[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 103 (Tuesday, June 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2055-S2056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Welcoming Reverend Asriel McLain

  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, it is my privilege now to speak to the 
pastor from my home State who gave the prayer today, the Reverend 
Asriel McLain of Shreveport.
  Reverend McLain is a graduate of Bishop College in Dallas, TX, and he 
earned his master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological 
Seminary. He has been a pastor, ministering to others in Louisiana, 
Texas, and Michigan.
  Reverend McLain is the son of Mrs. Mildred Oliver McLain and the late 
Reverend Claude Clifford, the former pastor of the historic Little 
Union Baptist Church, which was the epicenter of the civil rights 
movement in Shreveport.
  I had breakfast with Pastor McLain this morning and learned of the 
courage of his father and that of his congregation, while in the face 
of official oppression, in making sure that one Martin Luther King got 
to speak in Shreveport and that those in their community had a voice 
about how they wanted their community to evolve. The courage that his 
father showed and that the parish showed--I am an Episcopalian--that 
the congregation showed was quite remarkable.
  Much like his father, Reverend McLain has spent much of his life 
preserving the civil rights history of Louisiana, and much like his 
father, he is a man of profound faith and is a messenger of God's 
grace.
  He is a proud father of four kids and is a grandfather of four. He is 
also one of five siblings--Pat, John, Gene, and Clifford--and Clifford 
is here with him today. Pastor McLain is also accompanied by his son 
David and grandson Jayden.
  It was a pleasure to have Pastor McLain lead us in prayer today, and 
I look forward to perhaps having him join us once more.
  I yield the floor.

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