[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9986-9988]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ISSUES OF THE DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Gohmert) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank all my fellow Members that are 
speaking up on this very important issue. I appreciate Dr. Murphy 
taking the lead. It is something that has not gotten enough attention. 
We continue to have people dying, and we need to deal with the issue.
  It is interesting: some people find great hope in their religious 
beliefs. Throughout America's history, Christianity has been an 
important foundation. No, you didn't have to be a Christian to 
participate in government, to be a Founder, but, as Ben Franklin said, 
we know because he wrote out the speech in his own handwriting 
immediately afterwards, as requested.
  So often, teachers teach that he is a Deist, as so many of the 
Founders, we are told, were Deists. Yet in his own words, in his own 
handwriting, at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, at 80 years old, 
2 to 3 years away from meeting his Judge, his Maker--severe gout, 
arthritis, overweight, trouble getting up and down--he said these 
words:
  ``I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more 
convincing proofs I see of this truth--that God governs in 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?''
  Franklin said, we have been--by the way, that is obviously a 
reference to Jesus' comment about the sparrow, and God seeing the 
sparrow, watching the sparrow.
  But he goes on and he makes it very clear, as his own words indicate, 
that unless--he said: ``We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred 
Writing that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that 
build it.''
  Again, referencing Scripture.
  Those are not the words--any of them--they are not the words of a 
Deist. So teachers that have been miseducating people for so long, I 
know they are just passing on what they were taught, but there has been 
so much miseducation for so long.
  Regardless of what else, we don't try to force our religious beliefs 
on anyone. That is not what the House of Representatives is for. But 
since it formed such an important part of our founding and a part of 
the discussion for most of our Nation's history, it is important to 
point out that those Scriptures that Ben Franklin referenced at the 
Constitutional Convention, the Scriptures that have been quoted so 
often--
  We know the Bible is the number one, far and away, most quoted book 
in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Nothing else anywhere 
even close. It has brought hope to people that had no hope.
  So it is interesting that, as our Nation moves further and further 
away from the source of so much hope for so much of our Nation's 
history, and for those who lived through that part of our Nation's 
history, the hope that Franklin Roosevelt brought to the microphone 
when he read the famous prayer on D-Day as American soldiers were 
fighting, as he said, against those forces of evil, drawn from a 
country that was used to peace that were fighting forces of evil.
  But they had hope. That hope and prayer that Franklin Roosevelt gave 
over the microphone for several minutes now is condemned by so many. 
That hope that served as the foundation, the building blocks for the 
beliefs of Sam Adams, that so many around in those days gave credit as 
being an important foundational building block for the revolution, for 
the new Nation.
  We are arriving at a time when record numbers of people are dying. We 
heard today in our Judiciary hearing, I believe it was 144 Americans 
each day are dying of drug overdoses.
  Who dies of a drug overdose?
  People without hope, people who are drawn to drugs to provide a good, 
warm feeling.
  We have more military members killing themselves than at any time 
probably in any nation's history. I don't know that for sure, but it is 
just hard to imagine a time in any nation's history when so many of its 
veterans are taking their own lives, a time when so many of our active 
military have taken their own lives.
  Obviously, as people have said over the years, that is a permanent 
solution to a temporary problem, and it is the act of someone without 
hope.
  So we know, regardless of whether people accepted Christian beliefs 
or not, Christianity, throughout our Nation's founding, provided hope. 
The Bible provided hope for those who were slaves through the 1700s and 
1800s. So many were Christians, and it was the Bible, it was those 
wonderful spirituals, it was Scripture that gave them hope to endure 
and get through the horrors of slavery.
  Though Abraham Lincoln bragged in his early twenties about being an 
infidel and not believing in God, Steve Mansfield, in his book in the 
last 5 years or so about Lincoln's struggle with God, documents his 
going from being an infidel to a point where, as President, he read 
Scripture constantly.
  Dr. Rufus Fears, a brilliant history professor at the University of 
Oklahoma, asked me once: You know why Lincoln's speeches are so good 
and touch our hearts?
  And I said: I don't know. They are just really well-worded. They are 
great speeches.
  He said: No. He was reading so much Scripture by that point in his 
life, like the Gettysburg Address, he wrote his speeches as if they 
were Scripture. His words provided hope because he referenced Scripture 
so much.
  And whether atheist, agnostic, Muslim, Buddhist, whatever, so many 
have a general knowledge of what Christians believe, and it is very 
basic. God, according to Genesis, the Old Testament, He created the 
world, created the universe, created man and woman. Basically, we got 
the Bible as an owner's manual, giving us important history so that we 
could get a good look at what works and what doesn't, and what the 
owner expects, and how we can live the most joyous and hopeful life 
even through terrible, perilous times.
  Christianity goes on and, in the New Testament, points to the belief 
that the Old Testament, as we refer to it, points to the Messiah coming 
to be born in Bethlehem. So many of the prophecies about the Messiah to 
come. Even if one believes Jesus was not the Messiah, incredible that 
He could fulfill those prophecies the way He did.
  And Christians, as people of most religions understand, believe what 
John 3:16 says: ``For God so loved the world, that He gave His only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life.''
  So, clearly, Christian religion is based completely on love; that God 
so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, who was perfect, 
unblemished with sins of the Earth. And only something--someone 
unblemished could take away the sins of the world.
  And the additional exclamation point that makes clear that 
Christianity is a religion based on love: it was made clear by Jesus 
himself when He was asked by the lawyer, naturally: What's the greatest 
commandment?

