[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14232-14238]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Brat). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 6, 2015, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous materials on the subject of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Colorado?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to come to the 
House floor tonight to commemorate National Bible Week. We are truly 
blessed to live in a nation where we are free to worship and read the 
Holy Scriptures without fear of persecution. There are so many places 
throughout the world where such freedoms do not exist.
  In 1941, 75 years ago, mere days before Pearl Harbor, President 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared the week of Thanksgiving to be 
National Bible Week. Every U.S. President down to today has likewise 
declared this time of year to be National Bible Week.
  The National Bible Association, in agreement with the U.S. Conference 
of Bishops, has designated the specific days of November 13 to 19 as 
National Bible Week this year. This is the week that we can all agree 
is National Bible Week, and we can recognize the Bible as a 
foundational building block of Western civilization, the Judeo-
Christian heritage, and the legacy that motivated and shaped the 
founding of the United States.
  In this hour, we will hear from Members of Congress about why the 
Bible is important and what it means to them. We are here to recognize 
National Bible Week.
  My own experience with the Bible began in 1973, when I was an 18-
year-old freshman at the University of Kansas. I was approached by some 
people who asked me if I knew what was in the Bible. I said that I 
believed I knew what it was all about, however, I had never read any of 
it for myself. The only honest thing I could do at that point was to 
read it for myself. When I read the Gospel of John, I ended up 
discovering a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who became my 
Lord and

[[Page 14233]]

Savior. In that Gospel, He said: I am the way, the truth and the life. 
No one comes to the Father but through Me.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't know where in their spiritual journey people may 
be who are listening tonight, but I do know this: it is better to read 
the Bible for oneself and not just to take someone else's word for what 
is in it. For me, it made all of the difference in the world.
  Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate National Bible Week, we remember the 
importance of faith in both our private and public lives. We recognize 
the Bible's powerful message of hope. We cherish the wisdom of the 
Bible, and we thank God for providing this Holy Book that has been 
truly a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Forbes) who 
is a valuable member of the Armed Services and Judiciary Committees. 
Representative Randy Forbes will be leaving Congress at the end of this 
year, and he will be truly and sorely missed.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Lamborn for his work in this 
area and for doing this Special Order. Mr. Lamborn talked about the 
impact the Bible had on his life. The Bible began having an impact on 
my life long before I was born.
  This little book is over 75 years old. It is called the ``Heart-
Shield Bible.'' Inside of it, it has my father's name, and it says: 
``From Mother and Daddy.'' It was given to him when he was 19 years 
old, just before he left to go fight in World War II. He ended up at 
Normandy, not with the initial invasion, but a little while after that. 
Somewhere in Europe--I don't know where it was--he opened this book and 
he read it.
  Now, the theory of this book was it had a gold plate on the front, 
and it was supposed to be put in your pocket and protect your heart if 
you were shot. I don't know that it ever did that, but it changed his 
heart. He made a promise in those foxholes that if he got back home, he 
would have his family--which he didn't have at the time--in church 
every single Sunday. I know a lot of GIs made promises that they left 
when they got on the ship to come back. He never did.
  So that little book that he read not only transformed his life, not 
only gave him the courage and the faith to get through that war, but it 
changed his children and his grandchildren, and it continues to change 
his great-grandchildren to this day.
  In my office I always kept a Scripture and something that was offered 
by Chaplain Peter Marshall on the floor of the Senate on March 18, 
1948.
  It said this: ``Our Father in Heaven, save us from the conceit which 
refuses to believe that God knows more about government than we do, and 
the stubbornness that will not seek God's help. Today we claim Thy 
promise: `If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all 
men liberally and it shall be given to him.' Thou knowest, Lord, how 
much we need it. Make us willing to ask for it and eager to have it. In 
Jesus' name we pray. Amen.''
  That Scripture from James 1:5 should serve as a guidepost for those 
in leadership today.
  Our Nation is on the cusp of great opportunities, but our future, 
nevertheless, remains fraught with challenges. America is at a 
crossroads. Each of us must, with humility, seek wisdom and truth as we 
make decisions in the days ahead.
  I can think of no single book that offers that wisdom and truth more 
than the Bible. I thank Mr. Lamborn again for allowing me to be here.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia. I 
appreciate the words, the wisdom, and the heartfelt nature of what he 
just spoke to.
  I yield to the gentleman from the great State of Michigan (Mr. 
Walberg).
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his efforts 
tonight to call attention to this.
  Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity we are afforded here 
to speak of the impact of the Bible in our lives as well, and, more 
importantly, the impact the Bible can have on all lives.
  I was a young boy when I was encouraged to memorize a simple little 
verse, John 3:16, which said: ``For God so loved the world that He gave 
His only begotten Son that whosoever believe in Him should not perish 
but have everlasting life.''
  When I put my name in that place in the world, it meant everything in 
the world to me. With Jesus Christ as my savior, it has impacted my 
life.
  Mr. Speaker, noted historian, Will Durant, once stated: ``The 
greatest question of our time is not communism versus individualism, 
not Europe versus America, and not the East versus the West, it is 
whether men can live without God.''
  Mr. Speaker, that question, it now appears, will be answered in our 
own time.

