[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 78 (Tuesday, June 14, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1208-E1214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     53RD NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JO ANN EMERSON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 13, 2005

  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I had the distinct honor and privilege of 
chairing the 53rd National Prayer Breakfast, held at the Washington 
Hilton, here in our Nation's Capital on Thursday, February 3, 2005. As 
you know, this annual gathering is hosted by Members of the U.S. Senate 
and the U.S. House of Representatives weekly prayer breakfast groups.
  Once again, we were honored that President George W. Bush and First 
Lady Laura Bush participated and we were greatly encouraged by the 
remarks given by The Honorable Tony Hall, Ambassador, U.S. Mission to 
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies.
  This year, we hosted a gathering of over 3,500 individuals from all 
walks of life in all 50 states and from many countries around the 
world. Please find attached a copy of the program and the transcript of 
the 2005 proceedings that I respectfully request be printed in the 
Congressional Record so that all may benefit from this time together.

      53rd National Prayer Breakfast--Thursday, February 3, 2005--
       International Ballroom, Hilton Washington, Washington, DC

       We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are 
     created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with 
     certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, 
     liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these 
     rights, governments are instituted among men. . . .--
     Declaration of Independence.
       Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt 
     keep the United States in Thy Holy protection; and Thou wilt 
     incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of 
     subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a 
     brotherly affection and love for one another and for their 
     fellow citizens of the United States at large.
       And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to 
     dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean 
     ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of 
     mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of 
     our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose 
     example in these things we can never hope to be a happy 
     nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through 
     Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.--George Washington's Prayer for 
     the United States of America, June 8, 1783.


                     53rd national prayer breakfast

       Chair: The Honorable Jo Ann Emerson; opening song, Wintley 
     Phipps; pre-breakfast prayer, the Honorable Emanuel Cleaver 
     II, U.S. House of Representatives, Missouri.


                               breakfast

       Welcome, the Honorable Jo Ann Emerson, U.S. House of 
     Representatives, Missouri; opening prayer, the Honorable Tom 
     Osborne, U.S. House of Representatives, Nebraska; remarks--
     Senate and House breakfast groups, the Honorable Mark Pryor, 
     U.S. Senate, Arkansas, the Honorable Norm Coleman, U.S.

[[Page E1209]]

     Senate, Minnesota; a reading, the Honorable Dianne Feinstein, 
     U.S. Senate, California; song, Wintley Phipps; readings from 
     the Holy Scriptures, Sergeant Douglas Norman, 3rd U.S. 
     Infantry Regiment ``The Old Guard,'' U.S. Army; prayer for 
     national leaders, the Honorable Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary 
     of Labor; message, the Honorable Tony Hall, Ambassador, 
     United States Mission to the United Nations Food and 
     Agriculture Agencies.
       The President of the United States.
       Closing song, Wintley Phipps; closing prayer, the Honorable 
     Lincoln Davis, U.S. House of Representatives, Tennessee.


                             proverbs 3:3-6

     Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
     Bind them around your neck,
     Write them on the tablet of your heart,
     And so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and 
           man.
     Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your 
           own understanding;
     In all your ways acknowledge Him,
     And He shall direct your paths.--King Solomon.


                            ezekiel 16:49-50

     Thus said the Lord, behold the sin of your sister Sodom:
     She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; 
           they did not help the poor and needy.
     They were haughty and did detestable things before me.
     Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.--The prophet 
           Ezekiel.


                         matthew 7:12, 22:37-40

     Therefore, Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to 
           them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
     ``You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and 
           with all your soul, and with all your mind.'' This is 
           the great and foremost commandment. And the second is 
           like it. ``You should love your neighbor as yourself.'' 
           On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the 
           prophets.--Jesus of Nazareth.
       It is impossible to account for the creation of the 
     universe, without the agency of a Supreme Being.--George 
     Washington.
       I hold the precepts of Jesus as delivered by Himself, to be 
     the most pure, benevolent, and sublime which have ever been 
     preached to man.--Thomas Jefferson.
       We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of 
     heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and 
     prosperity; we have grown in number, wealth, and powers as no 
     other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God! 
     Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-
     sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving 
     grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us.--Abraham 
     Lincoln.
       Almost every man who has by his life-work added to the sum 
     of human achievement of which the race is proud, almost every 
     such man had based his work largely upon the teachings of the 
     Bible.--Theodore Roosevelt.
       No greater than could come to our land today than a revival 
     of the spirit of faith--a revival that would sweep through 
     the homes of the nation and stir the hearts of men and women 
     of all faiths to a reassertion of their belief in God and 
     their dedication to His will for themselves and for their 
     world. I doubt if there is any problem--social, political, or 
     economic--that would not melt away before the fires of such a 
     spiritual revival.--Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
                                  ____


  53rd NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST--THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2005--HILTON 
                    WASHINGTON HOTEL, WASHINGTON, DC


