[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8791]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, today is the National Day of 
Prayer. After what my staff and I have observed in our beloved home 
State of Oklahoma in the past 2\1/2\ days, I would ask all of my 
colleagues and all Americans to lift our friends and neighbors in 
prayer.
  This natural disaster has physically impacted virtually every region 
of our State. The super cells that shot from the far southwest quadrant 
of the State to the northeast boundaries caused damage and loss in the 
districts of each of my colleagues in the Oklahoma delegation.
  But, as is always the case in the history of our State, no disaster, 
man-made or natural, can break the resolve or the spirit of our fine 
people.
  Pray for the widow and her adult daughter in Del City who were 
searching through the rubble of a home she shared with her husband from 
1973 until his death 2 years ago. They were not searching for diamond 
rings or stock certificates. No, all they hoped to find was a keepsake 
photo of their late husband and father.
  Pray for their young neighbor boy who was so excited to find a single 
baseball card on the spot where his bedroom once sat.
  And pray for Oklahomans in all parts of the storm-ravaged State, 
including the small town of Dover where over half of their community 
has been destroyed. They, too, need uplifting.
  These good people and thousands of others are hauling off all of 
their worldly possessions in the trunk of a car or even a wheelbarrow. 
So many more were not that fortunate.
  Nothing can contain their will, their faith, and their fight. God 
bless Oklahoma. Pray for Oklahoma.

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