                              {time}  1745

  God has left us with a direct message on life and how to live life 
with God, and that message is the Bible, a book that is, sadly, being 
pushed out of the mainstream of our country in many ways. Sadly, we are 
seeing the results in broken homes, dysfunctional societies, upheaval 
that is going on. Sadly, those results impact us here in government as 
well. Yes, we can still read the Bible, but freedom to live it out is 
in question, and I wonder why.
  Dostoyevsky stated it this way. He said: ``When God is dead, anything 
is permissible.''
  And Joseph Stalin suggested that ``America is like a healthy body and 
its resistance is threefold, its patriotism, its morality, its 
spiritual life . . . If we can undermine these three areas, America 
will collapse from within.''
  Mr. Speaker, these are sobering statements.
  The Bible that we honor in a special way today and throughout this 
week addresses the preceding statements with great clarity when it 
affirms in Proverbs 14:34: ``Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is 
a reproach to any people.''
  This is why I believe a signer of the Declaration of Independence 
named Jonathan Whitherspoon declared it this way. He said: ``A republic 
once equally poised must either preserve its virtue or lose its 
liberty.'' Whitherspoon, who was also a minister, made this statement 
in the context of virtue being defined by God's truth as contained in 
the Bible.
  I am certain that he could have quoted Psalm 1, as it says: ``Blessed 
is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in 
the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his 
delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and 
night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that 
brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; 
and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are 
like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly shall 
not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the 
righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of 
the ungodly shall perish.''
  It was words of a psalmist. Plainly, honoring the Bible in one's life 
brings success, while rejection of the Biblical truth brings defeat.
  Mr. Speaker, one of my favorite Bible verses, a verse that means a 
lot to me as I think at the end of each day and pray and ask certain 
questions in my own life, is II Timothy 2:15. It says: ``Be diligent to 
present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be 
ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.'' In that simple, 
eloquent, little verse, it says in the end what matters. First, is God 
pleased with your day? Has his work been done well? And, finally, has 
the Word, the Bible, been used well? If the Bible has been used well by 
individuals or a nation, we will do well.
  John Clifford wrote a poem that I will end with today. In that poem 
he says this:
  ``Last eve I paused beside the blacksmith's door, and heard the anvil 
ring the vesper chime;
  Then looking in, I saw upon the floor, old hammers, worn with beating 
years of time.
  `How many anvils have you had,' said I, `to wear and batter all these 
hammers so?'

[[Page 14234]]

  `Just one,' said he, and then with twinkling eye,
  `The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.'
  And so, I thought, the anvil of God's Word for ages skeptic blows 
have beat upon;
  Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard, the anvil is 
unharmed, the hammers gone.''
  Isaiah 40:8 confirms: ``The grass withers, the flower fades, but the 
Word of our God,'' the Bible, ``stands forever.''
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his words.
  In a moment, we are going to hear from Representative Virginia Foxx 
of North Carolina. But let me briefly mention first how the Bible was 
foundational to the development of our country.
  Many of the early American settlers came to the New World with the 
express purpose of following the Bible according to the convictions of 
their own consciences. One of the first acts of Congress during the 
tumultuous beginning of our Nation was the authorization of an American 
published Bible. The war with the British had cut off the States' 
supply of Bibles from England. Our Founding Fathers understood how 
important it was for the American people to have Bibles, so in 1782, 
Congress reviewed, approved, and authorized the first known English 
language Bible to be printed in America.
  Throughout American history, many of our great leaders have turned to 
the Bible for guidance, hope, and faith. President Abraham Lincoln once 
said of the Bible, in regard to this great book: ``I have but to say, 
it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave 
to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could 
not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, 
here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it.''
  And President Ronald Reagan, in his own National Bible Week 
declaration, which we are celebrating this week, wrote, when he was in 
office:

       When I took the oath of office, I requested the Bible be 
     open to II Chronicles 7:14, which reads: ``If my people, 
     which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and 
     pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then 
     I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will 
     heal their land.'' This passage expresses my hopes for the 
     future of this Nation and the world.