               CHAIR: U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JO ANN EMERSON

       Mr. Wintley Phipps: Good morning. I would like to share a 
     song with you, a song of healing, a song of reconciliation, a 
     song of God's love and God's power. May you be blessed this 
     morning.
       (Song.)
       (Applause.)
       Representative Jo Ann Emerson: Good morning. I am Jo Ann 
     Emerson, and I represent the 8th Congressional District of 
     Missouri in the House of Representatives. I am also the 
     president of the House Prayer Breakfast, and I am so honored 
     and so humbled to be chairperson and your host today. Before 
     we break bread this morning, I would like to take a moment to 
     introduce the head table beginning to my right: 
     Representative Emanuel Cleaver, Mrs. Nancy Osborne, 
     Representative Tom Osborne, Alison Norman, Sergeant Douglas 
     Norman, Senator Diane Feinstein, my best buddy, and husband 
     Ron Gladney, Ambassador Tony Hall, Mrs. Janet Hall, Senator 
     Mark Pryor, Jill Pryor, Laurie Coleman, Senator Norm Coleman, 
     Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, and her husband Senator Mitch 
     McConnell, the incredible Wintley Phipps and his wife Linda 
     Phipps, and my colleague from Tennessee, Representative 
     Lincoln Davis.
       (Applause.)
       Our colleague and Representative and reverend, Emanuel 
     Cleaver from Kansas City, Missouri, will give the blessing 
     for our food today.
       Representative Emanuel Cleaver: I am glad that none of you 
     have begun to eat. (Laughter.) The Hebrews of old said those 
     who eat without thanking the Lord are thieves. (Laughter.) 
     One evening last February I was driving home when I observed 
     a large number of men running across the parking lot of a 
     florist shop. They were screaming and shouting and making 
     obscene gestures at one another and pushing their way into 
     the entrance of a florist shop. Some were on cell phones with 
     exaggerated use of their hands. Others still were kicking the 
     ground in anger, but I knew immediately what this male, out-
     of-controlness meant. I had seen it many times before. It was 
     Valentine's Day.
       (Laughter.)
       It was 5:30 p.m., and like many of the men frantically 
     running amok, I too was among what I call the forgetful. 
     (Laughter.) So I quickly, dangerously crossed lanes and 
     pulled into the parking lot and ran inside, and approached a 
     familiar looking woman and said to her, ``Ma'am, this is an 
     emergency, I need something fast.'' Very helpfully she 
     said, ``Mayor, you waited until the last moment again. 
     What can I get for Mrs. Cleaver and how much do you want 
     to spend?'' I said, ``Something nice, $35 or $40,'' and 
     she went into the back and returned a few minutes later 
     with an assortment of flowers and said, ``What about 
     this?'' I said, ``Yes, this is lovely.'' And she said, 
     ``No, Mayor, lovely starts at $75.''
       (Laughter.)
       For those of us gathered here this morning at this National 
     Prayer Breakfast, ``lovely'' begins with prayer. Let us pray. 
     Forgive us, oh God, for waiting so often until things are 
     chaotic before we come to you. We have so often been 
     surrounded with boundless blessings and yet we fail to thank 
     you. But in spite of our past failings and forgetfulness, on 
     this morning we praise you for your goodness. Thou art a 
     lover of all human kind and as we partake of this food from 
     your bounty, give us a heart that throbs with the sympathy 
     for all your precious people, especially those Iraqis with 
     fingers in the air claiming their democracy. And for those 
     whose lives have been flooded with woe from the raging waters 
     of the Indian Ocean. And now will God bless, please, our 
     president. Allow your spirit to surround and sustain him, 
     give him and us an extra ounce of your grace and mercy to 
     conquer the great challenges ahead. And may this food do for 
     our bodies what your spirit does for our souls. Amen.
       Representative Emerson: Please eat, and the program will 
     begin again in several minutes.
       Thank you.
       (Pause.)
       Representative Emerson: Mr. President, Mrs. Bush, members 
     of Congress, foreign dignitaries and distinguished guests, 
     brothers and sisters all, welcome to this morning's gathering 
     of faiths, the 53rd annual National Prayer Breakfast. Thanks 
     so much for joining with us. Before I begin, I would like to 
     share parts of a letter with you, and I quote,
       ``It was my privilege to be at the first prayer breakfast 
     and to go with Senator Frank Carlson to the White House to 
     ask President Eisenhower if he would attend. He was very 
     reluctant at first, but later decided to go, and went to all 
     the others during his presidency, setting a precedent 
     followed ever since by each president. Our world has many 
     serious problems, some of them critical. We are in great need 
     of a spiritual awakening. I believe one of the great 
     contributing factors is this annual prayer breakfast that 
     brings so many leaders together to worship. I very much 
     regret that my strength will not allow me to return to 
     Washington for the breakfast this year as I have done so many 
     times in the past. Please convey my warmest greetings to our 
     president and the first lady, and to my many old friends in 
     attendance, as well as a welcome to those for whom this is 
     the first opportunity to be part of the annual prayer 
     breakfast. Cordially yours, Billy Graham.''
       (Applause.)
       I am sure I speak for all of us when I say that Reverend 
     Graham is definitely in our prayers here this morning.
       As I mentioned earlier, I represent the 8th Congressional 
     District in Missouri, and like every other congressional 
     district in the nation, the 8th is grounded in faith. So is 
     our Congress. Every week that the Congress is in session, I 
     gather with colleagues in the House of Representatives for a 
     prayer breakfast, and a similar group meets on the Senate 
     side of the Capitol. That hour is the most valuable and the 
     very best hour of the week because we set aside politics, and 
     we set aside policy. We leave our titles and our party labels 
     at the door, and for that hour we are simply brothers and 
     sisters gathered in conversation with one another and with 
     God.
       Today the agenda is the same: to find common ground in the 
     spirit of Jesus, to fellowship a while, to think about how we 
     might walk more with him in the world. Today we are not only 
     leaders, we are followers all. We are present here in the 
     eyes of the Lord, equal, special, full of life. Though this 
     is a National Prayer Breakfast, we have guests from over 140 
     countries. We are a cross-section of faiths, beliefs and 
     backgrounds. We have gathered as friends bound by our 
     personal relationships to one another, and we defy any other 
     classification.
       In our world, early in this century, we face a familiar 
     question on new terms. In the face of hunger, poverty, moral 
     confusion, oppression and fear, in the wake of a tsunami, in 
     the midst of terrorism, how do we lift the heavy bushel of 
     these troubles to shine light from the lamp of our faith? Our 
     guests and speakers here today can help us lift this bushel. 
     As we break bread together, let us set our minds to this 
     rewarding task. Let us lift up in prayer our president and 
     first lady. Let us seek God's blessing as we pray for the 
     poor and less fortunate. As we follow the example which Jesus 
     set for us, we are always making progress in the quest to 
     share our faith. As brothers and sisters, let us free God's 
     light in the world today. Let us look to the guidance he 
     freely gives to us.

[[Page E1210]]

