[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 12595-12599] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]53RD NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST ______ HON. JO ANN EMERSON of missouri in the house of representatives Monday, June 13, 2005 Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I had the distinct honor and privilege of chairing the 53rd National Prayer Breakfast, held at the Washington Hilton, here in our Nation's Capital on Thursday, February 3, 2005. As you know, this annual gathering is hosted by Members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives weekly prayer breakfast groups. Once again, we were honored that President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush participated and we were greatly encouraged by the remarks given by The Honorable Tony Hall, Ambassador, U.S. Mission to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies. This year, we hosted a gathering of over 3,500 individuals from all walks of life in all 50 states and from many countries around the world. Please find attached a copy of the program and the transcript of the 2005 proceedings that I respectfully request be printed in the Congressional Record so that all may benefit from this time together. 53rd National Prayer Breakfast--Thursday, February 3, 2005-- International Ballroom, Hilton Washington, Washington, DC We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. . . .-- Declaration of Independence. Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy Holy protection; and Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.--George Washington's Prayer for the United States of America, June 8, 1783. 53rd national prayer breakfast Chair: The Honorable Jo Ann Emerson; opening song, Wintley Phipps; pre-breakfast prayer, the Honorable Emanuel Cleaver II, U.S. House of Representatives, Missouri. breakfast Welcome, the Honorable Jo Ann Emerson, U.S. House of Representatives, Missouri; opening prayer, the Honorable Tom Osborne, U.S. House of Representatives, Nebraska; remarks-- Senate and House breakfast groups, the Honorable Mark Pryor, U.S. Senate, Arkansas, the Honorable Norm Coleman, U.S. Senate, Minnesota; a reading, the Honorable Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senate, California; song, Wintley Phipps; readings from the Holy Scriptures, Sergeant Douglas Norman, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment ``The Old Guard,'' U.S. Army; prayer for national leaders, the Honorable Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor; message, the Honorable Tony Hall, Ambassador, United States Mission to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies. The President of the United States. Closing song, Wintley Phipps; closing prayer, the Honorable Lincoln Davis, U.S. House of Representatives, Tennessee. proverbs 3:3-6 Let not mercy and truth forsake you; [[Page 12596]] Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, And so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.--King Solomon. ezekiel 16:49-50 Thus said the Lord, behold the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.--The prophet Ezekiel. matthew 7:12, 22:37-40 Therefore, Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. ``You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'' This is the great and foremost commandment. And the second is like it. ``You should love your neighbor as yourself.'' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the prophets.--Jesus of Nazareth. It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe, without the agency of a Supreme Being.--George Washington. I hold the precepts of Jesus as delivered by Himself, to be the most pure, benevolent, and sublime which have ever been preached to man.--Thomas Jefferson. We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in number, wealth, and powers as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God! Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self- sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us.--Abraham Lincoln. Almost every man who has by his life-work added to the sum of human achievement of which the race is proud, almost every such man had based his work largely upon the teachings of the Bible.--Theodore Roosevelt. No greater than could come to our land today than a revival of the spirit of faith--a revival that would sweep through the homes of the nation and stir the hearts of men and women of all faiths to a reassertion of their belief in God and their dedication to His will for themselves and for their world. I doubt if there is any problem--social, political, or economic--that would not melt away before the fires of such a spiritual revival.