[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 85 (Wednesday, June 11, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H5177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               WELCOMING THE REV. DR. THOMAS A. ERICKSON

  (Mr. NETHERCUTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NETHERCUTT. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to welcome here to the 
Chamber today Dr. Tom Erickson, the interim pastor at National 
Presbyterian Church who offered the opening prayer. We are thankful for 
his presence today, and we are thankful that he has devoted himself to 
a ministry in the Presbyterian faith.
  Dr. Erickson is no stranger to Presbyterian ministry and commitment 
to God. He has served a lifetime of ministries in Spokane, Washington, 
my home town, in California and Massachusetts; and he most recently 
retired from a very large church in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
  He brings to the ministry a kindness, a grace, a wisdom, a commitment 
to Jesus Christ, a commitment to his faith and a commitment to 
compassion around this country and to those he ministers to and serves. 
He is a credit to the ministry of the Presbyterian faith. We are so 
delighted that he has committed himself, even after retirement, to an 
interim position here in Washington, D.C. at the National Presbyterian 
Church in Washington, a church of great tradition and history.
  He and his wife, Carol, have been married for almost 49 years. They 
have three beautiful daughters who are adult children, and they are 
devoted to those dear children and to each other and to their faith in 
God.
  We are delighted that Dr. Erickson could be here today, and we 
certainly welcome him and thank him for his prayer this morning.

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