  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. 
Foxx).
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Colorado 
(Mr. Lamborn) for organizing this Special Order tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, I am rising also to join my colleagues to commemorate 
the 75th annual celebration of National Bible Week. And I want to thank 
all of my colleagues for giving us such wonderful history lessons and 
quotes about how important the Bible has always been to our country, 
and particularly to the Founders of our country.
  As I stand here tonight, I am looking straight up at the full face of 
Moses looking down on us. When I have people in the Chamber, I point 
out to them that around the top of the Chamber are profiles of ancient 
lawgivers. The only full-face figure is that of Moses, who looks 
straight down on the Speaker's podium. I think that it is so important 
that people understand that we are a Judeo-Christian country and that 
the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, are so important to us.
  As we approach this celebration, Mr. Speaker, which is traditionally 
held during the week of Thanksgiving, it is important to take a moment 
and reflect on how this Good Book has changed the course of history, 
stood as a guiding light for the world, shaped our Nation, and inspired 
countless lives.
  The Bible is a precious gift from God to his people that teaches us 
how we ought to relate to our Creator and how to love our fellow human 
beings during times of turmoil, confusion, and strife. I can think of 
no more important source of guidance than this deep repository of 
fundamental and universal truth.
  It offers us hope when circumstances are dire and is a source of 
strength when our human frailty brings us low. When we are surrounded 
by darkness, as the psalmist wrote, the Bible ``is a lamp to our feet 
and a light to our path.''
  I hope it will be encouraging to the American people to know that 
there are people in the Capitol who make every effort to live their 
lives by the precepts of the Bible. We have many Bible studies and 
prayer groups that meet every week here. In fact, the National Prayer 
Breakfast grew out of our weekly bipartisan prayer breakfast in both 
the House and the Senate. I have collected some of the stories told in 
the House prayer breakfast in a book called ``God Is in the House,'' 
which people are telling me is a great inspiration to them.
  Today, I offer a prayer of gratefulness for this gift of God's Word 
and encourage my fellow Americans to dig deep into the Good Book and 
discover for themselves what riches it has in store for them.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her well-spoken 
remarks and the heartfelt nature of what she shared.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Jody B. 
Hice).
  Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding and for leading this Special Order.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise, as have my colleagues, to celebrate one of the 
most significant and remarkable books in human history--certainly to my 
life--and that is the Bible. As a servant of Christ and, in fact, a 
pastor for nearly 30 years, it is my honor to join all of my colleagues 
this evening in recognizing the importance of the Bible and its 
incredible impact on my life, on many of our lives, and certainly on 
the life of our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, the Bible speaks to the greatness of God. It speaks that 
he is the object of true worship, that he is the fount of all 
blessings, and that he is, in fact, our redeemer, our friend, our 
savior, and our judge.
  I don't even know where to start when it comes to having favorite 
verses. There are just so many. I read it daily. It is a part of the 
beginning of every day of my life. But one of those verses that I 
believe is so appropriate for right now comes from Hebrews 4:12 that 
really deals with the importance of God's Word in our lives. It very 
simply says that the Word of God is alive and active, that it is 
sharper than any double-edged sword, that it penetrates even to the 
dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and it judges the 
thoughts and intentions of the heart.
  I think our country has pretty much always recognized the unseen 
power of Almighty God as it relates to our fortunes as well as our 
destiny; and I believe now, more than ever, our Nation would do well to 
return again to the Bible for guidance in these critical days that we 
are facing.
  This week, communities, pastors, churches, and leaders all across 
America are going to be celebrating National Bible Week. They are going 
to be reading it. They are going to be reflecting on it. They are going 
to be talking about, in discussions and so forth, just how the Bible 
can help each of us lead a better life, frankly, because it points us 
to personal forgiveness and personal life transformation through faith 
in Jesus Christ.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe it is our responsibility as leaders in this 
country to remind Americans of the significance of the Bible to our 
individual lives, to our history, to our national life, and certainly 
to the culture that we have here in America.
  One of our late Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, actually did this 
while he was in a conversation with the son of a very close friend of 
his who was entering the mission field, and this statement, I believe, 
just says so much in this regard. He said:

       I have told you so many times that I consider the Christian 
     ministry as the highest calling in the world, most intimately 
     related to the most exalted life and service here and destiny 
     beyond.