--Franklin Delano Roosevelt. ____ 53rd NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST--THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2005--HILTON WASHINGTON HOTEL, WASHINGTON, DC CHAIR: U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JO ANN EMERSON Mr. Wintley Phipps: Good morning. I would like to share a song with you, a song of healing, a song of reconciliation, a song of God's love and God's power. May you be blessed this morning. (Song.) (Applause.) Representative Jo Ann Emerson: Good morning. I am Jo Ann Emerson, and I represent the 8th Congressional District of Missouri in the House of Representatives. I am also the president of the House Prayer Breakfast, and I am so honored and so humbled to be chairperson and your host today. Before we break bread this morning, I would like to take a moment to introduce the head table beginning to my right: Representative Emanuel Cleaver, Mrs. Nancy Osborne, Representative Tom Osborne, Alison Norman, Sergeant Douglas Norman, Senator Diane Feinstein, my best buddy, and husband Ron Gladney, Ambassador Tony Hall, Mrs. Janet Hall, Senator Mark Pryor, Jill Pryor, Laurie Coleman, Senator Norm Coleman, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, and her husband Senator Mitch McConnell, the incredible Wintley Phipps and his wife Linda Phipps, and my colleague from Tennessee, Representative Lincoln Davis. (Applause.) Our colleague and Representative and reverend, Emanuel Cleaver from Kansas City, Missouri, will give the blessing for our food today. Representative Emanuel Cleaver: I am glad that none of you have begun to eat. (Laughter.) The Hebrews of old said those who eat without thanking the Lord are thieves. (Laughter.) One evening last February I was driving home when I observed a large number of men running across the parking lot of a florist shop. They were screaming and shouting and making obscene gestures at one another and pushing their way into the entrance of a florist shop. Some were on cell phones with exaggerated use of their hands. Others still were kicking the ground in anger, but I knew immediately what this male, out- of-controlness meant. I had seen it many times before. It was Valentine's Day. (Laughter.) It was 5:30 p.m., and like many of the men frantically running amok, I too was among what I call the forgetful. (Laughter.) So I quickly, dangerously crossed lanes and pulled into the parking lot and ran inside, and approached a familiar looking woman and said to her, ``Ma'am, this is an emergency, I need something fast.'' Very helpfully she said, ``Mayor, you waited until the last moment again. What can I get for Mrs. Cleaver and how much do you want to spend?'' I said, ``Something nice, $35 or $40,'' and she went into the back and returned a few minutes later with an assortment of flowers and said, ``What about this?'' I said, ``Yes, this is lovely.'' And she said, ``No, Mayor, lovely starts at $75.'' (Laughter.) For those of us gathered here this morning at this National Prayer Breakfast, ``lovely'' begins with prayer. Let us pray. Forgive us, oh God, for waiting so often until things are chaotic before we come to you. We have so often been surrounded with boundless blessings and yet we fail to thank you. But in spite of our past failings and forgetfulness, on this morning we praise you for your goodness. Thou art a lover of all human kind and as we partake of this food from your bounty, give us a heart that throbs with the sympathy for all your precious people, especially those Iraqis with fingers in the air claiming their democracy. And for those whose lives have been flooded with woe from the raging waters of the Indian Ocean. And now will God bless, please, our president. Allow your spirit to surround and sustain him, give him and us an extra ounce of your grace and mercy to conquer the great challenges ahead. And may this food do for our bodies what your spirit does for our souls. Amen. Representative Emerson: Please eat, and the program will begin again in several minutes. Thank you. (Pause.) Representative Emerson: Mr. President, Mrs. Bush, members of Congress, foreign dignitaries and distinguished guests, brothers and sisters all, welcome to this morning's gathering of faiths, the 53rd annual National Prayer Breakfast. Thanks so much for joining with us. Before I begin, I would like to share parts of a letter with you, and I quote, ``It was my privilege to be at the first prayer breakfast and to go with Senator Frank Carlson to the White House to ask President Eisenhower if he would attend. He was very reluctant at first, but later decided to go, and went to all the others during his presidency, setting a precedent followed ever since by each president. Our world has many serious problems, some of them critical. We are in great need of a spiritual awakening. I believe one of the great contributing factors is this annual prayer breakfast that brings so many leaders together to worship. I very much regret that my strength will not allow me to return to Washington for the breakfast this year as I have done so many times in the past. Please convey my warmest greetings to our president and the first lady, and to my many old friends in attendance, as well as a welcome to those for whom this is the first opportunity to be part of the annual prayer breakfast. Cordially yours, Billy Graham.'' (Applause.) I am sure I speak for all of us when I say that Reverend Graham is definitely in our prayers here this morning. As I mentioned earlier, I represent the 8th Congressional District in Missouri, and like every other congressional district in the nation, the 8th is grounded in faith. So is our Congress. Every week that the Congress is in session, I gather with colleagues in the House of Representatives for a prayer breakfast, and a similar group meets on the Senate side of the Capitol. That hour is the most valuable and the very best hour of the week because