[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 41 (Thursday, March 13, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3650-S3652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMENDING THE SERVICE OF DR. LLOYD J. OGILVIE, THE CHAPLAIN OF THE 
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. FRIST. I send a resolution to the desk and I ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (Res. 83) commending the service of Dr. Lloyd 
     J. Ogilvie, the Chaplain of the United States Senate.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we had the opportunity this morning to 
hear the last prayer of our Senate Chaplain, Lloyd Ogilvie, a man who 
has touched each of our lives in a different and very special way. All 
of us in here have reached an age where if we took a few moments and 
tried to list the people outside of our immediate families who really 
had an impact on us, it would probably be a pretty short list, if we 
were candid with ourselves.
  I have been doing a bit of that the last couple of days, thinking 
about Lloyd, his contribution here, and the fact he is now going home 
to take up the challenge of providing care for his wonderful wife Mary 
Jane.
  I have decided my list would be very short, indeed, outside of my 
immediate family. On that list would, indeed, be Lloyd Ogilvie, who has 
had a powerful impact on my life. I will never, ever forget him.
  We all love him and we care for him. Even though we will not see him 
as much in the coming years, I hope each of us for whom he has made 
such a difference will make an extra effort to stay in touch with our 
dear friend in the coming years.
  So, Lloyd Ogilvie, thanks for all you did for all of us. Good luck in 
the future. Thanks for making a difference.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I join the distinguished Senator from 
Kentucky in saying a word about the Chaplain, Lloyd Ogilvie.
  I am a new Senator, as is the Presiding Officer, and there have been 
a great many wonderful things about coming to the Senate. But nothing 
has surpassed the privilege of getting to know Lloyd Ogilvie in these 
first couple of months. I have watched him and listened, and I have 
learned from him. I have been comforted by him. I am deeply grateful 
for that.
  This month in Billy Graham's publication, ``Decision,'' Lloyd 
Ogilvie's picture is on the front, and there is an interview with him 
about his 8 years in the Senate. It is a clue about why he has been 
such an inspiration to so many Senators. The questioner notes:

       A current Senator remarked that your prayers often ``make 
     reference to specific turmoil'' in the Senate.

  The questioner goes on:

       I understand that sometimes following your opening prayer 
     you sit through the Senate sessions.

  And Lloyd's answer was:

       The task of any spiritual leader is to listen. You can't 
     minister to individuals or to a group unless you know what is 
     going on. That is the reason that I have to be there.

  Lloyd Ogilvie has been a counselor. He is a minister. He is a 
listener--maybe a listener above all. I have found in my conversations 
with him that I suspect he knows more about the Senate than any other 
individual because he knows the hearts of the Senators.
  So I rise to thank him, to wish him the very best with his wife Mary 
Jane, and to let him know that one more Senator has been touched by his 
presence here in a very short period of time.

[[Page S3651]]