       It is an honor to introduce my colleague and friend from 
     the state of Nebraska, Coach Tom Osborne for our opening 
     prayer.
       Representative Tom Osborne: Thank you, Jo Ann. Jo Ann 
     referred to my earlier misguided profession--(laughter)--and 
     I was talking to Mitch McConnell before we came out here, and 
     he said, ``Why did you leave coaching?'' I said, ``Well it 
     was really because of illness and fatigue.'' He said, ``I 
     didn't know that.'' I said, ``Yeah, fans were sick and tired 
     of me.''
       (Laughter.)
       So anyway, I am here today, and I wanted to comment briefly 
     on how important that prayer breakfast has been to me, and 
     what a wonderful job Jo Ann has done.
       I thought I would tell you a quick anecdote--this was a 
     couple of years ago. We had another congressman who was going 
     to speak to us. This fellow, when he hit the red button, I 
     hit the green and vice versa. When he spoke on the House 
     floor I did not really agree with anything that he said, and 
     I really did not want to listen to him that day. But I stuck 
     around. And as he began to talk a little bit about his 
     childhood and his family and some of the struggles he had 
     been through, I began to have a little bit of compassion for 
     him. By the time he was done, I really cared about the guy. 
     The interesting thing is that that relationship was changed, 
     tremendously, and it remains that way today.
       I began to puzzle about that. I thought: he is still the 
     same person, what happened? And I think I began to see him 
     through the eyes of Jesus, and not through my eyes, and the 
     labels that I had put on him, the compartment I had put him 
     in, began to pass away, and when that happened our 
     relationship began to change. And that has happened over and 
     over again as we have had various speakers come to us, and it 
     has been very meaningful.
       This morning, we come from all parts of the country, and as 
     Jo Ann mentioned 140 nations, and I hope that the perceptions 
     and the walls which divide us would all fall away this 
     morning, that we see each other as we really are, fellow 
     travelers on our spiritual journey. We are imperfect, but we 
     are united by His love and His grace and His acceptance. So 
     if you would, please pray with me at this time.
       Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and the 
     promise you make that, ``If my people, who are called by my 
     name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and 
     turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and 
     forgive their sins and heal their land.'' So this morning, we 
     who are called by your name ask that pride of position and 
     power and possessions be removed from us. We seek your face 
     this morning and acknowledge that we have missed the mark of 
     your high calling, and have fallen short of what you would 
     have us be. We pray that we might turn from those ways of 
     ours that are not your ways, and ask forgiveness for our 
     sins.
       Please heal our land. Our nation has been blessed in so 
     many ways, yet we also see strife and suffering and division 
     and spiritual poverty, and we pray for a spiritual renewal 
     that will heal our land and bring us together, united in your 
     service. We ask especially this morning that you would bestow 
     your blessing and a sense of your presence and sustaining 
     power on our president and on his family. Please strengthen 
     him and guide him and protect him and all who serve him as he 
     starts his new term of office. We pray for the Congress, that 
     we might devote ourselves to the common good, and rise above 
     self-interest and partisanship. We request your blessing on 
     elected officials everywhere as they bear the burden of 
     leadership and responsibility.
       We ask that you will be with those in South East Asia who 
     have suffered so much, and we pray especially for children 
     everywhere whose lives have been devastated by disasters 
     around the world. Please sustain the Iraqi people as they 
     enter this historic period. We thank you for their courage 
     and example, and we pray especially for their recently 
     elected leaders that they might be protected. Finally, we ask 
     that you bless our soldiers and their families. We thank you 
     for their sense of duty and honor, and their willingness to 
     serve. Please protect them and bring them safely home. We 
     pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
       Representative Emerson: Every week when we meet on the 
     House side for our prayer breakfast, the Senate also does the 
     same, and I am very proud now to introduce my two dear 
     colleagues from the Senate, Senator Mark Pryor from Arkansas 
     and Senator Norm Coleman from Minnesota.
       (Applause.)
       Senator Norm Coleman: It is an honor for my wife Laurie and 
     me to be here today. Minnesotans are pretty reserved. There 
     are a lot of Scandinavians in my part of the country. In 
     Minnesota we talk about the guy who loved his wife so much he 
     almost told her.
       (Laughter.)
       I will break that tradition: Laurie, I love you, and I 
     thank you and the family for the faith you have shown to me. 
     God bless you, thank you very much.
       (Applause.)
       I was the mayor of St. Paul for eight years. It is the twin 
     cities and our twin city is Minneapolis. I always used to 
     tell folks that I got the much more spiritual city to 
     represent, and the proof of that was always found in the 
     Bible in which there were many references to St. Paul, but 
     not one to Minneapolis. So I had the right place.
       (Laughter.)
       At one point, Paul said, ``Work out your salvation with 
     fear and trembling,'' and I am living that scripture up here 
     today. It is a joy and a comfort to be here with my friend 
     and my classmate, Mark Pryor.
       The state of Arkansas has an amazing ability to produce 
     national leaders, no doubt about that. I am not just talking 
     about my colleague, Senator Clayton, or her husband, but 
     people like former senators J. William Fulbright, Dale 
     Bumpers and Mark's dad, David, who I am told spoke to this 
     breakfast a decade or so ago. This may be the first father-
     son combo in breakfast history. Mark is showing great 
     leadership. He has strong faith that has only grown through 
     personal trials. We may wear different jerseys, but we are 
     becoming good friends. On behalf of all the sinners of the 
     Senate breakfast group, we welcome you all.
       (Laughter.)
       Is it not true that more than anything else we want to 
     connect? All the great joys of life are multiplied when we 
     share them, all the griefs are divided. I think we are 
     designed to be together, to fill the valleys and raise the 
     mountaintops of our lives. But there are a lot of things that 
     divide us: politics, religion, economics, gender, race, 
     generational differences, competitiveness. Freud came up with 
     the name of a mental disorder for this, called the 
     ``narcissism of slight difference.'' We need a vaccine 
     against that around here.
       I believe that at their core people have a profound desire 
     to connect, to be together, and to move towards the light, 
     and that is why the Senate breakfast group began in the '50s. 
     It has continued every Wednesday the Senate has been in 
     session. That is something like 3,000 meetings. The beauty 
     and power of this event is an outgrowth of what has been 
     happening in our group for years. We lead the group 
     ourselves. We share our joys and griefs with each other. We 
     listen deeply, and we pray for the work of the Senate and the 
     nation and the world. We meet around the person and 
     principles of Jesus.
       Republicans, Democrats, Catholics, Baptists, Jews, men and 
     women, members who have been around the Senate for 30 years 
     and 30 days. And as a Jew, I am learning a lot of new things 
     which challenge me. I have a profound respect for the 
     tangibility and accessibility of God that my colleagues find 
     in Jesus. Here is the bottom line for me: This is a roomful 
     of leaders from across the country and around the world, but 
     we are all in the same boat. As sinners trying to be leaders, 
     how do we find the connection we need to each other, to our 
     communities, to God?
       Well, here is a clue: God gave each of us two ears and one 
     mouth, and we should use them in that proportion. The beauty 
     of our breakfast group is that for at least an hour of the 
     week we listen, really listen to each other as we talk about 
     things that really matter. Despite our differences we 
     connect. It is a small miracle that God gives us each week, 
     and I am proud to experience that miracle. It is a miracle, 
     taking place in this room right now, as brothers and sisters 
     from Rwanda and Burundi, from Israel and Palestine, from 
     India and Pakistan, from throughout the world, all come 
     together looking to the same source for peace and guidance 
     and comfort. Everyone in this room has a group of friends who 
     need that. If you don't, go find them because I would bet 
     that they are already looking for you.
       Thank you and God bless.
       (Applause.)
       Senator Mark Pryor: I agree with everything Norm said, and 
     I want to echo everything he said. I know that two years ago 
     when we came to the Senate, Norm and I stepped into a lot of 
     traditions. The Senate is about tradition, if you have not 
     noticed. For better or for worse, it is about tradition. One 
     of the great traditions in the Senate is the Senate Prayer 
     Breakfast. Every Wednesday morning we gather in the Capitol 
     and, as they said a few moments ago, we check our 
     partisanship at the door, and it is a time when we can come 
     together and talk about things and share things that are in 
     our hearts. It is a time that we do build deep and meaningful 
     relationships with one another, and for many, many people who 
     participate in the Senate Prayer Breakfast, it is the most 
     important hour that they spend all week.
       I want you all to know that every week that we are in 
     session, there is a group of usually 20 or more senators that 
     comes together and spends some time praying for each other 
     and for the nation and for the president, and we pray for you 
     all too.
       Norm and I thank you very much, very sincerely from the 
     bottom of our hearts, for your prayers, because we know that 
     you lift up the Congress and lift up our government. It means 
     more to us than you will ever know. We can feel it as we go 
     through the week and go through our life's work here in 
     Washington. Thank you for being here and thank you for 
     allowing us to serve you in this capacity.
       Thank you.
       (Applause.)
       Representative Emerson: Thank you all.
       Representing the great state of California and giving our 
     first reading for today is United States Senator Diane 
     Feinstein.
       (Applause.)
       Senator Diane Feinstein: Thank you.
       President and Mrs. Bush, my colleagues at the head table, 
     Senator Frist, Senator Nelson, and ladies and gentlemen, I 
     have chosen two brief passages that I would like to read. 
     One, the last one, is from the Old Testament, from Micah, and 
     the first one is from the prayer book of the temple that I 
     attend. It is