we set aside politics, and we set aside policy. We leave our titles and our party labels at the door, and for that hour we are simply brothers and sisters gathered in conversation with one another and with God. Today the agenda is the same: to find common ground in the spirit of Jesus, to fellowship a while, to think about how we might walk more with him in the world. Today we are not only leaders, we are followers all. We are present here in the eyes of the Lord, equal, special, full of life. Though this is a National Prayer Breakfast, we have guests from over 140 countries. We are a cross-section of faiths, beliefs and backgrounds. We have gathered as friends bound by our personal relationships to one another, and we defy any other classification. In our world, early in this century, we face a familiar question on new terms. In the face of hunger, poverty, moral confusion, oppression and fear, in the wake of a tsunami, in the midst of terrorism, how do we lift the heavy bushel of these troubles to shine light from the lamp of our faith? Our guests and speakers here today can help us lift this bushel. As we break bread together, let us set our minds to this rewarding task. Let us lift up in prayer our president and first lady. Let us seek God's blessing as we pray for the poor and less fortunate. As we follow the example which Jesus set for us, we are always making progress in the quest to share our faith. As brothers and sisters, let us free God's light in the world today. Let us look to the guidance he freely gives to us. It is an honor to introduce my colleague and friend from the state of Nebraska, Coach Tom Osborne for our opening prayer. Representative Tom Osborne: Thank you, Jo Ann. Jo Ann referred to my earlier misguided profession--(laughter)--and I was [[Page 12597]] talking to Mitch McConnell before we came out here, and he said, ``Why did you leave coaching?'' I said, ``Well it was really because of illness and fatigue.'' He said, ``I didn't know that.'' I said, ``Yeah, fans were sick and tired of me.'' (Laughter.) So anyway, I am here today, and I wanted to comment briefly on how important that prayer breakfast has been to me, and what a wonderful job Jo Ann has done. I thought I would tell you a quick anecdote--this was a couple of years ago. We had another congressman who was going to speak to us. This fellow, when he hit the red button, I hit the green and vice versa. When he spoke on the House floor I did not really agree with anything that he said, and I really did not want to listen to him that day. But I stuck around. And as he began to talk a little bit about his childhood and his family and some of the struggles he had been through, I began to have a little bit of compassion for him. By the time he was done, I really cared about the guy. The interesting thing is that that relationship was changed, tremendously, and it remains that way today. I began to puzzle about that. I thought: he is still the same person, what happened? And I think I began to see him through the eyes of Jesus, and not through my eyes, and the labels that I had put on him, the compartment I had put him in, began to pass away, and when that happened our relationship began to change. And that has happened over and over again as we have had various speakers come to us, and it has been very meaningful. This morning, we come from all parts of the country, and as Jo Ann mentioned 140 nations, and I hope that the perceptions and the walls which divide us would all fall away this morning, that we see each other as we really are, fellow travelers on our spiritual journey. We are imperfect, but we are united by His love and His grace and His acceptance. So if you would, please pray with me at this time. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and the promise you make that, ``If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.'' So this morning, we who are called by your name ask that pride of position and power and possessions be removed from us. We seek your face this morning and acknowledge that we have missed the mark of your high calling, and have fallen short of what you would have us be. We pray that we might turn from those ways of ours that are not your ways, and ask forgiveness for our sins. Please heal our land. Our nation has been blessed in so many ways, yet we also see strife and suffering and division and spiritual poverty, and we pray for a spiritual renewal that will heal our land and bring us together, united in your service. We ask especially this morning that you would bestow your blessing and a sense of your presence and sustaining power on our president and on his family. Please strengthen him and guide him and protect him and all who serve him as he starts his new term of office. We pray for the Congress, that we might devote ourselves to the common good, and rise above self-interest and partisanship. We request your blessing on elected officials everywhere as they bear the burden of leadership and responsibility. We ask that you will be with those in South East Asia who have suffered so much, and we pray especially for children everywhere whose lives have been devastated by disasters around the world. Please sustain the Iraqi people as they enter this historic period. We thank you for their courage and example, and we pray especially for their recently elected leaders that they might be protected. Finally, we ask that you bless our soldiers and their families. We thank you for their sense of duty and honor, and their willingness to serve. Please protect them and bring them safely home. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Representative Emerson: Every week when we meet on the House side for our prayer breakfast, the Senate also does the same, and I am very proud now to introduce my two dear colleagues from the Senate, Senator Mark Pryor from Arkansas and Senator Norm Coleman from Minnesota. (Applause.) Senator Norm Coleman: It is an honor for my wife Laurie and me to be here today. Minnesotans are pretty reserved. There are a lot of Scandinavians in my part of the country. In Minnesota we talk about the guy who loved his wife so much he almost told her. (Laughter.) I will break that tradition: Laurie, I love you, and I thank you and the family for the faith you have shown to me. God bless you, thank you very much. (Applause.) I was the mayor of St. Paul for eight years. It is the twin cities and our twin city is Minneapolis. I always used to tell folks that I got the much more spiritual city to represent, and the proof of that was always found in the Bible in which there were many references to St. Paul, but not one to Minneapolis. So I had the right place. (Laughter.) At one point, Paul said, ``Work out your salvation with fear and trembling,'' and I am living that scripture up here today. It is a joy and a comfort to be here with my friend and my classmate, Mark Pryor. The state of Arkansas has an amazing ability to produce national leaders, no doubt about that. I am not just talking about my colleague, Senator Clayton, or her husband, but people like former senators J. William Fulbright, Dale Bumpers and Mark's dad, David, who I am told spoke to this breakfast a decade or so ago. This may be the first father- son combo in breakfast history. Mark is showing great leadership. He has strong faith that has only grown through personal trials. We may wear different jerseys, but we are becoming good friends. On behalf of all the sinners of the Senate breakfast group, we welcome you all. (Laughter.) Is it not true that more than anything else we want to connect? All the great joys of life are multiplied when we share them, all the griefs are divided. I think we are designed to be together, to fill the valleys and raise the mountaintops of our lives. But there are a lot of things that divide us: politics, religion, economics, gender, race, generational differences, competitiveness. Freud came up with the name of a mental disorder for this, called the ``narcissism of slight difference.'' We need a vaccine against that around here. I believe that at their core people have a profound desire to connect, to be together, and to move towards the light, and that is why the Senate breakfast group began in the '50s. It has continued every Wednesday the Senate has been in session. That is something like 3,000 meetings. The beauty and power of this event is an outgrowth of what has been happening in our group for years. We lead the group ourselves. We share our joys and griefs with each other. We listen deeply, and we pray for the work of the Senate and the nation and the world. We meet around the person and principles of Jesus. Republicans, Democrats, Catholics, Baptists, Jews, men and women, members who have been around the Senate for 30 years and 30 days. And as a Jew, I am learning a lot of new things which challenge me. I have a profound respect for the tangibility and accessibility of God that my colleagues find in Jesus. Here is the bottom line for me: This is a roomful of leaders from across the country and around the world, but we are all in the same boat. As sinners trying to be leaders, how do we find the connection we need to each other, to our communities, to God? Well, here is a clue: God gave each of us two ears and one mouth, and we should use them in that proportion. The beauty of our breakfast group is that for at least an hour of the week we listen, really listen to each other as we talk about things that really matter. Despite our differences we connect. It is a small miracle that God gives us each week, and I am proud to experience that miracle. It is a miracle, taking place in this room right now, as brothers and sisters from Rwanda and Burundi, from Israel and Palestine, from India and Pakistan, from throughout the world, all come together looking to the same source for peace and guidance and comfort. Everyone in this room has a group of friends who need that. If you don't, go find them because I would bet that they are already looking for you. Thank you and God bless. (Applause.) Senator Mark Pryor: I agree with everything Norm said, and I want to echo everything he said. I know that two years ago when we came to the Senate, Norm and I stepped into a lot of traditions. The Senate is about tradition, if you have not noticed. For better or for worse, it is about tradition. One of the great traditions in the Senate is the Senate Prayer Breakfast. Every Wednesday morning we gather in the Capitol and, as they said a few moments ago, we check our partisanship at the door, and it is a time when we can come together and talk about things