  But then, as President, he said this:

       And I consider it my greatest joy and glory that, occupying 
     a most exalted position in the Nation, I am enabled, simply 
     and sincerely, to preach the practical moralities of the 
     Bible to my fellow countrymen and to hold up Christ as the 
     hope and savior of the world.

[[Page 14235]]



                              {time}  1800

  What a statement by one of our Presidents.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to again commend my good friend, Doug 
Lamborn, for holding this Special Order. Obviously, we gain tremendous 
insight, inspiration, and guidance from the Scriptures. The light of 
God's Word shines through us most when we hold fast to these principles 
and apply them to our daily lives. Again, I thank the gentleman for 
this opportunity.
  Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the gentleman from the great State of Georgia 
for being here, for sharing, and for his background. People come to 
Congress with all kinds of different backgrounds, and having one or 
more pastors, which we do here in the body, adds a valuable thread of 
experience and thought that helps us all.
  One reason many people respect the Bible is that so many prophecies 
for telling future events have come true exactly as foretold. In the 
Old Testament, there are many predictions that were given to prove if a 
speaker were divinely inspired. If and when these predictions came 
true, it validated the words of that prophet. The Book of Daniel, for 
instance, contains scores of detailed prophecies that were literally 
fulfilled. Skeptics have fallen back to the position that Daniel must 
have been written after the fact and is misrepresenting itself. In 
fact, Daniel is found in its entirety in the Greeks' Septuagint and 
partially in the Dead Sea Scrolls, both of which we know predated the 
events that were prophesied. The rise and fall of empires, the capture 
and destruction of cities, and the destiny of kings all were prophesied 
about in minute detail, and archeology and history have literally 
confirmed hundreds of such prophecies as having come true.
  I now yield to a friend, the gentleman from the great State of North 
Carolina, Robert Pittenger.
  Mr. PITTENGER. I thank Congressman Lamborn so much for his leadership 
on this. What an inspiring evening.
  Mr. Speaker, as a little boy, I was taught that little song: ``Thy 
Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.'' Now, I am no 
Cliff Barrows, but I have carried that song with me my whole life. In 
fact, I do want to make a testament about Cliff Barrows, for he went to 
be with the Lord today. Cliff Barrows--a great saint who led the 
crusades for Dr. Billy Graham for nearly 70 years--is now singing 
praises in Heaven. I was thinking earlier that Cliff will be greeting 
those tens of thousands of people who come forward, singing just as I 
am.
  As we look at the Word of God, we find truth. As we read in John, 
Chapter 1: ``In the beginning, it was the Word, and the Word was with 
God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.''
  Now, I didn't know that Word until November 2, 1969, at 10:30 p.m., 
on a Sunday night, when I gave my life to Christ. I wasn't too 
theological. I just said: ``Lord, I give up. You lead my life.'' When 
that happened, I had an insatiable desire to read the Word of God. I 
would stay up, when I was a senior in college, and I would read the 
Word of God at midnight and later on into the early morning because it 
fed my spirit, it fed my soul, and it gave me direction in my life.
  I didn't know much about the Bible. I went to church. I guess they 
drug me to church, for you can still see the heel marks in the ground. 
I knew a lot about church, but I didn't know a lot about His Word; so I 
went out to a place that was the Campus Crusade for Christ. They had a 
mini seminary for 6 weeks, and I learned more there about the Word of 
God. I then ended up joining the Campus Crusade and was there for 10 
years.
  I went through a couple of years of seminary classes, but the Word of 
God is what gave me stability in my life and is what gave me 
perspective in my knowing that He knew much better about me and my 
future and had a greater wisdom about my life than I knew and that the 
