[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 29, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H3247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McINTYRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as cochairman of the 
Congressional Prayer Caucus in recognition and celebration of the 
annual observance of the National Day of Prayer.
  Each year, we take this opportunity to pause from the hurried pace of 
our daily lives to reaffirm our Nation's rich spiritual heritage and 
our commitment to maintaining and strengthening our great country's 
religious freedom. Throughout more than 200 years of our Nation's 
history, faith, prayer, and trust in God have played a vital role in 
strengthening the fabric of our society.
  From the dawn of our country, when the first national call to prayer 
was issued, to that day on April 17, 1952, when President Harry Truman 
made the annual National Day of Prayer a permanent fixture, to this 
upcoming Thursday, when we will celebrate the 63rd annual National Day 
of Prayer in the Cannon Caucus Room right here on Capitol Hill, we have 
continued to turn to prayer as a guiding compass as we seek God's 
guidance and wisdom and healing balm for our land. It is from these 
historic underpinnings that our Nation has grown and thrived.
  We stand here today on the shoulders of those Americans who have 
boldly fought for our rights to be able to assemble, to be able to 
speak out, and to be able to worship freely. One of our great 
opportunities as Americans is to be able to come together and say we 
want to be able to ask God for his blessings and his help upon our 
Nation so we indeed can be one Nation under God, as we say in our 
Pledge of Allegiance, and also a Nation that honors our national motto, 
which is not ``e pluribus unum,'' as some have mistakenly thought, but 
which is, ``In God We Trust.''
  In fact, for all Members of Congress that would like, we have plaques 
being made and distributed that say, ``In God We Trust,'' just to 
reaffirm our national motto.
  That is why I have joined with my friend and cochairman of the 
Congressional Prayer Caucus, Congressman Randy Forbes of Virginia, to 
introduce a bipartisan resolution, H. Res. 547. I hope all of our 
Members listening today will join us in supporting the National Day of 
Prayer and urging all Americans to come together to pray and reaffirm 
the importance that prayer has played in our national heritage.
  We hear so much today about partisanship and bickering and asking why 
don't people get along. The one thing that I share back home, Mr. 
Speaker, which usually surprises people, is there is one group on 
Capitol Hill where all those labels are put to the side, and that 
happens every Monday night or Tuesday night, depending on the night we 
go into session, right across the hall in room 219, where there is no 
agenda except to pray and ask God for wisdom, like Solomon of the Old 
Testament.
  So my hope is that as many Members and your staff--you will allow 
your staff to join us this Thursday morning to come together as we 
celebrate the National Day of Prayer.
  Indeed, Mr. Speaker, the true source of power is not found here in 
the Halls of Congress or in the Oval Office in the West Wing or in the 
chambers of the Supreme Court. The true source of power is found on our 
knees before the throne of grace, before almighty God.
  It is in that spirit that I rise today to reaffirm this celebration 
of prayer in our Nation's history for the past, the present, and, God 
willing, the future.
  Indeed, the power of prayer knows no bounds. May we be a Nation that 
does stand for our motto, ``In God We Trust.'' Indeed, we pray, may God 
bless America.

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