and share things that are in our hearts. It is a time that we do build deep and meaningful relationships with one another, and for many, many people who participate in the Senate Prayer Breakfast, it is the most important hour that they spend all week. I want you all to know that every week that we are in session, there is a group of usually 20 or more senators that comes together and spends some time praying for each other and for the nation and for the president, and we pray for you all too. Norm and I thank you very much, very sincerely from the bottom of our hearts, for your prayers, because we know that you lift up the Congress and lift up our government. It means more to us than you will ever know. We can feel it as we go through the week and go through our life's work here in Washington. Thank you for being here and thank you for allowing us to serve you in this capacity. Thank you. (Applause.) Representative Emerson: Thank you all. Representing the great state of California and giving our first reading for today is United States Senator Diane Feinstein. (Applause.) Senator Diane Feinstein: Thank you. President and Mrs. Bush, my colleagues at the head table, Senator Frist, Senator Nelson, and ladies and gentlemen, I have chosen [[Page 12598]] two brief passages that I would like to read. One, the last one, is from the Old Testament, from Micah, and the first one is from the prayer book of the temple that I attend. It is used in many synagogues during the high holidays. It means a great deal to me. It is about living our life. ``Birth is a beginning and death is a destination, and life is a journey from childhood to maturity and youth to age. From innocence to awareness and ignorance to knowing. From foolishness to discretion and then perhaps to wisdom. From weakness to strength, or strength to weakness, and often back again. From health to sickness, and back we pray to health again. From offense to forgiveness. From loneliness to love. From joy to gratitude. From pain to compassion, and grief to understanding. From fear to faith. From defeat to defeat to defeat, until, looking backward or ahead, we see that the victory lies not in some high place along the way, but in having made the journey, stage by stage, a sacred pilgrimage. Birth is a beginning and death is a destination, and life is a journey, a sacred pilgrimage to life everlasting.'' And now to Micah, chapter 6, verse 6. ``With what shall I approach the Lord, do homage to God on high? Shall I approach him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for my sins? He has told you, oh, man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: only to do justice, and to love goodness, and to walk modestly with your God. Then will your name achieve wisdom.'' Thank you. (Applause.) Representative Emerson: Thank you so much, Diane. We heard Wintley Phipps' magnificent voice already once this morning, but let me introduce him once again to sing ``Here's One''. Mr. Wintley Phipps: That first song that I sang, ``Heal Our Land'', that I sang at the inauguration, was written by one of America's most prolific songwriters who has written for Gladys Knight, and Brooks and Dunn. His name is Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. (Applause.) With this song that I would like to share with you this morning, we have found that even in the midst of broken English there is beauty and wisdom. In Florida, where I live, during the hurricane, they asked an old man what it was like during the hurricane. CNN put a microphone in his face, he realized he was on national television, so he had to bring his vocabulary up a notch or two, and he said, ``They told us we had to leave, so we had to evaporate.'' (Laughter.) This song is a song of broken English. I sing it in honor of this month that we celebrate black history. It is a simple Negro spiritual of faith from the heart of a slave. Listen to the message in the song. (Song.) (Applause.) Representative Emerson: You are awesome, Wintley. Today's other scripture reading will be read by Sergeant Douglas Norman. Sergeant Norman is the recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart awards, and is a member of the Old Guard Honor Guard duty at Arlington National Cemetery. (Applause.) Sergeant Douglas Norman: I read this morning from two passages. First the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 19, verses 13 through 15. ``The little children were brought to Jesus, for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, `Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.' When he had placed his hands upon them, he went from there.'' That's me. I was a child on my mother's knee when I first trusted God. I trusted him simply. As a boy growing up in Wyoming, all I ever wanted to be was a baseball player. Now, 20 years later, I am a soldier. I am a member of the strongest, most technologically advanced army in the world. But with all the advancements in weapons and equipment, I am still just a man, a man with dreams, hopes and fears, like public speaking. (Laughter and applause.) Though I have confidence in all my equipment, equipment fails when you need it the most. However one thing I have always been able to count on completely is my faith, affirmed by the prayers of others. Soldiers all over the world draw strength