best that I could do was partake in His knowledge. The more I knew 
about Him, the greater my life and the more peaceful my life and the 
more direction I would have in my life to fulfill His God-given 
mission.
  So the Word of God is our hope. It is the hope for this country. 
Frankly, in reality, the more our Nation is right in a vertical path 
with Him, horizontally, we will be in good shape the more we are 
consistent with the precepts of His Word.
  Frankly, George Washington knew that. On one occasion, I was down at 
Mount Vernon. Many years ago, I was here, working with Dr. and Mrs. 
Bill Bright as they started the Christian Embassy back in the mid-
1970s, and we went down to Mount Vernon. In the casing was the Bible 
that George Washington read from. It was all marked through. He knew 
the Word of God. He studied it. I have read his diaries. He went every 
Wednesday night to vespers. He rode on his horse to church every 
Sunday. He committed himself to knowing the Word of God. That is why he 
became the great leader that he was.
  So I thank the gentleman, Mr. Lamborn, for his leadership, for his 
heart, for his understanding, for his perspective, and for committing 
himself to giving honor to the Word of God tonight.
  Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the gentleman and appreciate his remarks.
  Let me say something about manuscripts, which are the historical 
evidence for the text of the Bible. The Bible that we acknowledge 
during this National Bible Week has come down to us in history through 
manuscripts that were written centuries or millennia ago. These 
manuscripts are more numerous by an order of magnitude than any other 
classical text and go back much closer to the time of origin than any 
classical text.
  For instance, the Histories of Herodotus, which, actually, I read 
recently, are based on eight manuscripts that come about 1,300 years 
after the original version. By contrast, the New Testament has over 
20,000 manuscripts, some of which go back mere decades after the 
original version. The Dead Sea Scrolls proved that the Hebrew text of 
the Old Testament, which came down from other sources, is, indeed, 
accurate and reliable to the letter.
  I now yield to the gentleman from Ohio, Representative Bill Johnson, 
my friend and colleague.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. I, too, want to thank my colleague from 
Georgia--not from Georgia but from Colorado. I have lived all over the 
country, so I get confused about where some of my colleagues are from. 
I thank my colleague from Colorado for doing this this evening.
  God's Word has meant so much to me in my life. I can remember being a 
young boy and being raised on that two-wheel, wagon-rut mule farm, 
where every day was a survival day--no indoor plumbing, up before dawn, 
going to bed way after dark. Every day was a workday except Sunday. I 
remember going with my grandfather, who was a superintendent of the 
local church. As a very young boy, he would let me hold onto the rope 
as he would pull the bell to signal that it was time for the community 
to come to worship. The rope would swing me up into the rafters, and my 
grandfather would stand there, making sure I didn't fall and hurt 
myself. It was like going to Six Flags for me as a kid.
  I remember, as a young boy, being exposed to the words in this book 
when I was in the backroom of that little church, learning for the 
first time the great stories of the patriarchs and matriarchs of the 
Scriptures: Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Moses, King David, the Apostle Paul, 
and, of course, our Savior Jesus Christ. I went through my life with 
some of those foundational faith principles that were taught to me at 
that point. All of my life, I wanted to find out where all of that came 
from.
  I had an opportunity to visit the nation of Israel--the Holy Land--in 
2014. I thought about that visit before I went, and I thought I would 
like for this to be more than just an official visit. I would like for 
it to be personally meaningful; so I prayed about that. I said, ``God, 
can you let me get something from this visit that I can take back and 
share that will be revealing?'' and he did. As I walked in the 
footsteps of

