[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12497]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Reverend Les Burleson, Southeast Director, Hockey Ministries 
International, Wake Forest, North Carolina, offered the following 
prayer:
  The world is complex, thorny, and often unrewarding to those that 
would step out and change things for the better. God, if anyone here 
today has lost that sense of idealism that brought them here, or that 
sense of wonder associated with being part of the grand experiment of 
democracy, please renew their spirits this day.
  Give their hearts a new measure of hope, and give them a renewed 
vision of where their ideals can take a great Nation. Give them a 
spirit of adventure to carry us through today and into a new and 
broadening horizon.
  Though ``we, the people'' can sometimes be fickle in our demands, 
please remind them that they are loved and respected for what they do 
and that we appreciate every day of their service. Whether through the 
mire of a war, the grief at the loss of a former President, or the 
briars and brambles of daily decisionmaking, these men and women are 
yet the leaders of the greatest Nation on Earth. God bless them, and 
God bless America. Amen.

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