[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 116 (Friday, July 29, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1448-E1450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 59TH NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST--PART I

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JEFF MILLER

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 29, 2011

  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the 
following:

59th National Prayer Breakfast, Thursday, February 3, 2011, Washington, 
 DC, Co-Chairs, U.S. Representative Jeff Miller, Former Representative 
                            Ann Kirkpatrick

       Congressman Jeff Miller: Good morning everyone. Welcome to 
     the 59th National Prayer Breakfast. I'm Congressman Jeff 
     Miller from the state of Florida and this is my co-chair, 
     Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona.
       Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick: Thank you. Good morning to 
     all of you and welcome. What an amazing collection of people 
     this morning and what an exciting opportunity we have. In 
     this room this morning, we have many of the U.S. members of 
     the House and Senate, distinguished judges and members of the 
     administration. We are also joined by people of over 140 
     nations, parliamentarians and heads of state from around the 
     world.
       Congressman Miller: We are all here to pray, to listen, to 
     learn, to build new relationships for the good of the city of 
     Washington, D.C., the United States and the world. If you 
     would, please bow your head with me.
       Lord, God of the universe of history and each one of us 
     here today, thank you that we are here and more importantly 
     that you are here with us. We pray that the distractions and 
     worries we brought in here with us will suddenly fade away so 
     we can be present with you and our neighbor today. May 
     everything we say and think and do in and around this 
     breakfast be pleasing to you. Change us with your love and 
     your truth. Thank you for the physical food and the spiritual 
     food we are about to consume. In the wonderful name of Jesus 
     I pray, Amen.
       Congresswoman Kirkpatrick: Jeff, I just want to tell you 
     it's amazing that we got this many people into this room for 
     this breakfast. Many of you have probably experienced a very 
     crowded elevator bank this morning, and so my husband and I 
     decided to take the stairwell, and we ended up in the 
     kitchen. And I said, ``Well you know--go to

[[Page E1449]]