  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the interview 
with Dr. Ogilvie that appears in the March 2003 edition of 
``Decision,'' the Billy Graham publication.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       After serving eight years as U.S. Senate Chaplain, Lloyd 
     John Ogilvie is retiring this month. He has provided 
     spiritual guidance to senators, to Senate staff and to 
     families during some of the most tumultuous events in the 
     history of the United States. Decision recently spoke with 
     Ogilvie about his Senate experiences and about where God is 
     leading him now.
       Q: Describe a typical day in the life of Lloyd John 
     Ogilvie.
       A: I usually get up around 6 a.m. and walk for my exercise. 
     As I walk around the Capitol, I pray for 20 senators each 
     day. I cover all 100 senators in a week. Often God puts on my 
     mind and heart people who have needs or concerns. Then, 
     during the day, I often have an opportunity to talk with 
     those people.
       After walking, I have my own personal Bible study, and then 
     I walk to work. I live on the Hill--it's 10 minutes from my 
     breakfast table to the floor of the Senate. I give the 
     opening prayer for the Senate. I write the prayers in 
     segments, perhaps a month ahead of time, and as crises change 
     in the nation or in the world or in the life of the Senate, I 
     can change the prayers to that they are current and relevant.
       The opening prayer is an extremely important part of my 
     day, because it is on the Senate floor that I speak a work 
     about God that is crucial to American history and to our 
     future. That word is sovereign. As I studied the prayers of 
     those who founded this nation, a word they frequently used 
     for God is Sovereign, because they came to this country 
     seeking a land where God could be the Sovereign of the land.
       So very often in my prayers, I use the world sovereign in 
     describing God's nature and His lordship over this nation. 
     Then I pray for God's power and direction and specifically 
     for the needs that I know might be coming up that day.
       I usually spend the rest of the morning in preparation for 
     my Bible studies. I have five Bible studies during the week: 
     for the senators, for senators' spouses, for the chiefs of 
     staff of the senators' offices, and two studies for the 
     Senate staff. It makes for a busy schedule, but I feel that 
     my task is to lower the plumb line of God's justice and 
     righteousness and mercy on the issues that we are facing in 
     the nation. And I can do that by teaching the Bible.
       Q: How do you make the Gospel relevant to the issues that 
     our nation and world face?
       A: I believe that the Holy Spirit, who inspired the writing 
     of the Scripture, is present in the room as I teach the 
     Scripture. That's awesome, when you stop and think of it. It 
     forces you to study and pray and get ready, because there is 
     a Word from the Lord, and He will speak through the 
     Scriptures if we are faithful to communicate them.
       Q: What is one message that we need to hear today?
       A: We need to know that God is the Sovereign of this 
     nation. We have a responsibility to trust Him, to seek His 
     will and to live in accordance with His righteousness and 
     justice.
       As you trace U.S. history, it is fascinating to see how our 
     founders were very clear about wanting God to guide them. In 
     the First Continental Congress, Samuel Adams stood up and 
     said, ``I believe we need to pray,'' and they went down and 
     got the pastor of Christ Church Philadelphia to come to 
     Carpenters' Hall to pray. Then, when there were deadlocks in 
     the Constitutional Convention, crucial people stood up and 
     said, ``We cannot make it without God's power.''
       Q: You have led the Senate spiritually during some 
     extremely trying times, including the impeachment hearings 
     and the Sept. 11 tragedy. What were those times like?
       A: I can't imagine that in eight years we've been through 
     all of this. I think of the impeachment, for example, when it 
     was so important to reaffirm God's sovereignty and His grace. 
     As I was standing outside the Chamber, the senators and 
     leaders would go by and say, ``What are you going to pray 
     today?'' Then Chief Justice William Rehnquist would say, 
     ``What have you got to say to God today?'' Then at the end of 
     the prayer, he would give an ``Amen'' with gusto. But it was 
     a painful time. I'm so thankful that when the Senate leaders 
     got together prior to the impeachment, they opened their 
     meeting with prayer. Trent Lott was majority leader at that 
     time, and he constantly called them back to trust God.
       Then, of course, the aftermath of Sept. 11 was a time of 
     helping people to realize that God has not caused that 
     tragedy. He did not send that on America in judgment. But it 
     did bring us to a place of asking what He had to say through 
     all of this.
       We had the long process of healing and taking care of 
     people who were traumatized by that event. We had many 
     different services during that period. I remember one in 
     particular, when the senators went over to the National 
     Cathedral to take part in a time of prayer following 9/11. 
     I had the feeling that I should stay here at the Capitol; 
     the staff needed someone to take care of them. So I asked 
     for a large room that seated 300 people, and I made a 
     simple announcement that we would have a prayer time. When 
     I arrived, people were standing in the room, squeezed in 
     shoulder to shoulder. Instead of 300 people, there were 
     600 in the room and out in the hall. By the end, 1,000 
     people had come.
       Q: A current senator remarked that your prayers often 
     ``Make reference to specific turmoil'' in the Senate.
       A: I feel that this is part of my responsibility as 
     chaplain. Answers to unasked questions are foolish, but 
     Biblical answers to the real questions people are asking are 
     powerful. It is our task to listen, to be sensitive to where 
     people are and then to respond to what's going on inside of 
     them and around them.
       When the senators are under a great deal of pressure and 
     stress, I'll pray about that and talk about the pressure 
     cooker of politics. When they are at odds with each other, I 
     can ask God to bring understanding and peace for the good of 
     the American people and for His glory, and to help us depend 
     on Him to bring understanding, to break deadlocks.
       Q: I understand that sometimes following your opening 
     prayer you sit through the Senate sessions.
       A: The task of any spiritual leader is to listen. You can't 
     minister to individuals or to a group unless you know what is 
     going on. That is the reason that I have to be there. When I 
     sense there is great tension or frustration, I go down on the 
     floor, slip into the chair where I sit, and pray for those 
     who are in conflict. Afterwards, I often go to them 
     individually, talk with them about what's happened and see if 
     I can bring them together.
       I am pleased when I see greatness emerge in the senators 
     and they reach beyond their parties and their own particular 
     persuasions to have deep communication with each other. I see 
     that in our Bible studies on Thursdays, when members of both 
     parties study the Scriptures together and try to come to 
     grips with what God might be saying.
       Q: Our culture is heavily saturated with the message of 
     separation of church and state, but you have often said that 
     there is no separation of God and state. What do you mean?
       A: There is no statement in the literature of U.S. history 
     that is more misunderstood than this phrase, ``separation of 
     Church and State.'' It was included in a letter by Thomas 
     Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists in Danbury, Conn. He was 
     trying to protect the church from government and was 
     establishing the fact that he was a different kind of leader 
     than the sovereigns of Europe. The phrase, however, stuck and 
     has been used to diminish the role of God in American life 
     and in politics.
       I believe that there is no separation between God and 
     State. We need God in the affairs of government, and those 
     who are involved in leadership desperately need Him and His 
     guidance and direction. If we take God out of the affairs of 
     government, we are left to our human devices without the 
     empowerment that comes through a relationship with God.
       I was very gratified when the Senate dealt with the recent 
     question raised about the phrase ``one nation under God.'' 
     All of the Senators were in their seats, and we gave the 
     Pledge of Allegiance together. No one was missing in 
     affirmation of the fact that they all really believe in this 
     historic declaration that we are a ``nation under God.''
       Q: How can we pray for the Senators and their families?
       A: Pray that they will know God, that they will trust God, 
     that they will depend on supernatural power rather than on 
     human talents, that they will pray for and receive the gift 
     of courage, and that they will speak with boldness and dare 
     to give the leadership that's necessary.
       Q: What has led you to retire as Senate Chaplin on March 
     15?
       A: My wife, Mary Jane, contracted a bad case of bacterial 
     pneumonia last April, and it lodged in some scar tissue in 
     her lungs from a previous cancer operation. They had such a 
     hard time getting that dislodged that in the process they had 
     to put her on a respirator. That was eight months ago, and 
     she has been in three different hospitals since then 
     struggling to get off the respirator, to get back to 
     breathing on her own and to get back to health.
       I'm so thankful for the way she has trusted God in this 
     dark, dark valley of suffering. I realized that it would be 
     much better for her to be near our family in California. She 
     is in a respiratory hospital there that specializes in just 
     the kind of illness she has. I thought I would go back and 
     forth as frequently as I could and stay as long as I could, 
     but I realized this was not adequate. For eight years, I have 
     asked the senators to put God first, family second, the 
     Senate third and ambition fourth.
       It was time for me to live any message. So I told the 
     officers of the Senate that I needed to be with my wife. Just 
     as soon as she's strong enough, I'll be available to preach 
     and to teach and to speak, here and around the world.

