[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14505]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The guest Chaplain, Rabbi Shimshon Sherer, offered the following 
prayer:
  Our Father in heaven: We stand before Thee in humble supplication as 
we yearn for divine inspiration, for guidance, and for wisdom. We turn 
to Thee in gratitude for this group of exceptional men and women of 
good faith dedicated to this great Nation and to all its people.
  We bless Thee, O God, for a most precious gift that Thou bestowed 
upon the United States of America, upon the Jewish people, and indeed 
upon all of mankind, in a person, a man of history who came to be a 
symbol of visionary leadership and uncompromising integrity. We pay 
tribute to the life and legacy of the saintly revered rabbi, Rabbi 
Morris Sherer.
  We pray to Thee, Almighty God, that his memory inspire the Members of 
this august body, the U.S. Senate, to find within their hearts an echo 
of his nobility of spirit, selfless devotion, and compassion for all in 
need, to demonstrate for all to see that beneath the outer veneer of 
our Nation's bureaucracy beats a warm heart in which the anguished cry 
of the depressed, the deprived, and the disadvantaged strikes a 
responsive chord.
  Give us the understanding, O God, to grasp the true import of the 
sacred obligation we have, to open our hearts and hands to bring the 
bounties of life to every man, woman, and child in our midst.
  O Father in heaven, bless this distinguished assemblage of people 
determined to work effectively and tirelessly for the betterment of all 
the people of this great Nation, that we witness in our time the 
fulfillment of the vision of the Psalmist, ``They that sow in tears, 
shall reap in joy,'' so that from all the upheavals which shatter the 
soul of society today shall emerge a new world of hope, tranquility, 
and serenity, for the glory of God and all mankind. Amen.

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