     the source.'' But you know what--I always like to thank our 
     people who prepare our food, our food servers. So, would you 
     join me in a round of applause to those who are serving us? 
     Thank you.
       I'm now going to introduce the head table. We are very 
     honored to have Mr. Dudley Hall, who is an associate with Ms. 
     Alison Krauss, Ms. Alison Krauss whose CD I have in my Ford 
     Explorer when I drive around back in Arizona, Congressman 
     Randy Forbes, United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom 
     Vilsack, my good friend Congressman Larry Kissell from North 
     Carolina, Senator Jeff Sessions, Vice President Biden, my 
     husband and the person who guides me throughout my day--Roger 
     Curley, our guest speaker Randall Wallace. We will have the 
     President and Mrs. Obama in a little bit. We have Mrs. 
     Miller, Jeff's wife, Senator Mark Pryor, Jose Enriquez from 
     the Chilean miners, Alfredo Cooper who is the chaplain of the 
     President of Chile, Senator Kay Hagan, and Captain Mark 
     Kelly, the husband of my dear colleague Congresswoman Gabriel 
     Giffords. Please enjoy each other's company and your 
     breakfast, thank you.
       [President Obama Enters]
       Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the 
     United States and Mrs. Michelle Obama.
       Congresswoman Kirkpatrick: The vision of this breakfast was 
     first cast by President Eisenhower and the members of a small 
     weekly breakfast group that met in the Senate and House. As 
     they experienced the warmth and strength of praying together, 
     they decided to share the experience with the country and 
     eventually the world.
       Congressman Miller: That small group in the Senate and its 
     counterpart in the House continues to meet over five decades 
     later. What we're doing this morning is just a big public 
     version of what we do in private as members of Congress every 
     single week that Congress is in session.
       Congresswoman Kirkpatrick: We are happy to report that 
     small groups like this have sprung up in parliaments in 
     almost 200 countries. And many countries and regions of the 
     world hold annual prayer breakfasts just like this one. Isn't 
     it encouraging that people all over the world with very 
     different languages, cultures and ideas can be united in 
     prayer?
       Congressman Miller: With us this morning are the President 
     of Equatorial Guinea, His Excellency Teodoro Obiang Nguema 
     Mbasogo and the President of Macedonia, His Excellency Gjorge 
     Ivanov. We've also received a letter that I would like to 
     read a couple of excerpts from, from his Majesty King 
     Abdullah II to the National Prayer Breakfast.
       ``In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful, Mr. 
     President, my dear friends. The National Prayer Breakfast 
     brings together people each year not only in fellowship but 
     in earnest prayer that our generation may do God's good will 
     on earth. I am honored to join your endeavor by letter this 
     morning as I joined you in person just five years ago. We are 
     also linked not only by belief but also, and more basically, 
     our common humanity. However, it is only by truly 
     understanding the best in our faiths and in our common 
     humanity that we can serve God and protect our children's 
     future. In this vein, Jordan has a long and proud heritage of 
     tolerance and moderation. Today Jordanians are working 
     systematically and boldly to expand the zone of understanding 
     and dialogue around the world.''
       Now as you might imagine, in our House prayer breakfast we 
     don't all agree on everything. In fact, we disagree strongly 
     on many of the issues of today's time. But the beauty of our 
     prayer breakfast group is that we can pray together in spite 
     of all of our differences. Prayer is a powerful reconciling 
     force. Just because we can't resolve every issue doesn't mean 
     we can't have strong relationships together.
       Congresswoman Kirkpatrick: Jesus said, ``Blessed are the 
     peacemakers.'' He didn't say peace lovers because we all love 
     peace. He said, ``Peacemakers.'' It is the obligation of all 
     of us to be peacemakers. Events like the tragedy in Tucson, 
     in my home state of Arizona, and the turmoil in the Middle 
     East today make it clear we have a lot of work to do and 
     prayer is the best place to start.
       Congressman Miller: Ann and I, along with our colleagues, 
     have worked all year long to provide you an uplifting and 
     encouraging experience this morning. We hope you receive it 
     in faith and think about how a small prayer breakfast group 
     or a big event just like this one might change your life, 
     your leadership and the place you call home.
       Congresswoman Kirkpatrick: Music has an amazing power to 
     touch our emotions and lift our spirits. We are pleased to 
     have with us a supremely talented woman who will give us a 
     worshipful sense of just why we are all here. With her violin 
     and her voice, she has won more Grammy Awards than any female 
     artist. Here to join our hearts together with her beautiful 
     music, Alison Krauss.
       [Song by Alison Krauss]
       Congresswoman Kirkpatrick: Thank you, Alison. Part of what 
     makes service in the House fascinating is all the different 
     backgrounds of people elected to serve here in Washington. 
     Most of you can remember a civics, a government or a social 
     studies teacher who first taught how nations and people come 
     together to make decisions.
       Congressman Miller: The people of North Carolina sent a 
     social studies teacher to represent them here. For our first 
     reading from the Holy Scripture, our friend and brother, 
     Representative Larry Kissell.
       Representative Larry Kissell: Mr. President, good morning 
     special guests. I will be reading to you from the New 
