[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 38 (Monday, March 14, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H1781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1910
THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE BIBLE
(Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House
for 1 minute.)
Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in the days of merry old England, King
James commissioned the translation of the Bible into English. He made
it possible for the common man to have access to the Scriptures. This
is the 400-year anniversary of the 1611 translation of the King James
Version of the Bible. Explorers and then Christians seeking religious
freedom carried the King James version to the New World. Millions of
American school kids used the King James for decades as a basis for
learning English. Pioneers carried it in covered wagons while taming
the West. In some families, the only book they had was the King James
Bible. U.S. military took pocket copies of the version in both World
Wars. And hundreds of courtrooms use the Bible to swear in witnesses.
Presidents still place their hand on a King James Bible at their
inauguration. For 400 years, the King James Bible has made it possible
for the Judeo-Christian beliefs of the Good Book to be read and studied
in the English language.
And that's just the way it is.
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