[[Page 14236]]

Abraham, across the Hebron valley--when he was taking Isaac to Mount 
Moriah--and when I stood on the Temple Mount, when I stood in the 
Garden Tomb, a revelation came to me, and that is the reason that 
America's heart is so intertwined with our friends in Israel--it is 
that our lineage is one and the same.
  The Scriptures tell us that a little place that is a little southwest 
of modern-day Jerusalem is where God told Jacob: Your name is no longer 
going to be Jacob, but your name is going to be Israel; and I am going 
to make a nation come from you, and this shall be your land.
  It occurred to me at that point that our lineage and the lineage of 
the nation of Israel is exactly one and the same because, if you go 
back to our founding documents--to our Declaration of Independence--it 
claims that our unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness come not from man, not from government, not from Presidents 
or from legislative bodies, but from our Creator.
  John Adams said that the Constitution of the United States is a 
document that is designed to govern a people who live by Christian 
principles and that it is wholly inadequate for any other. Today, we 
seem to think that you have to be perfect to experience God's 
redemption in your life.
  I am reminded of First Chronicles, Chapter 4, the story of Jabez. He 
prayed: O God that You would bless me, indeed, that You would expand my 
territory, that Your hand would be upon me, and that You would keep me 
from evil that I might not cause pain.
  We never hear about Jabez at any other time in the Bible, but we know 
what God said to him. Because Jabez was a righteous man, God answered 
his prayer. You will notice that the Scriptures didn't say because 
Jabez was a perfect man. They said because Jabez was a righteous man--
that he had a heart after the Father's.
  In America today, we hear about so much of the division and of even 
division here within the legislative branch--within parties and across 
party aisles. We sometimes forget that the Bible talks about politics. 
You will hear oftentimes ``don't mix religion and politics.'' The Bible 
talks about politics. Go read Daniel, Chapter 6. Daniel, Chapter 6 is 
like a session of Congress. We all know the story.
  Daniel was an overseer who was appointed by the king. He was selected 
as a commissioner, one of the leaders of the overseers, like a leader 
here in the House, perhaps. Some of the people didn't like how much 
favor Daniel was getting with the king, and they began to conspire 
against him. You know the story. They set it up so that Daniel had to 
be thrown in the lions' den. We know that God spared Daniel and shut 
the mouths of the lions, and the conspirators suffered the same fate. 
They were fed to the lions by the king.
  Yet we don't go far enough into that to remember what Daniel did as a 
politician. You see, Daniel never went to the king and said: Hey, you 
have abandoned me. You stabbed me in the back. I have been your guy all 
of this time, and now you are going to throw me to the lions after I 
have stood up for you all of this time?
  He never went to his other commissioners and said: I thought you guys 
were with me. I thought we were all in this together, and now you are 
conspiring against me.
  No. What Daniel did was he said: King, I am your guy. I am still 
going to be your guy, but what I am not going to do is give up my 
principles upon which I stand--my belief and faith in my God. If you 
want to throw me in the lions' den, throw me in the lions' den.
  You see, Daniel knew something that we as leaders--that we as a 
nation--need to get back in touch with, which is that God doesn't 
expect us to do His job. Daniel knew he was not the changer; rather, he 
was the change agent.

                              {time}  1815

  We are here for a short time to simply be salt and light. That is our 
role. Yet, today we get distracted by everything that comes across the 
news media or the Internet. We believe it to be the truth when this 
document, this book, is the author of truth.
  John 8:31-32 says: Jesus said to the Jews that believed in Him, `` . 
. . abide in my word and you will truly be my disciples; and you will 
see the truth, and the truth will set you free.''
  Folks, much of what ails our Nation--much of what ails our Nation 
could be solved if we would simply get back in touch with our first 
true love, the true love that is proclaimed in our Declaration of 
Independence and our Constitution and that our Founders believed in, 
the author of truth. It is found in this book.
  Thank you to my colleague for allowing me a few minutes to speak 
tonight. I have wanted to do this for a long time. God bless you.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Johnson for what he 
shared. It is truly appropriate for this National Bible Week. I 
appreciate how he talked about the ties between Christianity and 
Judaism and the Judeo-Christian ethic, which ties it all together and 
how you observed that during your recent trip to Israel.
  There are many archeological discoveries which have validated 
Biblical accounts, giving trustworthiness to the Bible we acknowledge 
during this National Bible Week. Time and time again, archeology has 
shown the Biblical personalities, locations, and events actually 
existed in time and space. Claims by critics that a Biblical statement 
was simply made up have been debunked by later archeological 
discoveries more times than we can say.
  The Jewish archaeologist Nelson Glueck has said: ``It may be stated 
categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted or 
contradicted a biblical reference.''
  I now yield time to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa). He 
will talk about this National Bible Week.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Lamborn), who not only shares the first 13 letters of our combined 
names, but a deep reverence and recognition of the importance of the 
Bible in our Christian faith.
  So I am glad to be able to join you and our other colleagues here in 
recognizing the 75th anniversary of National Bible Week.
  The Bible is indeed the living, unerring Word of God. The Founders 
recognized that, as the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson) alluded to. 
Indeed, our form of government is more successful when we follow a 
standard that is separate from ourselves, a standard that lives in a 
timeless space, beyond what today's fads are and what today's feelings 
or thoughts are. The Bible is unerring in that since it is the Word of 
God. So it is for us to recognize this and put those words into action.
  Some might say: Well, why are they talking about the Bible on the 
House floor? Why are they talking about religion and mixing that in 
with government?
  Well, the Founders provided not freedom from religion, but freedom to 
express our religions, no matter what type it is in this country. 
Still, this one is based largely on Christianity and the Judeo-
Christian values we have, but there is the freedom to express other 
ones as well.
  In these times, there are those who would try to oppress those with 
false gods, worship of nature, worship of things, and subdue our 
abilities to worship as we please. In these times, these oppressions 
seem to be more and more apparent all the time.
  Still, we soldier on and we ask God's guidance and pray for the light 
to be shown to others on what this is. This is not a judgmental thing. 
We don't judge others. God is the judge. We live by a code that is in 
the Bible or we try to.
  One important verse, Romans 3:23, says: ``For all have sinned and 
fall short of the glory of God.''
  That is why we have to seek Him; we all fall short. It is not judging 
of one versus the other because they are all in the same lot.
  So there are many places you can point to in the Bible that has much 
wisdom. I recommend you read the whole thing. I, at this point, am 
reading it front to back. I have never really done that before, read it 
all the way

