[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16297]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    NATIONAL MOTTO: IN GOD WE TRUST

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, this House has much tradition and history. We 
start each day every day with a prayer to the Almighty, the Pledge, and 
the flag is displayed in the center of this House. Above that flag, 
appropriately so, is the phrase, ``In God We Trust.''
  Fifty years ago this month, President Eisenhower signed legislation 
declaring this to be our national motto. Our great leaders believed in 
this self-evident truth.
  Benjamin Franklin said at the Constitutional Convention, ``The longer 
I live, the more convinced I see this truth, God governs the affairs of 
men, and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is 
it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?''
  President George Washington, in his first inaugural address said: 
``It would be improper to omit in this first official act, my fervent 
supplications to the Almighty Being who rules this universe, who 
presides in the councils of nations.''
  And finally, Thomas Jefferson said, ``Our liberties are the gift of 
God.''
  Mr. Speaker, we must and shall preserve, believe and uphold America's 
motto, ``In God We Trust.''
  And that's just the way it is.

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