[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5501]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  Lord God, as soon as we call You ``God with us,'' we realize Your 
covenant reenacted. You have committed Yourself to be in solidarity, 
``God with us.'' You wish to share our joys and pains, defend and 
protect us. You raise up from within us laments, shouts of praise, and 
hymns of constancy.
  We will never truly know You, Lord God, as a compassionate God until 
we see You and know Your presence in the midst of our daily grind, at 
the bottom of our deepest longings, and as the sustaining strength in 
overwhelming trials.
  You have chosen to be with us and love us with all our limitations as 
a people and as a Nation. So we rejoice in You now and forever. Amen.

                          ____________________