[[Page 14237]]

through. I am in Acts right now. In life, when you go to Bible school, 
Sunday school, or through church, you maybe tend to hop and skip 
around. But reading the Bible front to back, it really becomes 
fascinating.
  Every word in there is in there for a purpose. Even when you are 
reading through a whole list of names you may have never heard of or 
hear of again--so-and-so begot so-and-so and lived 120 years and then 
he died and things like that--it may not be apparent in the beginning, 
but there is an important reason why those words are in there. They are 
in there to chronicle time, to chronicle who was important in those 
early days all the way through to the prophesy you find in Revelation, 
which is very, very important to understand what our future may hold.
  So some of the things I like to live by: you can find so much in 
Proverbs, which indeed much of it could be seen as perhaps a book of 
best practices, tools to use in life. Much of Proverbs is the document 
laid down by King Solomon to his son, Rehoboam--the best practices in 
speaking to his son.
  A portion that I like especially and is a part of what I like to use 
as a model for conduct in this difficult role we find ourselves in as 
elected officials in a town full of temptation, full of possible bad 
choices that we have seen others who have fallen to these bad choices 
is in Proverbs 4:18-27.
  It says: ``The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining 
ever brighter till the full light of day. But the work of the wicked is 
like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. My son, 
pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them 
out of your sight, keep them within your heart for they are like life 
to those who find them and health to one's whole body. Above all else, 
guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth 
free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes 
look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful 
thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. 
Do not turn to the left or the right; keep your feet from evil,'' which 
indeed in this business keeping on that right path, do not be drawn 
into temptation, do not go to the left or the right where evil might 
be.
  Best practices are in Proverbs. Indeed it is one of my favorites, but 
there is so much to be gleaned from reading all the way through the 
Bible and going back and understanding what that means. This is why 
small-group Bible study is important. Our church leaders who are imbued 
with this knowledge, you can learn from that and apply that to your 
life and be successful in your life not only here, but in the very 
important hereafter.
  Our Founders were inspired by that. When you take the perfect 
unerring effect of the Bible and apply that to maybe what is the 
closest as possible to perfect of something created by man: our 
Constitution, our Bill of Rights, what came from the Declaration of 
Independence. They were inspired by Biblical truths. That is why, in 
this unjudgmental way that we try to live, they are almost perfect 
documents because they are divinely inspired by the Bible.
  So as we celebrate the special anniversary this week, know that my 
colleagues here are indeed well-meaning in sharing this. From Genesis 
to Revelation, you will find the truth in there, which is a very 
profoundly powerful message.
  I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn) for the time and 
for having this Special Order tonight on this very important and 
profound week of recognition for our Bible.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. 
LaMalfa) for sharing those thoughts with us.
  The Pacific Ocean all the way to the Atlantic is covered by our 
speakers today. We had East Coast speakers from Virginia, North 
Carolina, and Georgia. We had a speaker from Michigan up on the 
Canadian border. And our next speaker will be from Texas on our 
southern border. So the entire country is represented. That is fitting 
because National Bible Week is for the entire country. It is the 75th 
anniversary of this celebration.
  So the entire country of America has been blessed throughout history, 
as we talked about several times already tonight. It is so appropriate 
that we can have speakers from all over the country.
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, this is the 75th anniversary of National 
Bible Week. Isn't it interesting that National Bible Week was first 
proclaimed 2 weeks before World War II broke out?
  The Nation really rallied and rallied behind Franklin Roosevelt's 
call to pray together, the President that went on national radio on D-
day and led the Nation in prayer. I am sure if he were to try to do 
that today if he were alive, then people would be freaking out that the 
President was leading in prayer like that.
  There are so many examples from World War II where we could say: Wow, 
wasn't that a coincidence? The Germans ran out of gas at just the right 
time. This German general or commander got confused at just the time 
they were about to get enough gasoline to refill and refuel and keep 
the Battle of the Bulge going. There are so many little things.
  A fellow in Iowa earlier this year had told me that coincidence is 
what we have when you don't notice God's at work. I am still chewing on 
that.
  In the first hundred years, about a hundred years after the founding, 
the U.S. Supreme Court had a case involving Trinity Church. They went 
through and reviewed all the evidence and declared this is a Christian 
nation. It didn't mean everybody in America was a Christian at all. 
Nobody has to be. They have the freedom to say God doesn't exist.
  The freedom that comes from a government based on Biblical word is a 
freedom that cannot be obtained under any other religious teaching. 
That is why, when I had a chance to meet Retired General Jay Garner 
again back in September, I asked him again: What happened?
  President George W. Bush sent him over into Iraq and asked him to 
find out what the Iraqi people felt like we should try to give them as 
a government.
  Now, I would say let them choose their own government. We shouldn't 
be trying to push anything.
  General Garner did a brilliant job, but he went with some other 
people--one was a reporter and he had people from the administration 
with him--and he was told: ``You have got to talk to this direct 
descendant of Muhammad and see what he says, because people really 
listen to him being a direct descendant of Muhammad.''
  A black turban also is an indication apparently of being a direct 
descendant of Muhammad, from what we were told.
  Then he said: Look, I am going to tell you what I think we need here 
in Iraq. I will do that in my language, and then I will tell you in 
English since you are recording everything.
  And so he spoke for quite some time. And then he said: Okay, in a 
nutshell, what I have said is basically we need a government that is 
composed of Iraqis and that it is based on a constitution that Iraqis 
put together and that constitution is based on the teachings of Jesus.
  And General Garner, when he got outside, he turned to the reporter 
and everybody and asked: ``Did you guys all hear that? Did he really--
``
  They all said ``yes.'' He said it should be based on the teachings of 
Jesus.
  When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. If you base a 
government on the teachings of anyone else, then ultimately there will 
not be true freedom in that nation.