from their prayers of family, friends and strangers they have never met. Psalm 91 was given to me by my mother- in-law the night before I left for Afghanistan. It was a promise that both my family and I clung to as a prayer. On that July night 18 months ago, when an RPG tore into the Humvee in which I was riding, killing my two close friends and wounding me, it was the Psalm that I trusted in, and the prayers that sustained me. I offer these verses of Psalm 91 as God's promise. May you all find its blessing. ``He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, `He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings will you find refuge. His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.'' You are the leaders of the nations. Thank you for gathering here today to think of what it means to trust God, and to pray for peace and healing of the nations. We are the children before him. President, Mrs. Bush, it gives us great comfort to know that you are praying. Be assured that we pray for you as well. (Applause.) Representative Emerson: It is fitting that no one would work harder in the federal government than the Secretary of Labor. She learned that principle at first hand as director of the Peace Corps and president and CEO of United Way of America. Please help welcome U.S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao. Secretary Elaine Chao: Mr. President, first lady, my fellow cabinet members, leaders of the Senate and the House, and my wonderful husband, Senator Mitch McConnell, friends, brothers and sisters in faith, fellow sojourners in the journey of life, we are all here because we believe in the power of faith. We all have seen examples in our own life about what faith can and will accomplish. We all believe in a higher being and it is that belief in a higher being that shows us that indeed the powerful and the mighty can be transformed, and that the power of faith itself is transformational. I remember when I was a little child, my family and I came to America when I was about eight years old. We didn't speak English, we didn't know anyone, we had no family, no friends nearby. We were fearful of everything in this new country. Yet what sustained us was our church and the power of faith. It was the power of faith that sustained us, that kept us going, that convinced us that we had a chance to survive in this wonderful new country that was so just and that has such generous and wonderful people. It was also faith that convinced us, that taught us, that led us, that indeed there is a better tomorrow. I am in a room full of leaders today. Leaders not only in the United States, but throughout the world, and as you leaders lead and serve in all ways, please join me in this prayer. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we are deeply grateful for the many blessings that you have given us, especially the gift of freedom. This week we are reminded once again of the power of this precious gift to liberate the human spirit, bring hope to the oppressed and heal those who have suffered. Help us to never forget those who are called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice to proclaim and protect liberty, which comes from you. And bless President Bush, the first lady, Vice-President Cheney, the leaders gathered here and all those who love freedom throughout the world and seek to do your will. Lord, as we go about our daily lives, help us also to look beyond ourselves and to listen to your voice. Teach us to know the difference between what we want and what you want, and to trust that you will never ask of us more than we can do. You have called upon each one of us to serve others in a special way. Help us to make wise decisions for the common good. And help us to understand that every kind act, every act of kindness, no matter how small, is equally worth doing because it is a reflection of you. This is the best and truest way to bear witness to your love, and to thank you for all that we have been given. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. (Applause.) Representative Emerson: It is difficult in the brief time we have together to learn much about our keynote speaker, but it won't take you all long to get a sense of the man and his selfless spirit. I first met Tony Hall when he was a member of Congress, but I have come to know him over the years as a man who is one of those rare examples of how the person matters much more than the office. Today, Tony Hall is the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. His mission, to fight hunger in the world by offering aid, giving guidance and creating self- sustaining communities. He is a leader in political and philanthropic communities. For Tony Hall, food for the hungry is not just a prayer to God, it is his life's work every day. My colleague, my friend, a great, great human being, Ambassador Tony Hall. (Applause.) Ambassador Tony Hall: Thank you. Mr. President, Mrs. Bush, distinguished head table, my wife Janet, so many leaders and friends from different countries around the world, ladies and gentlemen, it is wonderful to be with you. Thank you, Jo Ann, for your very kind introduction. I am very honored to be introduced by you, and your friendship, and have as a friend such a person of great integrity and compassion. I am very thankful today too for the people in Dayton, Ohio, that for 24 years sent me here as their congressman. They gave me a lot of freedom, gave me a lot of encouragement to pursue important issues, and they were very good to me. I also want to thank the president for appointing me ambassador. [[Page 12599]] It is a wonderful job. I get to help the hungry people of the world every day. It is an honor to serve the president of the United States, the country, and hungry people. A list of thank yous would be incomplete if I did not thank God and I know that might sound kind of trite at a prayer breakfast. 