence we say the words,
     telling the stories, singing the old songs.
     We like the places they take us. Mostly we do.
     The great and all the anonymous dead are there.
     We know the sound of all the sounds we brought.
     The rich taste of it is on our tongues.
     But where are we going to be, and why, and who?
     The disenfranchised dead want to know.
     We mean to be the people we meant to be,
     to keep on going where we meant to go.
     But how do we fashion the future? Who can say how
     except in the minds of those who will call it Now?
     The children. The children. And how does our garden grow?

     With waving hands--oh, rarely in a row--
     and flowering faces. And brambles, that we can no longer 
           allow.
     Who were many people coming together.
     cannot become one people falling apart.
     Who dreamed for every child an even chance.
     cannot let luck alone turn doorknobs or not.
     Whose law was never so much of the hand as the head
     cannot let chaos make its way to the heart.
     Who have seen learning struggle from teacher to child
     cannot let ignorance spread itself like rot.
     We know what we have done and what we have said,
     and how we have grown, degree by slow degree,
     believing ourselves toward all we have tried to become--
     just and compassionate, equal, able, and free.

     All this in the hands of children, eyes already set.
     on a land we never can visit--it isn't there yet--
     but looking through their eyes, we can see.
     what our long gift to them may come to be.
     If we can truly remember, they will not forget.

     [Applause.]
       Mr. Warner. Santita Jackson will lead the singing of our 
     National Anthem. She will be accompanied by the Resurrection 
     Choir, a group composed of singers from the choirs of 
     American churches tragically destroyed by fire in recent 
     months.
       This choir's performance is a befitting commemoration of 
     this day on which we honor also Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
       Before we sing our National Anthem, the Reverend Gardner C. 
     Taylor will deliver the benediction.
       Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the benediction and 
     remain standing to sing our National Anthem.
       Reverend Taylor.


                              Benediction

       Reverend Taylor. Let us lift up our spirits before our 
     Creator, eternal God, brooding over the days of our years. In 
     sovereign judgment, and yet with tender mercy, now close to 
     the end of this solemn but joyous occasion, we lift our 
     hearts and our hopes before Thee.
       We pray for our President, William Jefferson Clinton, that 
     Thou will give to him ever increasing vision and vigor and 
     voice, that he might speak tellingly to the American promise 
     in history.
       We pray for the gracious and gallant lady at his side, 
     Hillary Rodham Clinton, and for their daughter.
       We ask Thy blessings upon the Vice President of the United 
     States and upon his wife, Mrs. Tipper Gore. Grant, we pray, 
     that he may ever be more a partisan of what is best in our 
     American tradition.
       And now, our God, we hold before Thee this Nation so richly 
     endowed, so grandly blessed, and yet imperiled, apparently 
     often, by the very richness of its diversity. Deliver us from 
     pettiness of heart, from harshness of speech and from 
     violence of action. Make us worthy of our history, of 
     patriots' sacrifices and martyrs' blood, in the vanguard of 
     which stand Lincoln and King, Thy servants Abraham and 
     Martin. Give us ever a greater dedication and commitment to 
     the grand defining words of our democracy--liberty, justice, 
     equality, opportunity.
       And now let the words of our mouths, all of our mouths, in 
     the meditations of our hearts, all of our hearts, be 
     acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our Strength and our 
     Redeemer, and now unto the old, wise God, our Deliverer, be 
     glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and evermore. 
     Amen.
       Mr. Warner. Now, Miss Santita Jackson.
       (The National Anthem was sung by Santita Jackson and the 
     Resurrection Choir, audience standing.)
       [Applause.]
       The inaugural ceremonies were concluded at 12:48 p.m.

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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