[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 70 (Friday, May 14, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5372-S5373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself and Mr. Akaka):
  S. 1055. A bill to amend title 36, United States Code, to designate 
the day before Thanksgiving as ``National Day of Reconciliation''; to 
the Committee on the Judiciary.


               National Day of Reconciliation Legislation

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, today, I, along with Senator Akaka, 
introduce the National Day of Reconciliation Bill. In this bill, the 
President will issue a yearly proclamation designating the day before 
Thanksgiving as a ``National Day of Reconciliation.'' On this day, it 
is our hope that every person in the U.S. should seek out those 
individuals who have been alienated and pursue forgiveness and 
reconciliation from them. Historically, Thanksgiving is a time when we 
put all of our differences aside and give thanks for all that we have 
achieved and shared. I cannot think of a better day in which to 
reconcile than the day before Thanksgiving.
  When considering the need for this piece of legislation, I was 
reminded of times when our nation was at war with itself, and the very 
fabric of our Constitution was held together by a few threads. The 
Civil War placed our democracy and national sovereignty in great 
jeopardy. However, Abraham Lincoln, one of our nation's greatest 
leaders, knew the importance of ``binding'' our nation together after 
civil war had ravaged our nation. It was through his wisdom and ability 
to forgive that he helped heal our nation's wounds. Once again, there 
is the absence of peace in America.
  We live in a society where there is too much alienation, from one 
another and from God. We, in too many cases, have allowed our focus to 
shift from one another to ourselves. Lincoln recognized the need to 
reconcile with one another. He also knew that reconciliation efforts 
would never be successful without looking first to the divine 
authority.
  In his second Inaugural speech, Lincoln said, ``with malice toward 
none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us 
to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to 
bind up the nation's wounds * * * to do all which may achieve and 
cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all 
nations.''
  The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was yet another one of our 
nation's great leaders who knew the importance of focusing on a higher 
moral power to achieve peaceful reconciliation. Dr. King, through 
wisdom and sacrificial love, reconciled an entire nation with 
individuals who, through discrimination, were alienated from sections 
of our society. Dr. King said, ``It is time for all people of 
conscience to call upon America to return to her true home of 
brotherhood and peaceful pursuits. * * * We must work unceasingly to 
lift this nation that we love to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of 
compassion, to a more noble expression of humaneness.'' Mr. President, 
we need to restore peace in our nation, we need to restore charity for 
one another, and we need to return our focus to a higher moral 
authority.
  As we look at our culture today, we see images that influence not 
only our

[[Page S5373]]

actions but the actions of young people as well. Our culture glorifies 
conflict, greed, and violence. It is no wonder that we see atrocities 
that seem impossible to imagine. It is time for our country to 
reconcile, and the ``National Day of Reconciliation'' will remind us of 
this solemn obligation.
  If Americans hope to ``bind up [our] nation's wounds,'' as Lincoln 
suggested, we must first make the commitment in the Congress. This bill 
makes that commitment by calling for a ``National Day of 
Recognition''--a day that recognizes the need to move from alienation 
to reconciliation. In a ``Letter From A Birmingham Jail,'' Dr. King 
expressed his hope for national reconciliation. I too hope ``that the 
dark clouds of [misconceptions] will soon pass away and the deep fog of 
misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities and 
in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and 
brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their 
scintillating beauty.'' I urge all of my colleagues to support this 
much needed measure and begin to foster reconciliation throughout our 
country in order for us to once again be ``one nation under God.''
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