[[Page E1211]]

     used in many synagogues during the high holidays. It means a 
     great deal to me. It is about living our life.
       ``Birth is a beginning and death is a destination, and life 
     is a journey from childhood to maturity and youth to age. 
     From innocence to awareness and ignorance to knowing. From 
     foolishness to discretion and then perhaps to wisdom. From 
     weakness to strength, or strength to weakness, and often back 
     again. From health to sickness, and back we pray to health 
     again. From offense to forgiveness. From loneliness to love. 
     From joy to gratitude. From pain to compassion, and grief to 
     understanding. From fear to faith. From defeat to defeat to 
     defeat, until, looking backward or ahead, we see that the 
     victory lies not in some high place along the way, but in 
     having made the journey, stage by stage, a sacred pilgrimage. 
     Birth is a beginning and death is a destination, and life is 
     a journey, a sacred pilgrimage to life everlasting.''
       And now to Micah, chapter 6, verse 6.
       ``With what shall I approach the Lord, do homage to God on 
     high? Shall I approach him with burnt offerings, with calves 
     a year old? Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, 
     with myriads of streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for 
     my transgressions, the fruit of my body for my sins? He has 
     told you, oh, man, what is good and what the Lord requires of 
     you: only to do justice, and to love goodness, and to walk 
     modestly with your God. Then will your name achieve wisdom.''
       Thank you.
       (Applause.)
       Representative Emerson: Thank you so much, Diane.
       We heard Wintley Phipps' magnificent voice already once 
     this morning, but let me introduce him once again to sing 
     ``Here's One''.
       Mr. Wintley Phipps: That first song that I sang, ``Heal Our 
     Land'', that I sang at the inauguration, was written by one 
     of America's most prolific songwriters who has written for 
     Gladys Knight, and Brooks and Dunn. His name is Senator Orrin 
     Hatch of Utah.
       (Applause.)
       With this song that I would like to share with you this 
     morning, we have found that even in the midst of broken 
     English there is beauty and wisdom. In Florida, where I live, 
     during the hurricane, they asked an old man what it was 
     like during the hurricane. CNN put a microphone in his 
     face, he realized he was on national television, so he had 
     to bring his vocabulary up a notch or two, and he said, 
     ``They told us we had to leave, so we had to evaporate.''
       (Laughter.)
       This song is a song of broken English. I sing it in honor 
     of this month that we celebrate black history. It is a simple 
     Negro spiritual of faith from the heart of a slave. Listen to 
     the message in the song.
       (Song.)
       (Applause.)
       Representative Emerson: You are awesome, Wintley.
       Today's other scripture reading will be read by Sergeant 
     Douglas Norman. Sergeant Norman is the recipient of the 
     Bronze Star and Purple Heart awards, and is a member of the 
     Old Guard Honor Guard duty at Arlington National Cemetery.
       (Applause.)
       Sergeant Douglas Norman: I read this morning from two 
     passages. First the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 19, 
     verses 13 through 15.
       ``The little children were brought to Jesus, for him to 
     place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples 
     rebuked them. Jesus said, `Let the little children come to 
     me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs 
     to such as these.' When he had placed his hands upon them, he 
     went from there.''
       That's me. I was a child on my mother's knee when I first 
     trusted God. I trusted him simply. As a boy growing up in 
     Wyoming, all I ever wanted to be was a baseball player. Now, 
     20 years later, I am a soldier. I am a member of the 
     strongest, most technologically advanced army in the world. 
     But with all the advancements in weapons and equipment, I am 
     still just a man, a man with dreams, hopes and fears, like 
     public speaking.
       (Laughter and applause.)
       Though I have confidence in all my equipment, equipment 
     fails when you need it the most. However one thing I have 
     always been able to count on completely is my faith, affirmed 
     by the prayers of others. Soldiers all over the world draw 
     strength from their prayers of family, friends and strangers 
     they have never met. Psalm 91 was given to me by my mother-
     in-law the night before I left for Afghanistan. It was a 
     promise that both my family and I clung to as a prayer. On 
     that July night 18 months ago, when an RPG tore into the 
     Humvee in which I was riding, killing my two close friends 
     and wounding me, it was the Psalm that I trusted in, and the 
     prayers that sustained me. I offer these verses of Psalm 91 
     as God's promise. May you all find its blessing.
       ``He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest 
     in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, `He is 
     my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' Surely 
     he will save you from the fowler's snare and deadly 
     pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers and under his 
     wings will you find refuge. His faithfulness will be your 
     shield and rampart.''
       You are the leaders of the nations. Thank you for gathering 
     here today to think of what it means to trust God, and to 
     pray for peace and healing of the nations. We are the 
     children before him.
       President, Mrs. Bush, it gives us great comfort to know 
     that you are praying. Be assured that we pray for you as 
     well.
       (Applause.)
       Representative Emerson: It is fitting that no one would 
     work harder in the federal government than the Secretary of 
     Labor. She learned that principle at first hand as director 
     of the Peace Corps and president and CEO of United Way of 
     America. Please help welcome U.S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine 
     Chao.
       Secretary Elaine Chao: Mr. President, first lady, my fellow 
     cabinet members, leaders of the Senate and the House, and my 
     wonderful husband, Senator Mitch McConnell, friends, brothers 
     and sisters in faith, fellow sojourners in the journey of 
     life, we are all here because we believe in the power of 
     faith. We all have seen examples in our own life about what 
     faith can and will accomplish. We all believe in a higher 
     being and it is that belief in a higher being that shows us 
     that indeed the powerful and the mighty can be transformed, 
     and that the power of faith itself is transformational.
       I remember when I was a little child, my family and I came 
     to America when I was about eight years old. We didn't speak 
     English, we didn't know anyone, we had no family, no friends 
     nearby. We were fearful of everything in this new country. 
     Yet what sustained us was our church and the power of faith. 
     It was the power of faith that sustained us, that kept us 
     going, that convinced us that we had a chance to survive in 
     this wonderful new country that was so just and that has such 
     generous and wonderful people. It was also faith that 
     convinced us, that taught us, that led us, that indeed there 
     is a better tomorrow.
       I am in a room full of leaders today. Leaders not only in 
     the United States, but throughout the world, and as you 
     leaders lead and serve in all ways, please join me in this 
     prayer. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we are deeply 
     grateful for the many blessings that you have given us, 
     especially the gift of freedom. This week we are reminded 
     once again of the power of this precious gift to liberate the 
     human spirit, bring hope to the oppressed and heal those who 
     have suffered. Help us to never forget those who are called 
     upon to make the ultimate sacrifice to proclaim and protect 
     liberty, which comes from you. And bless President Bush, the 
     first lady, Vice-President Cheney, the leaders gathered here 
     and all those who love freedom throughout the world and seek 
     to do your will.
       Lord, as we go about our daily lives, help us also to look 
     beyond ourselves and to listen to your voice. Teach us to 
     know the difference between what we want and what you want, 
     and to trust that you will never ask of us more than we can 
     do. You have called upon each one of us to serve others in a 
     special way. Help us to make wise decisions for the common 
     good. And help us to understand that every kind act, every 
     act of kindness, no matter how small, is equally worth 
     doing because it is a reflection of you. This is the best 
     and truest way to bear witness to your love, and to thank 
     you for all that we have been given. In Jesus' name we 
     pray, Amen.
       (Applause.)
       Representative Emerson: It is difficult in the brief time 
     we have together to learn much about our keynote speaker, but 
     it won't take you all long to get a sense of the man and his 
     selfless spirit. I first met Tony Hall when he was a member 
     of Congress, but I have come to know him over the years as a 
     man who is one of those rare examples of how the person 
     matters much more than the office. Today, Tony Hall is the 
     United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for 
     Food and Agriculture. His mission, to fight hunger in the 
     world by offering aid, giving guidance and creating self-
     sustaining communities. He is a leader in political and 
     philanthropic communities. For Tony Hall, food for the hungry 
     is not just a prayer to God, it is his life's work every day. 
     My colleague, my friend, a great, great human being, 
     Ambassador Tony Hall.
       (Applause.)
       Ambassador Tony Hall: Thank you. Mr. President, Mrs. Bush, 
     distinguished head table, my wife Janet, so many leaders and 
     friends from different countries around the world, ladies and 
     gentlemen, it is wonderful to be with you. Thank you, Jo Ann, 
     for your very kind introduction. I am very honored to be 
     introduced by you, and your friendship, and have as a friend 
     such a person of great integrity and compassion.
       I am very thankful today too for the people in Dayton, 
     Ohio, that for 24 years sent me here as their congressman. 
     They gave me a lot of freedom, gave me a lot of encouragement 
     to pursue important issues, and they were very good to me. I 
     also want to thank the president for appointing me 
     ambassador. It is a wonderful job. I get to help the hungry 
     people of the world every day. It is an honor to serve the 
     president of the United States, the country, and hungry 
     people.
       A list of thank yous would be incomplete if I did not thank 
     God and I know that might sound kind of trite at a prayer 
     breakfast. 26 years ago I did not know God, did not know 
     anything about Him. I did not have the slightest idea that 
     prayer breakfasts like this went on. It was at a prayer 
     breakfast like this about 26 years ago that I began to ask 
     myself the question: is this it? Is this all there is to 
     life? Because I was successful, I had a wonderful wife and 
     two great children--I still have a wonderful wife.