     Testament. First I was asked to talk about briefly our best 
     hour of the week as we refer to it in the House. This 
     National Prayer Breakfast began, as you've already heard, 
     with members of Congress meeting with President Eisenhower. 
     Mr. President, we want to thank you for continuing this 
     tradition, it is so important. It is the best hour of the 
     week when members of the House can come together, leave their 
     burdens and cares at the door, and fellowship, pray, laugh, 
     talk and share. It is the best hour of the week. I will be 
     reading to you from Luke Chapter 24, verses 13 through 16 and 
     28 through 31. You may recognize this as the road to Emmaus 
     story, a time taking place right after the crucifixion of 
     Jesus.
       ``And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village 
     called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore 
     furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which 
     had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed 
     together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with 
     them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know 
     him.''
       ``And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: 
     and he made as though he would have gone further. But they 
     constrained Him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward 
     evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry 
     with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, 
     he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave it to 
     them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he 
     vanished out of their sight.''
       As we go through our walks of life, whether we are 
     followers of Jesus or even of another religion, it is through 
     Jesus--his words, his action, his love--that we have a way to 
     come together. And we should always walk as if we are going 
     to meet a stranger who is Jesus. Thank you, and God bless 
     this Scripture.
       Congressman Miller: We will now hear from our friends in 
     the Senate prayer breakfast group.
       Senator Jeff Sessions: Good Morning. I'm Jeff Sessions from 
     Alabama, a Republican.
       Senator Mark Pryor: And I'm Mark Pryor of Arkansas, a 
     Democrat.
       Honorable Jeff Sessions: We're here on behalf of the Senate 
     prayer breakfast to welcome you.
       Senator Pryor: Yes, welcome and thank you for being here 
     this morning. Every Wednesday that the United States Senate 
     is in session, a group of us meet for prayer and fellowship.
       Senator Sessions: This is a Senate tradition that has gone 
     uninterrupted since the 1940's, and all who participate in it 
     will tell you that it is the most meaningful period of our 
     week.
       Senator Pryor: The Senate prayer breakfast is a time when 
     we can come together in a non-partisan, non-sectarian, non-
     political way and share our life experiences with one 
     another. Proverbs says, ``Just as iron sharpens irons, so one 
     man sharpens another.'' This is our weekly time of 
     sharpening.
       Senator Sessions: The same prayer breakfast co-hosts the 
     National Prayer Breakfast. We are delighted to be here and we 
     hope this time together is a real blessing to you and that 
     you will continue to grow in your faith as we seek to grow in 
     ours. Maybe this morning will inspire you to start your own 
     local prayer breakfast.
       Senator Pryor: Thanks again for being here and if you could 
     remember the Senate and senators in your prayers, we would 
     greatly appreciate it.
       Senator Sessions: Let me say Amen to that. God bless you, 
     welcome.
       Congressman Miller: One of the messages that we hope you 
     will take home from this breakfast is that members of 
     Congress do pray. You can tell your friends back home you 
     even saw one do it here. You also may have read about the 
     many caucuses that we have in the House, the Congressional 
     Black Caucus, a Pro Trade Caucus, the Renewal Energy Caucus, 
     for example.
       Congresswoman Kirkpatrick: What you may not know is that we 
     in the House have what we call the Prayer Caucus, and we have 
     asked its leader, Representative Randy Forbes of Virginia, to 
     lead us in our prayer for national leaders. Randy.
       Representative Randy Forbes: Could you join me as we pray 
     for the leaders of our country please? Lord, today we thank 
     you that even in the darkest times of our lives your light 
     will guide our way. We thank you that no matter how many 
     times we ignore you, no matter how often we reject you, and 
     no matter how fervently we try to deny your very existence, 
     you have never stopped speaking to us. This morning, we thank 
     you for our country and for the leaders of our country. We 
     pray that you will give them hope, strength and wisdom and 
     measure enough to sustain those they lead. We pray that you 
     will not allow them to falter even when the earth seems to 
     shake around them. We pray that through the noise of the 
     world, they will discern your words. And we pray that you 
     give them a heart to defend the right of our nation to trust 
     in you. But, Lord, although we do not ask more of them than 
     they can do, that is why this day we turn to you, as King 
     Solomon did generations ago, and ask you, Lord, to heal our 
     land. We ask you to bless our leaders and we ask you to 
     continue to bless the United States of America. Amen.
       Congresswoman Kirkpatrick: Since much of what our 
     government does is raise and

[[Page E1450]]

     spend money, it is good to have some people around who know 
     how to make wise decisions with money.
       Congressman Miller: So it's good that the people of North 
     Carolina, again, sent us a banker to provide us a reading 
     from the Holy Scriptures, Senator Kay Hagan.

                          ____________________