[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1047]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  The House met at 2 p.m.
  The Reverend John Appel, Senior Pastor, Frederick Seventh-day 
Adventist Church, Frederick, Maryland, offered the following prayer:
  By Your grace we are citizens of this great Nation. Forgive us when 
we fail to do our part to keep this democracy healthy. Guide us as we 
work for its well-being. Guard our lips from inflammatory rhetoric 
which produces much heat, but very little light. Cleanse us from 
bigotry and self-centeredness in the pursuit of our own narrow 
interests in the public arena. Your word teaches that the long-term 
security of all depends on the strength of each. Strengthen, then, our 
resolve that we may exercise our precious votes for what is right, not 
just for what is personally advantageous.
  Show us how to carry out Your will in the public arena, that we may 
respectfully and intelligently develop opportunities of liberty and 
justice for all. Purify our hearts and minds, that we may learn to 
renounce exploitation and prejudice in all its forms, and so contribute 
to the well-being of the community in which we live. For we pray this 
in Jesus' name. Amen.

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