                              {time}  1830

  This is a New Testament that belonged to my uncle, and it has ``May 
the Lord be with you.'' It has this brass plate here on the front, and 
people were encouraged to put it in their pocket to see if it would 
save--it apparently saved some lives right over the heart. Inside the 
flyleaf at the top it says:
  ``The White House. Washington. As Commander in Chief, I take pleasure 
in

[[Page 14238]]

commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the Armed 
Forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries, men of many 
faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of 
wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, 
as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human 
soul.''
  It is signed Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  If you look back at our history, the very first book authorized to be 
published by the U.S. Congress at government expense was the Bible. You 
had the Supreme Court in the first 50 years saying: of course the Bible 
should be taught; it is the best book for teaching our children. And 
now the government says: really, Christians are a big hate group that 
we need to worry about, and that their talk of Christianity is actually 
hate speech, homophobia, and Islamophobia.
  What these people who have become wise in their own eyes don't 
realize is that really this book, this Bible, is about love, that God 
so loved the world that He gave His Son, and that His Son so loved the 
world that He gave His life. That is a religion based on love. Jesus 
went on to say the two great commandments: love God, love each other.
  After I became a parent and my mother was about to die, and she said 
her favorite thing was her kids being there with her and loving each 
other, it made all the sense in the world.
  This Bible makes sense, from the prophecies Mr. Lamborn spoke of, 
when you read Psalm 22--``My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?''--
it is just verse after verse of prophecy of what was fulfilled by only 
one person in the history of man.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas 
and all the other speakers who joined us during this hour. It has been 
really wonderful to recognize and commemorate the 75th anniversary of 
National Bible Week.
  I would like to thank the National Bible Association--the other NBA--
for offering to provide some historical artifacts, which for logistical 
reasons we were not actually able to bring here in person, ancient 
Jewish and Protestant and Catholic texts that we could have used as 
well to read from. I just want to thank each Member here, and I am glad 
that we have had 75 years of celebrating this wonderful event. It has 
been a great part of our national heritage.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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