26 years ago I did not know God, did not know anything about Him. I did not have the slightest idea that prayer breakfasts like this went on. It was at a prayer breakfast like this about 26 years ago that I began to ask myself the question: is this it? Is this all there is to life? Because I was successful, I had a wonderful wife and two great children--I still have a wonderful wife. (Laughter and applause.) I supposedly had arrived. I had money in my pocket, position, but I was hollow, and I was empty. I was sick and tired of my ambition. I was tired of what it was doing to me. I had this vague emptiness and I knew it had to be fulfilled. I decided to go on a search for God. I will not tell you how I went on the search, it is a long story, but the important thing is that I did find Him, and I found him through this amazing person of Jesus. What is interesting about this is that I had to come to the Congress of the United States to find God. (Laughter and applause.) I know that sounds strange. People have all kinds of images of what this city is all about. As a matter of fact, just before we moved here about 26 years ago, I was going past my daughter Jill's room. She was three or four at the time and she was saying her prayers, and she said, ``Well, God, I guess it's time to say goodbye, for tomorrow we're moving to Washington.'' (Laughter.) There was another time not too long after that where a friend of mine introduced me to a gathering, and he got so excited he said, ``Now I want to introduce to you my friend. He is a U.S. Congressman and a Christian.'' There were a few laughs that broke out in the audience. One older man down front couldn't take it any longer. As he was squirming in his seat he shouted out, ``Make up your mind buddy, you can't be both.'' (Laughter.) In those days I was very excited about my faith. I was on fire. I wanted to tell everybody about it, and I did. I started with my wife. Big mistake. (Laughter.) Every night I would say to Jan, ``How about saying that prayer to receive Jesus tonight?'' Well, that didn't go over very well. She would get mad. I learned my first lesson from my wife, and that lesson was that you cannot shove faith down people's throats. People get mad. They run. I could not understand it because a few months later my wife became a believer, and I asked her, ``Why did you now become a believer?'' She said, ``When you stopped preaching and stopped trying to shove it down my throat, I saw how real this was, how you changed towards me, towards your job, towards your children. I knew it was real.'' When I first became a believer I had a mentor. After a couple of years he would come in and pray with me. We would talk about the scripture and I had a lot of questions. After a while he said, ``Tony, don't you think it's time you start to bring God into your workplace?'' I said, ``Yeah, but how do I do this? I don't want to wear it on my lapel. I don't want to shove it down people's throats, but I love God and I want to do this. I must bring him into my workplace, but how? I'd rather see a sermon than hear one.'' My answer came a short time later. I was serving on the hunger committee. I was the subcommittee chairman for international hunger in the world. I was asked to go to Ethiopia to see this horrendous famine in 1984, and 7,000 people were dying every day. When I arrived in Ethiopia I was not prepared for what I saw when I visited a site in the mountains run by World Vision and Sisters of Charity. Early in the morning the doctor at the compound asked me to go outside with him to pick out children to try to save. Thousands of people had gathered overnight to receive help. As we walked among the people they held up their child for me to take. They thought I was a doctor. All of them were dying. Some were already dead. We had to decide which ones had a chance, and there was only about four or five out of thousands who were going to live that we could save. I saw at least 25 children die in a matter of minutes. I never got over that. I was stunned by it. On my way back from that trip I thought about what my friend had said about bringing God into ones' work place, and this was a way I could do it. What does God say about this? It actually has a lot to say in the scriptures about the poor and the sick and the hurting and the people in prison, and the lonely, and the hungry. As a matter of fact, there are over 2500 verses. It is the second most talked about theme in the Bible. There are a lot of verses, most of you have heard them. The two verses that I like are both in Proverbs, and to paraphrase--they go something like this. God says to us, ``If you help the poor, you lend to me.'' In another passage in Proverbs