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, if I may before the Senator from 
Tennessee leaves, he may not have been in the Senate very long--a 
couple of months--but the Senator from Tennessee has picked up the 
essence of Lloyd Ogilvie and why he is so widely admired, respected, 
and loved around here.

[[Page S3652]]

  I thank the Senator from Tennessee for his contribution.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. I thank the Senator.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, the retirement of our Senate Chaplain, 
Lloyd Ogilvie, leaves me with a profound sense of loss. He has been a 
personal friend to me, as well as a wise counselor and adviser. I know 
I will miss him greatly. He has served the Senate with great 
distinction. His daily prayers were works of art and poetry, delivered 
in his deep rich voice, with conviction and a seriousness of purpose.
  He has warmed our hearts with his genuine concern for our spiritual 
well-being and reached out to touch the souls of staff members and 
Senate employees, as well, who sought his advice and his message of 
hope and reassurance. We have all been richly blessed by the presence 
and the ministry of Lloyd Ogilvie. Our thoughts and sincerest best 
wishes and our love go with him.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I have been in the Senate more than 36 
years and there is no question that Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie has been the 
best Senate Chaplain I've ever seen, by far. On this his last day, I 
join my colleagues in thanking him for the spiritual care he has 
provided to all of us and our families, and especially for his daily 
prayers as we tackle the monumental responsibilities before us.
  My wife, Peatsy, and I pray for the health of his loving wife Mary 
Jane. And we are confident that as the Chaplain leaves Washington and 
returns to California good things await him. For in Psalm 92 it is 
written that the righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree and that 
in maturity they shall bring forth fruit and be full of vitality and 
richness. There is no more worthy son of the Creator to flourish in 
retirement than Dr. Ogilvie.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to pay tribute to 
Lloyd Ogilvie, our Chaplain. I have told him of the deep affection that 
I and my wife Joyce have for him and Mary Jane. I wish I could reach as 
deeply into the writings of Robert Burns as he is able to and come up 
with exactly the right epigram.
  I will point out that he and I share the common experience of living 
in Scotland as young men. He, there while he was studying for the 
ministry, and I, there while I was serving as a missionary for my 
church. In that experience, each of us gained deep respect for the 
Scottish people and Scottish traditions.
  That is why you find me today sporting the tartan of my family, the 
Wallace tartan. My father served in this body as Wallace Bennett, 
coming from a long line of Wallaces, including one William Wallace. 
Whether it was the William Wallace who morphed as Mel Gibson onto the 
silver screen or not, I am not sure.
  Lloyd Ogilvie has made his mark here in a tremendous way, and he 
deserves all of the wonderful things everyone has said about him. I 
simply quote a hymn that we sing often in our church. I don't think it 
is unique to our church, but we sing at this time when young men go out 
in the circumstance I have just described--go off to a foreign land or 
to a foreign part of the world to preach the gospel. We sing to them:

       God be with you till we meet again;
       When life's perils thick confound you;
       Put His arms unfailing round you;
       God be with you till we meet again.