[[Page 9987]]

  He said: love God, and the others like it. Love each other. And on 
those two commands hang all the law and the prophets.
  If you were to go about outlining the Ten Commandments, they easily 
fall under those two headings: Love God, love each other.
  But then Jesus also made clear: Greater love hath no one than this, 
that a man lay down his life for his friends.
  And Jesus knew, because whether you believe he was the fulfillment of 
all the prophecies from the Old Testament or not, He could have 
escaped. He made no effort. He gave himself out of love.
  It is easy to say He is either a liar, or He is a lunatic, or He is 
exactly what He said. But his acts were based on love. He gave his life 
for a world that needed an unblemished lamb.

                              {time}  1800

  With that background, Mr. Speaker--and, of course, the Supreme Court 
outlined it much more thoroughly in the late 1800s as it came to the 
conclusion well after the horrid case of Dred Scott, when the court 
analyzed and made clear, determined, pronounced: Even though everyone 
in the United States is not a Christian, this is a Christian Nation.
  And everything that the Court called into view in their decision 
testified to that fact, as the Court pronounced.
  Now, so why am I going into this?
  It is because we have hit what may be as low a point as we have ever 
hit in Congress. When Russell Vought was being questioned, on the same 
day, another person named Comey was testifying here on Capitol Hill. 
Russell Vought was being questioned by Senators so they could determine 
how they wanted to vote on whether or not he could fill a role in the 
administration. This low point in our Nation's history has to rank down 
there as one of our low points.
  When so much throughout our history has testified to the fact that 
Christianity was such an important part of our foundation, of 
everything that has been good in America, the ending of slavery, driven 
and guided by churches. Sure, there were some atheists involved. The 
revolution following The Great Awakening, 1730s and 1740s, ended up 
yielding a revolution that produced the greatest country in the history 
of the world by virtue of the opportunities, by virtue of the 
protections for freedom-loving people around the world, by virtue of, 
you know, the opportunities and the assets, and that a country would 
ultimately arise where the number one health problem for the Nation's 
poor was obesity. With more opportunities, more assets, more freedoms, 
even then Solomon's Israel--incredible country with many religions--
celebrated here in the United States.
  But as General Jay Garner was told when he was in Iraq after Saddam 
Hussein was driven out--he has told me twice--actually, three times has 
said it when I heard him speaking back in 2004. I called him. He 
reiterated it. He told me again in last September. Yes, I remember it 
correctly. He talked to a direct descendant of Mohammed in Iraq about 
what kind of government the U.S. should help Iraq have. I will contend 
we shouldn't be about nation building, but that was his order and that 
is what he was doing.
  And he said that this descendant of Mohammed with a black turban said 
he was going to explain in his native tongue, because they were 
recording it. And then after he finished, he said: Now, let me just 
give you, in a nutshell, what I told you we need here for a government 
in Iraq. We need a government formed by Iraqis, a government composed 
of Iraqis, and a government based on a constitution which is based on 
the teachings of Jesus.
  A descendant of Mohammed told Jay Garner that the best hope for a 
country was a constitution based on the teachings of Jesus, because 
basically those teachings of Jesus are the only way in which a nation 
can allow freedom of religion.
  No matter which religion or agnosticism, atheism, whatever religion, 
it is not going to be able to truly allow freedom of religion unless it 
is based on the teachings of Jesus. And that is what this insightful 
descendant of Mohammed in Iraq told retired General Jay Garner.
  So we get to 2017, a hearing on the same day Comey testified, this 
appointee nominee by President Trump, Russell Vought, a great man, a 
fine man, had his Christian beliefs perverted, twisted into something 
that was represented to be hateful. It is a religion based on the love 
of God and the love of His Son that would give his life for others.
  Senator Sanders said: ``Let me get to this issue that has bothered me 
and bothered many other people. And that is in the piece that I 
referred to that you wrote for the publication called `Resurgent.' You 
wrote, ``Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not 
know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ, His Son, and they 
stand condemned.''
  Senator Sanders then went on and said: ``Do you believe that 