[[Page E1212]]

       (Laughter and applause.)
       I supposedly had arrived. I had money in my pocket, 
     position, but I was hollow, and I was empty. I was sick and 
     tired of my ambition. I was tired of what it was doing to me. 
     I had this vague emptiness and I knew it had to be fulfilled. 
     I decided to go on a search for God. I will not tell you how 
     I went on the search, it is a long story, but the important 
     thing is that I did find Him, and I found him through this 
     amazing person of Jesus. What is interesting about this is 
     that I had to come to the Congress of the United States to 
     find God.
       (Laughter and applause.)
       I know that sounds strange. People have all kinds of images 
     of what this city is all about. As a matter of fact, just 
     before we moved here about 26 years ago, I was going past my 
     daughter Jill's room. She was three or four at the time and 
     she was saying her prayers, and she said, ``Well, God, I 
     guess it's time to say goodbye, for tomorrow we're moving to 
     Washington.''
       (Laughter.)
       There was another time not too long after that where a 
     friend of mine introduced me to a gathering, and he got so 
     excited he said, ``Now I want to introduce to you my friend. 
     He is a U.S. Congressman and a Christian.'' There were a few 
     laughs that broke out in the audience. One older man down 
     front couldn't take it any longer. As he was squirming in his 
     seat he shouted out, ``Make up your mind buddy, you can't be 
     both.''
       (Laughter.)
       In those days I was very excited about my faith. I was on 
     fire. I wanted to tell everybody about it, and I did. I 
     started with my wife. Big mistake. (Laughter.) Every night I 
     would say to Jan, ``How about saying that prayer to receive 
     Jesus tonight?'' Well, that didn't go over very well. She 
     would get mad.
       I learned my first lesson from my wife, and that lesson was 
     that you cannot shove faith down people's throats. People get 
     mad. They run. I could not understand it because a few months 
     later my wife became a believer, and I asked her, ``Why did 
     you now become a believer?''
       She said, ``When you stopped preaching and stopped trying 
     to shove it down my throat, I saw how real this was, how you 
     changed towards me, towards your job, towards your children. 
     I knew it was real.''
       When I first became a believer I had a mentor. After a 
     couple of years he would come in and pray with me. We would 
     talk about the scripture and I had a lot of questions. After 
     a while he said, ``Tony, don't you think it's time you start 
     to bring God into your workplace?'' I said, ``Yeah, but how 
     do I do this? I don't want to wear it on my lapel. I don't 
     want to shove it down people's throats, but I love God and I 
     want to do this. I must bring him into my workplace, but how? 
     I'd rather see a sermon than hear one.''
       My answer came a short time later. I was serving on the 
     hunger committee. I was the subcommittee chairman for 
     international hunger in the world. I was asked to go to 
     Ethiopia to see this horrendous famine in 1984, and 7,000 
     people were dying every day. When I arrived in Ethiopia I was 
     not prepared for what I saw when I visited a site in the 
     mountains run by World Vision and Sisters of Charity.
       Early in the morning the doctor at the compound asked me to 
     go outside with him to pick out children to try to save. 
     Thousands of people had gathered overnight to receive help. 
     As we walked among the people they held up their child for me 
     to take. They thought I was a doctor. All of them were dying. 
     Some were already dead. We had to decide which ones had a 
     chance, and there was only about four or five out 
     of thousands who were going to live that we could save. I 
     saw at least 25 children die in a matter of minutes.
       I never got over that. I was stunned by it. On my way back 
     from that trip I thought about what my friend had said about 
     bringing God into ones' work place, and this was a way I 
     could do it.
       What does God say about this? It actually has a lot to say 
     in the scriptures about the poor and the sick and the hurting 
     and the people in prison, and the lonely, and the hungry. As 
     a matter of fact, there are over 2500 verses. It is the 
     second most talked about theme in the Bible. There are a lot 
     of verses, most of you have heard them. The two verses that I 
     like are both in Proverbs, and to paraphrase--they go 
     something like this. God says to us, ``If you help the poor, 
     you lend to me.'' In another passage in Proverbs He says, 
     ``If you are gracious to the poor, you honor me.'' I do not 
     know many places in the Bible where God says if you do this, 
     you honor me, you lend to me, and I was excited about that.
       I do not purport to speak for God today. I have read, I 
     have prayed, I have experienced, I have seen many things over 
     the last 25 years as a believer. These values and principles 
     that I have seen and experienced seem to pass the time of 
     day. They are not the values and principles--they are not 
     American, they are not European or Asian. They are values and 
     principles that have been handed down for thousands of years. 
     I just talked about one of them, caring for the poor, and I 
     will not say any more about that.
       The second principle that we have talked a lot about today, 
     is to pray for our leaders. It says in I Timothy 2, ``First 
     of all then I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and 
     thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all 
     who are in authority, in order that we may lead a peaceful 
     and quiet life in all dignity.'' We don't pray enough for 
     leaders. I know that today we are going to pray for the 