  This is what I say to Mary Jane and Lloyd Ogilvie, from all of us. 
God be with you till we meet again.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to speak of the 
contributions and service to the Nation, the U.S. Senate, to my family 
and myself made by Dr. Lloyd J. Ogilvie as Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, 
I joined the U.S. Senate just over three months ago and I am repeatedly 
impressed and reminded about the history and tradition of this body. 
The Office of the Chaplain has served the Senate each day with prayer 
strongly reaffirming this institution's commitment to faith in God and 
our recognition of God being the ultimate sovereign over this Nation. 
The daily guidance and reminder of our Maker helps us all keep 
perspective on our duties and activities as we debate and make 
decisions of weighty issues confronting our country.
  The Chaplain of the Senate has been an integral part of the U.S. 
Senate since 1789 when the first Senate elected the first Chaplain. The 
daily prayers of the Chaplains have been published over the years. In 
times of great turmoil and in times of the mundane the Chaplain reminds 
us of our obligation to keep the moral compass pointed in the right 
direction. This body has been brought together in times of conflict 
with the help of the Chaplain. Dr. Ogilvie has served us well as the 
sixty-first Chaplain since 1995.
  Just last week the U.S. Senate passed a resolution reaffirming that 
the term ``under God'' was an essential part of the pledge of 
allegiance. I am confident that Dr. Ogilvie could have contributed to 
our insight and debate. but there is no dispute that this body and this 
Nation remain under the graceful guidance of God. We have been helped 
to understand this grace by the spiritual guidance of Dr. Ogilvie.
  I have known of the Chaplain Ogilvie for longer than my service in 
the U.S. Senate. My parents, Senator Frank Murkowski and Nancy 
Murkowski, share a warm and special relationship with Dr. Ogilvie and 
his wife Mary. Through them I learned about Dr. Ogilvie and his 
compassion and commitment to his faith. They join me in sending their 
prayers, best wishes and expressions of warmth to him upon his 
retirement.
  Dr. Ogilvie will be missed by all his flock and all who know him in 
his role as Chaplain in the U.S. Senate. He has served this institution 
in the tradition of this body with honor and excellence.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President. Eight years ago today, Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie 
became our Senate Chaplain. Today, as he leaves the Senate, I wish to 
thank Dr. Ogilvie for his spiritual guidance and friendship.
  Dr. Ogilvie is a greet scholar and preacher. Yet he has been so much 
more to our Senate family. I am particularly grateful for the 
hospitality Dr. Ogilvie has shown to all religions. He hosted Jewish 
seders. He invited Cardinals to the Senate. He made sure that religious 
leaders of all faiths have led the Senate in prayer.
  I also appreciate the creative and energetic way he reached out to 
the entire Senate family. He has led Bible study groups and prayer 
meetings for Senators and staff. He has provided individual counseling 
for anyone who has asked for it.
  Since September 11, our Nation and our Senate have faced great stress 
and uncertainty. On September 11, during the anthrax attacks, and now 
as our Nation prepares for a possible war, Dr. Ogilvie has helped the 
Senate family to become stronger through faith and prayer.
  I also wish to thank Reverend Ogilvie's wife, Mary Jane, who has been 
such an important partner to him and such a dear friend to all of us in 
the Senate. I wish the Ogilvies well as they move to California to 
begin a new chapter in their lives. They will always be in my thoughts 
and prayers.
  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the 
preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 83) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                               S. Res. 83

       Whereas Dr. Lloyd J. Ogilvie became the 61st Senate 
     Chaplain on March 13, 1995, and has faithfully served the 
     Senate for 8 years as Senate Chaplain;
       Whereas Dr. Ogilvie is the author of 49 books, including 
     ``Facing the Future without Fear''; and
       Whereas Dr. Ogilvie graduated from Lake Forest College, 
     Garrett Theological Seminary of Northwestern University and 
     New College, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and has 
     served as a Presbyterian minister throughout his professional 
     life, including being the senior pastor at First Presbyterian 
     Church, Hollywood, California: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the Senate hereby honors Dr. Lloyd J. Ogilvie for his 
     dedicated service as the Chaplain of the United States 
     Senate; and
       (2) the Secretary transmit an enrolled copy of this 
     resolution to Dr. Ogilvie.

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