[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12867]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           THE GUEST CHAPLAIN

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, it is truly a privilege and pleasure this 
morning to welcome to the Senate a remarkable individual who opened the 
Senate with a prayer this morning. He has lived an equally remarkable 
life and today resides in the community of Southington, CT.
  In the 80 years we have enjoyed the fortune of having the Reverend 
Ralph Lord Roy in our midst, he has been an author and columnist, an 
activist, a teacher, and a radio host, and, of course, a pastor to some 
12 different churches and ministries in New York and for some 36 years 
in Connecticut. At each stop along the way, he has spread the same 
message: one of justice and tolerance in the face of fear, resentment, 
anger, and prejudice.
  In 1961, as part of the Congress of Racial Equality, Reverend Roy was 
one of the fabled ``Freedom Fighters'' who traveled to protest 
segregation policies in the South, for which he was arrested in 
Tallahassee.
  A year later, he led a prayer pilgrimage to Albany, GA, at Martin 
Luther King's personal request. For his peaceful protests there, 
praying for the cause of desegregation, Reverend Roy was also arrested. 
In leading the largest group of clergy to be arrested in American 
history in Albany, GA, Reverend Roy became the first Caucasian 
Methodist minister in our Nation to be imprisoned for standing up for 
the civil rights of all Americans. The message he and his fellow clergy 
men and women sent at that moment--some 75 Jewish and Catholic laymen 
and clerics, most of them White, standing peacefully in solidarity with 
Dr. Martin Luther King on the sidewalk before the Albany City Hall--
reverberates to this very day. It echoes in the books and articles that 
Reverend Roy has penned on social and faith issues and in his powerful 
and personal accounts of his experiences with the slain civil rights 
leader. It echoes as well in his radio shows and travels across the 
world. And today, of course, it echoes in the Halls of the Senate.
  A remarkable 80 years, making a significant contribution to the 
improvement and the betterment of our great country. So it is truly an 
honor to welcome Reverend Roy from Southington, CT, who has opened our 
Senate session this morning with his wonderful, thoughtful prayer. We 
wish him and his family the very best, and we thank him for his 
wonderful contributions to our country.

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