     president, but what are we going to do tomorrow? We need to 
     pray for our president every day, our vice-president, the 
     cabinet, the Supreme Court, the Congress of the United 
     States, our state representatives, our mayors, our leaders in 
     our communities.
       Why do we do this? Because they are better than us? No. We 
     do this because number one, God says do it, he says do it so 
     that you, the people in the world, can live better lives in 
     all peacefulness and tranquility. We must not be doing enough 
     of this, because today 25,000 people will die, and there are 
     850 million people in the world. There is somewhere between 
     30 and 45 crises going on right now as we are talking, so we 
     need to pray. We need to do better. I need to do better. I 
     need to remember to do this.
       The third principle is meeting together, and so many of you 
     know what I am talking about here. I know that a number of 
     you here today meet together in small groups. I am sure that 
     one of the most important things that you do during the week 
     is that. When I was in the Congress of the United States, the 
     most important thing that I did was to meet with my best 
     friend, Congressman Frank Wolf. We met for 18 years. Frank is 
     a conservative Republican, I am a Democrat. I think in all 
     those years we never had a fight.
       We decided early on not to talk about issues that divided 
     us and this was pretty hard at first because we had many 
     differences. We started to read together, we prayed together, 
     we traveled together, our wives became friends, our 
     children know each other and like each other. For several 
     years there has been this deep trust between us, and we 
     have been able to legislate and work on hunger and human 
     rights and family issues in a wonderfully bipartisan 
     fashion. We put aside the issues that could separate us, 
     and now I trust him with my life, I would do anything for 
     him.
       My friend John Nakamura and his wife, Janice, have moved to 
     Rome to be with my wife and I--just to be my friend and to 
     pray for my work there. Can you imagine that? That is what he 
     does. He comes to Rome, he prays with me. He prays for my 
     work. He is my friend. With John and Frank, I have found that 
     two are better than one.
       Paul says that when you meet like this, God is there. In 
     Thessalonians, as he was writing his letter, he was talking 
     about Timothy, Silvanus and himself. He said, ``When we came 
     to you, three things happened. We had power, we had the Holy 
     Spirit, we had true conviction.'' I have seen this happen 
     time and time again--the proof of this passage. When we meet 
     like this today, when we meet in small groups, when we travel 
     together, we are powerful. There is a great strength when we 
     go like this--the power and the Holy Spirit.
       Recently I was in an African nation for a few days, and 
     when I got ready to leave the people that were with us began 
     to cry. They did not want us to go. It was not because of our 
     sparkling personalities or charm or anything like that. They 
     felt something good and right. When I arrived back at my post 
     in Rome they e-mailed me and said, ``As an ambassador you 
     came here, you loved us, and you prayed. We knew that, and we 
     think that if you can do that, we can too, so we have decided 
     to do the same.'' When two or three people are together it is 
     powerful.
       I experienced many situations like this. A few years back, 
     I took a private trip as a Congressman with a couple of 
     friends, and we stopped in this one country. Our U.S. 
     ambassador at the time stopped me, and before I could 
     retrieve my bags, he said, ``Congressman, there is one thing 
     I want to say to you--don't talk about religion. Don't talk 
     about faith, don't talk about Jesus, because you will set us 
     back. You will set our whole plan back here in this 
     country.'' He said, ``Because, as you know, everybody here is 
     a Muslim.'' I did not say anything, I just nodded, I 
     listened. We had a lot of good meetings that day.
       One of the men I met was the top leader of the country, and 
     of course he was a Muslim, and we had a good meeting. We 
     shared pleasantries and I found him very easy to talk to, and 
     after about five, six, seven minutes of this kind of chit 
     chat, he said, ``Why have you come?'' And I said, ``Well, 
     I've actually come to your country for the first time because 
     I wanted to see it, and I wanted to meet you and some new 
     friends here, and I wanted to invite you to the National 
     Prayer Breakfast.'' I told him about this breakfast and told 
     him that we invited people in the name of Jesus and that we 
     have all kinds of people, all kinds of people of faith, and 
     leaders come from all over the world.
       He looked at me and he smiled. He slapped his leg and he 
     got so excited. He said, ``This is amazing. You've come all 
     the way around the world to be my friend and talk to me about 
     the kinds of things you're talking about. I always thought 
     Americans were materialistic.'' He said, ``This is the 
     greatest conversation I have had in months.'' He said, ``My 
     mother used to talk to me about Jesus.'' And then he turns to 
     our U.S. ambassador and he says, ``Why don't you talk to me 
     about Jesus?''
       (Laughter and applause.)
       That is an example of what happens when two or three go 
     together quietly, making friends, loving each other, and 
     there is power in it.
       The last principle that I observed over the years is the 
     one that may be familiar to many of you. It is the 
     commandment to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and 
     strength, and to love others as we love ourselves. It seems 
     to me that all the values and

