[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 52 (Thursday, May 4, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3997-S3998]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today marks the 55th National Day of 
Prayer, as established in 1952 by President Truman. All across America, 
in homes and churches and small towns and crowded cities, millions of 
people of many faiths will gather together to pray for the peace, 
prosperity, and protection of our Nation. They will pray for their 
leaders--and goodness knows we need those prayers--and they will thank 
the Creator for blessing us with a nation that recognizes the God-given 
dignity and worth of each and every person and our basic fundamental 
right to be free.
  America is a nation forged in prayer. The very first official act of 
the Continental Congress was a call for prayer. Two years later, the 
fledgling body called for a national day of fasting and prayer.
  From the very first settlers who arrived at Jamestown to each morning 
here--as we just did--in the Senate when the Chaplain opens each and 
every day with a prayer, faith has always been at the heart of the 
American project. That is because at the heart of the American idea of 
liberty is belief--belief that our freedom springs not from the state 
or the benevolence of men but from the one true Creator whose love is 
boundless.
  It is so fundamental, so essential to our founding principles that, 
in the words of the Founding Fathers, it is ``self-evident.''
  Our first President, George Washington, was a profoundly religious 
man. He began and ended each day with a prayer. As President, he would 
go to his library and humbly kneel before an open Bible to ask for 
guidance and grace. In his Thanksgiving proclamation, President George 
Washington told his fellow citizens with words that ring out to us 
today:

       It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence 
     of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His 
     benefits, and to humbly implore His protection and favor.

  America has faced dark and grave moments, but in these moments, 
prayer has united us and given us strength.
  I recall the startling image of 9/11, those crossbeams being lifted 
up by the New York City firemen amidst the rubble and ruin of the Twin 
Towers. All around was destruction. But in that one iconic symbol of 
hope--hope and a prayer that though the wounds of 9/11 may never heal 
and though we will always carry with us the grief of that terrible day, 
as people and as a nation we will endure.
  So today, on our National Day of Prayer, we thank our Creator for our 
liberty. We ask Him for His grace and His guidance.
  And on behalf of my Senate colleagues, I thank my fellow Americans 
for the prayers they are sending out to us. God bless you and God bless 
America.

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