[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11980]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  Pictures or words are usually one-dimensional. Symbols, however, are 
beyond language and have meaning all their own. A symbol is more than a 
substitute or a representation, because a symbol contains multiple 
levels of significance for different people all at the same time. A 
flag is a symbol for a nation, as an escutcheon is a symbol for a 
family or a logo, a symbol for a company.
  Today is Flag Day here in the United States of America. The American 
flag, its history and its importance is honored this day by Americans 
everywhere.
  Lord God, when we salute the flag or pledge our allegiance facing the 
flag, we are making a statement of loyalty and patriotism to this 
country. For us here in the House of Representatives, in our prayer we 
dedicate ourselves and our work to You. In our pledge to the flag, we 
commit ourselves to uphold the American Constitution and to work for 
the citizenry of this great Nation.
  Whether we are here as elected Members or as persons who choose to 
work in this great institution, we ask You to guide and protect this 
Nation we love and are proud to call our homeland. Be with us and all 
Americans, especially our military forces who are defending the flying 
of this flag. Long may our flag wave as a symbol of freedom and equal 
justice under the law, now and forever. Amen.

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