[[Page E1213]]

     principles come down to this. It sounds easy to say and 
     understand to love God. Love Him, walk with Him, talk with 
     Him, but how do we do this?
       Sometimes when I am reading the scriptures in the morning, 
     I read something that just really stings me because it is so 
     wonderful. It is so true and pure that I take the Bible and I 
     hold it to my chest. I do not want this moment to pass 
     because it is so good. It is so real, so wonderful. I know 
     perhaps that some of you are thinking that sometimes it is 
     very hard to understand God. Why do some of the things happen 
     in our lives? Why do the tsunamis of the world happen? I do 
     not know.
       Our 15-year-old son, Matt, died of leukemia eight years 
     ago. My wife and I saw him suffer for four years. I really 
     struggled with God. I had a difficult time with him. I 
     remember one night I was just like hanging on a wall. I was 
     just like hanging on by my fingernails every day. One day he 
     had an especially bad day, and he had a lot of complications. 
     I got so mad that night that I screamed and cussed and swore 
     and yelled. I asked God to come down, to confront me, to talk 
     to me, why? After my son died, the most incredible thing 
     about that experience is that my faith and love for God got 
     better, got stronger. I cannot explain it, but my love for 
     Him is beyond understanding and imagination.
       In conclusion, I wish I could say I follow these principles 
     every day, but I do not, I fall very short of them. But when 
     I do, it is glorious. I tried many things in my life--when I 
     was a congressman I voted for war, I voted against war. I 
     voted to eliminate programs, I voted for programs. I used to 
     work against treaties, now as an ambassador, on behalf of the 
     president and the people of the United States, I sign 
     treaties. Sometimes they work and they work well, but often 
     they do not. These words that I have spoken to you today, to 
     love the poor, to pray for our leaders, to meet together, to 
     grow with each other, to love God, and love others, they 
     work. They have been working for thousands of years. They 
     simply work.
       What a great honor it has been for me to share my story 
     with you this morning. I am very thankful to you and to God 
     for this opportunity. Thank you.
       (Applause.)
       Representative. Emerson: Thank you, Tony. Thank you.
       This breakfast began, as I said earlier, 53 years ago when 
     a senator wanted to encourage and help lift up President 
     Dwight Eisenhower. It is a great honor for all of us to have 
     the president and first lady with us here today. Ladies and 
     gentlemen, please help welcome the president of the United 
     States.
       (Applause.)
       President George W. Bush: Thank you all. Thank you all very 
     much. Thank you for the warm welcome.
       Last night was a prayerful occasion. I noticed a lot of 
     members were praying that I would keep my speech short. 
     (Laughter.) I want to thank you for getting up so early in 
     the morning, you resisted temptation to sleep in. Thanks for 
     having us. I appreciate Jo Ann Emerson's leadership on this 
     prayer breakfast.
       (Applause.)
       I want to thank Elaine Chao for her prayer and for 
     representing my cabinet, and I want to thank all of my 
     cabinet officers who are here today.
       (Applause.)
       I appreciate the leadership of the Congress, Senator Frist 
     and Leader Pelosi, Leader DeLay. I want to thank the senators 
     who spoke, and I appreciate the Congress people who are on 
     the stage here as well. I want to thank His Excellency Marc 
     Ravalomanana, from Madagascar, the president of that great 
     country.
       Welcome to our country, Mr. President.
       (Applause.)
       Y tambien, mi amigo, the president of Honduras, Ricardo 
     Maduro, welcome, glad you are here.
       (Applause.)
       We thank Wintley Phipps for his beautiful music.
       (Applause.)
       Sergeant Norman, your prayers work. You did a fantastic 
     job.
       (Applause.)
       Pretty darn eloquent for a person from Wyoming.
       (Laughter.)
       Don't tell the vice president--(laughs).
       (Laughter.)
       Tony Hall, as you can tell, I obviously made the right 
     choice to send somebody in there. Really good job.
       (Applause.)
       Janet, thank you for your service as well.
       Laura and I are really honored to be here. It is a fabulous 
     moment in our nation's capital. This morning reminds us that 
     prayer has always been one of the great equalizers in 
     American life. Here we thank God for his great blessings in 
     one voice, regardless of our backgrounds. We recognize in one 
     another the spark of the divine that gives all human beings 
     their inherent dignity and worth, regardless of religion. 
     Through fellowship and prayer, we acknowledge that all power 
     is temporary, and must ultimately answer to his purposes. And 
     we know that affirming this truth is particularly appropriate 
     in the heart of a capital built upon the promise of self-
     government.
       No one understood this better than Abraham Lincoln. In 
     November 1864, after being re-elected to his second term, 
     Lincoln declared he would be, ``the most shallow and self-
     conceited blockhead on earth if he ever thought he could do 
     his job without the wisdom which comes from God and not from 
     men.'' Throughout a terrible civil war, he issued many 
     exhortations to prayer, calling upon the American people to 
     humble themselves before their maker and to serve all those 
     in need.
       Our faith-based institutions display that same spirit of 
     prayer and service in their work every day. Lincoln's call is 
     still heard throughout the land. People of faith have no 
     corner on compassion. But people of faith need compassion if 
     they are to be true to their most cherished beliefs, for 
     prayer means more than presenting God with our plans and 
     desires. Prayer also means opening ourselves to God's 
     priorities, especially by hearing the cry of the poor and the 
     less fortunate.
       When the tsunamis hit those on the far side of the world, 
     the American government rightly responded, but the American 
     response is so much more than what our government agencies 
     did. Look at the list of organizations bringing relief to the 
     people from Indonesia to Sri Lanka. They are full of 
     religious names: Samaritan's Purse, American-Jewish World 
     Service, Baptist World Aid, The Catholic Medical Mission 
     Board. They do a superb job delivering relief across the 
     borders and continents and cultures.
       Today, millions of people across this earth get the help 
     they need only because our faith-based institutions live the 
     commandment to ``love thy neighbor as thyself.'' Often, that 
     means remembering the people forgotten or overlooked in a 
     busy world: those in Africa suffering from HIV/AIDS, young 
     girls caught up in the global sex trade, victims of religious 
     persecution. In these great moral challenges of our times, 
     our churches, synagogues, mosques and temples are providing 
     the vision that is changing lives.
       I have seen some of their miracles up close. Last June I 
     met Veronica Braewell, a 20-year-old refugee from Liberia. 
     The 13-year-old child Veronica witnessed armed men killing 
     children in horrific ways. As she fled this madness, Veronica 
     was left for dead atop a pile of bodies until her grandmother 
     found her. In August 2003, the Catholic Social Agency helped 
     resettle her in Pennsylvania. Veronica is now completing the 
     circle of compassion by working in a home for the elderly in 
     Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and studying to become a certified 
     nursing assistant. When Veronica told me of her story, it was 
     through the kind of tears no young woman should ever know. 
     And when she finished she dried her eyes and said, ``Thank 
     you, Mr. President, for my freedom,'' but I told her it was 
     not me she needed to thank. She needed to thank the good 
     hearts of the United States of America.
       The America that embraced Veronica would not be possible 
     without the prayer that drives and leads and sustains our 
     armies of compassion. I thank you for the fine tradition you 
     continue here today, and hope that as a nation we will never 
     be too proud to commend our cares to providence and trust in 
     the goodness of His plans. God bless.
       (Applause.)
       Representative Emerson: I hope that you all will not mind 
     hearing Wintley Phipps one more time--(applause)--I have 
     asked him to sing my personal favorite today, and I know the 
     favorite of so many of you, ``Amazing Grace.''
       Mr. Phipps: This was awesome. This song, ``Amazing Grace,'' 
     the melody strangely enough sounds very much like a West 
     African sorrow chant. The words were written by a man who, 
     before he became a Christian, used to be the captain of a 
     slave ship. Many believe he heard this melody coming up out 
     of the belly of a ship. I looked up this song in the Library 
     of Congress and wherever you see it authentically printed, it 
     says ``Words, John Newton; melody, unknown.'' And so I 
     recorded this song the way I believe John Newton probably 
     first heard it coming up out of the belly of a ship with the 
     sounds of the slave ships in the water.
       Listen, you will hear them too.
       (Song.)
       (Applause.)
       Representative Emerson: ``Amazing Grace'' indeed. Wintley, 
     we have to give you one more round of applause, because you 
     are amazing.
       (Applause.)
       Thank you all so very much for joining us here today. It 
     has truly been a morning full of spirit, and I so want to 
     thank you for participating in this fellowship. I hope in the 
     days and weeks and months ahead that you will see your faith 
     affirmed in the world as you extend the lessons of today. I 
     hope to see all of you here one year from now, celebrating 
     the progress of faith in the world and sharing God's light. 
     To conclude today's events is our closing prayer, and it will 
     be delivered by Tennessee's own, Congressman Lincoln Davis.
       (Applause.)
       Representative Lincoln Davis: We should have just said, 
     amen when Wintley finished that song. What a wonderful song. 
     If you have not been blessed today, you have not been 
     listening. I am not good at humor. My wife and my friends 
     tell me never to attempt that. When I came here two years 
     ago, I traveled through what they call a candlelight tour of 
     the Capitol, and I saw there a statute of Will Rogers. I had 
     read some of his wit and some of his humor, so I realized 
     that I did not need to attempt that, and that he had probably 
     perfected that. One of the things he said was, ``If you 
     burglarize a home, we will send you to prison. If you steal a 
     railroad company, we'll send you to Congress.''