He says, ``If you are gracious to the poor, you honor me.'' I do not know many places in the Bible where God says if you do this, you honor me, you lend to me, and I was excited about that. I do not purport to speak for God today. I have read, I have prayed, I have experienced, I have seen many things over the last 25 years as a believer. These values and principles that I have seen and experienced seem to pass the time of day. They are not the values and principles--they are not American, they are not European or Asian. They are values and principles that have been handed down for thousands of years. I just talked about one of them, caring for the poor, and I will not say any more about that. The second principle that we have talked a lot about today, is to pray for our leaders. It says in I Timothy 2, ``First of all then I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all dignity.'' We don't pray enough for leaders. I know that today we are going to pray for the president, but what are we going to do tomorrow? We need to pray for our president every day, our vice-president, the cabinet, the Supreme Court, the Congress of the United States, our state representatives, our mayors, our leaders in our communities. Why do we do this? Because they are better than us? No. We do this because number one, God says do it, he says do it so that you, the people in the world, can live better lives in all peacefulness and tranquility. We must not be doing enough of this, because today 25,000 people will die, and there are 850 million people in the world. There is somewhere between 30 and 45 crises going on right now as we are talking, so we need to pray. We need to do better. I need to do better. I need to remember to do this. The third principle is meeting together, and so many of you know what I am talking about here. I know that a number of you here today meet together in small groups. I am sure that one of the most important things that you do during the week is that. When I was in the Congress of the United States, the most important thing that I did was to meet with my best friend, Congressman Frank Wolf. We met for 18 years. Frank is a conservative Republican, I am a Democrat. I think in all those years we never had a fight. We decided early on not to talk about issues that divided us and this was pretty hard at first because we had many differences. We started to read together, we prayed together, we traveled together, our wives became friends, our children know each other and like each other. For several years there has been this deep trust between us, and we have been able to legislate and work on hunger and human rights and family issues in a wonderfully bipartisan fashion. We put aside the issues that could separate us, and now I trust him with my life, I would do anything for him. My friend John Nakamura and his wife, Janice, have moved to Rome to be with my wife and I--just to be my friend and to pray for my work there. Can you imagine that? That is what he does. He comes to Rome, he prays with me. He prays for my work. He is my friend. With John and Frank, I have found that two are better than one. Paul says that when you meet like this, God is there. In Thessalonians, as he was writing his letter, he was talking about Timothy, Silvanus and himself. He said, ``When we came to you, three things happened. We had power, we had the Holy Spirit, we had true conviction.'' I have seen this happen time and time again--the proof of this passage. When we meet like this today, when we meet in small groups, when we travel together, we are powerful. There is a great strength when we go like this--the power and the Holy Spirit. Recently I was in an African nation for a few days, and when I got ready to leave the people that were with us began to cry. They did not want us to go. It was not because of our sparkling personalities or charm or anything like that. They felt something good and right. When I arrived back at my post in Rome they e-mailed me and said, ``As an ambassador you came here, you loved us, and you prayed. We knew that, and we think that if you can do that, we can too, so we have decided to do the same.'' When two or three people are together it is powerful. I experienced many situations like this. A few years back, I took a private trip as a Congressman with a couple of friends, and we stopped in this one country. Our U.S. ambassador at the time stopped me, and before I could retrieve my bags, he said, ``Congressman, there is one thing I want to say to you--don't talk about religion. Don't talk about faith, don't talk about Jesus, because you will set us back. You will set our whole plan back here in this country.'' He said, ``Because, as you know, everybody here is a Muslim.'' I did not say anything, I just nodded, I listened. We had a lot of good meetings that day. One of the men I met was the top leader of the country, and of course he was a Muslim, and we had a good meeting. We shared pleasantries and I found him very easy to talk to, and after about five, six, seven minutes of this kind of chit chat, he said, ``Why have you come?'' And I said, ``Well, I've actually come to your country for the first time because I wanted to see it, and I wanted to meet you and some new friends here, and I wanted to invite you to the National