[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 4, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, Rev. James David Ford, D.D., offered the following 
prayer:
  From the early days of the life of our Nation, we have prayed for 
Your blessing, O God, and we have asked to be sustained by Your 
benediction. In days of war and times of peace, in all the moments of 
human frailty and special courage we have paused to give You thanks. 
From women and men, from young and old, from north or south, from city 
and village, we have joined in our words of gratitude for Your 
providence to us and in our petitions for the welfare of our country.
  As we now prepare for this new day, gracious God, let this time be 
full of hope for the year ahead as we seek a firm reliance on Your good 
word. May our hearts be bound together in unity as we pray in the words 
of scripture that in all things we will do justly, love mercy, and ever 
walk humbly with You. This is our earnest prayer. Amen.

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