[[Page E1214]]

       (Laughter)
       Tony Hall, it is wonderful to hear of your life, and the 
     message that you have given us. It is wonderful to have a 
     president and a first lady who give us spiritual leadership. 
     Jo Ann, you have done an outstanding job in the last year for 
     that special hour that we each meet on Thursday morning, as 
     our president and as the chairman of this event today. And 
     for all of us who have gathered here today, as we give praise 
     to God, there is a blessing that we all have received. Since 
     the dawn of the age of civilization, man has turned to our 
     creator, through prayer for guidance in the times of 
     difficulty. Today in modern day America, we are no different. 
     In fact, thanks to our founding fathers, one of the oldest 
     traditions of the United States Congress is to begin each day 
     with prayer so that we may have spiritual help in making 
     decisions that affect our country, and our world.
       On June the 28th in 1787 when the Constitutional Convention 
     was lost in a sea of confusion and could not agree upon a 
     course of action, Ben Franklin rose and addressed then-
     president George Washington. I quote what he said,
       ``We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, 
     `except that the Lord build the house, they labor in vain 
     that build it.' I firmly believe this and I also believe that 
     without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this 
     political building no better than the builders of Babel. We 
     shall be divided in our little, particular, local interests, 
     our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall 
     become a reproach and a byword down the future ages. And what 
     is worse, mankind may, hereafter, from this unfortunate 
     instance despair of establishing the government by human 
     wisdom and leave it to chance, war or conquest. I therefore 
     beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the 
     assistance of Heaven and its' blessing on our deliberations 
     be held in this assembly each morning before we proceed in 
     business, that one or more of the clergy of this city be 
     requested to officiate in that service.''
       Each morning we still pray when we start our actions in 
     Congress. These words are as relevant today as they were over 
     200 years ago. Following in the tradition of Ben Franklin's 
     request, rise please, and let us pray.
       Father, we ask that you look down upon us today, and 
     instill in our hearts and minds the faith and perseverance to 
     do your will. We ask for courage and wisdom as we look toward 
     the future and aim to establish a world where your children 
     will not suffer from the actions of man. In these trying, 
     uncertain times, your inspiration and love is desperately 
     needed. Bless our endeavors and guide our steps so that we 
     may truly do your work. Too often in today's world man's 
     vision becomes cloudy with constant temptation. When this 
     occurs, man can easily become lost in a Godless wilderness, 
     void of spirituality. Sin thrives in this wilderness, and 
     selfishness abounds. Lord, free us from temptation and give 
     us strength. Please allow your light to shine upon our paths 
     and bless us with the compass of your will so that we will 
     seek to do what is best, just not for ourselves, but for 
     others. Let us know the beauty of Godly deeds.
       Lord, I have often turned to you for aid and strength in 
     making difficult decisions. I ask divine help for each of us 
     to continue to seek the satisfaction found only in a 
     spiritual life. Today I ask for you to continue to bless 
     the lives of all your children, and give today's attendees 
     the strength to lead morally and ethically as we embrace 
     the challenges of achieving lasting peace in the face of 
     an unknown future.
       Lord, you have blessed our country. Let us realize that it 
     is only through your grace that we receive these blessings. 
     Burden us to continue to give our hearts to you. Give our 
     nation and the nations of the world the passion to clothe the 
     naked, to feed the hungry, to quench the thirsty, heal the 
     sick and help the oppressed break free from the torments of 
     their oppressors. Let our passion for a Godly world never 
     fade.
       Lord, for our America, give the leaders the courage to ask 
     for your stewardship through faith. Give our leaders peace of 
     heart and assist us in our endeavors so that we may 
     positively impact America and the rest of the world. Allow 
     our spirits to feel your guiding hand. Bless all the nations 
     of the world and fill their leaders' hearts with hope for a 
     better tomorrow. Shepherd them through their daily challenges 
     toward the goal of everlasting peace. Help these leaders 
     strive to make decisions reflective of your resolve, for if 
     we enact your will, we can know a blessed life.
       Lord, help us recognize the value of mankind throughout the 
     world. Help us to continue to thirst for peace and an end to 
     anguish. Help us embrace our differences as we work to 
     achieve the goals of common good. May peace, hope and God's 
     love burn in our hearts. These things I only ask in Jesus' 
     name, amen.
       (Applause.)

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