statement is Islamophobic?''
  Mr. Vought replied: ``Absolutely not, Senator. I am a Christian, and 
I believe in a Christian set of principles based on my faith. That 
post, as I stated in the questionnaire to this committee, was to defend 
my alma mater, Wheaton College, a Christian school that has a statement 
of faith that includes the centrality of Jesus Christ for salvation, 
and . . .''
  Senator Sanders interrupts: ``I apologize. Forgive me, we just don't 
have a lot of time. Do you believe people in the Muslim religion stand 
condemned? Is that your view?''
  Mr. Vought relied: ``Again, Senator, I am a Christian, and I wrote 
that piece in accordance with the statement of faith at Wheaton 
College.''
  Senator Sanders said: ``I understand that. I don't know how many 
Muslims there are in America. Maybe a couple million. Are you 
suggesting that all those people stand condemned? What about Jew? Do 
they stand condemned, too?''
  Mr. Vought replied: ``Senator, I'm a Christian . . .''
  Senator Sanders at this point is shouting: ``I understand you are a 
Christian, but this country are made of people who are not just--I 
understand that Christianity is the majority religion, but there are 
other people of different religions in this country and around the 
world. In your judgment, do you think that people who are not 
Christians are going to be condemned?''
  Mr. Vought replied: ``Thank you for probing on that question. As a 
Christian, I believe that all individuals are made in the image of God 
and are worthy of dignity and respect regardless of their religious 
beliefs. I believe that, as a Christian, that is how I should treat all 
individuals . . .''
  Senator Sanders responded: ``You think your statement that you put 
into that publication, they do not know God because they rejected Jesus 
Christ, His Son, and they stand condemned, do you think that is 
respectful of other religions?''
  Mr. Vought said: ``Senator, I wrote a post based on being a Christian 
and attending a Christian school that has a statement of faith that 
speaks clearly in regard to the centrality of Jesus Christ in 
salvation.''
  Senator Sanders said: ``I would simply say, Mr. Chairman, that this 
nominee is really not someone who this country is supposed to be 
about.''
  And that came from--the quotes came from an article in the National 
Review quoting from the hearing itself.
  That is why I say, Mr. Speaker, this may be the low point for hope in 
America when a sitting Senator condemns someone who is simply quoting 
from the teachings of Jesus, teachings that even a descendant of 
Mohammed knew was helpful in creating a great nation.
  We have come a long way from the hope that abounded within the 
founders of this country, within the hope of those who fought to bring 
about the end of the horrendous, hideous practice of slavery, where 
human beings treated brother and sister human beings with chains in 
bondage.
  And now we come to a point that I feared--and I brought it up when 
hate crime legislation was discussed--that the day would come when the 
religion of the world based on the love of God

[[Page 9988]]

and the love of Jesus Christ would be twisted to the point that it 
would be called hateful.
  Jesus said: ``I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to 
the Father except through me.''
  He is either a liar or a lunatic or he is exactly who he said he was. 
But that is not hateful. It is not hateful to believe in a religion 
where you want to share the joy and the hope that comes from it.
  One of the results, maybe it is a--not a result, but more of an 
unfortunate situation that exists. When you take away the hope of the 
Christian religion, condemn people for believing Jesus is the hope, as 
he said he was, or as our friend, the late Chuck Colson, pointed out: 
``Our hope is not going to arrive on Air Force One.''
  He believed the hope was in Jesus.
  And now we have someone who is declared totally inappropriate to be a 
government official because he believes the teachings of Jesus. It is 
not hateful to believe the teachings of Jesus. In fact, someone--I know 
I have Jewish friends who have said: I thought Christians blamed Jews 
for killing Jesus.
  Well, the truth is that anyone who is a true Christian, if they blame 
Jews or anyone else for the death of Jesus, they are not a Christian. 
They don't understand the belief that Jesus died for me and for anyone 
who has done wrong in this life.

                              {time}  1815

  So it is a sad day, it is a sad week, and it is a sad month to look 
how far we have come from the hope that was once so prevalent. Now we 
are in a society where suicide is rampant--144 drug overdoses a day, 
and that doesn't count all of the suicides by veterans and Active Duty 
military.
  Christianity is a religion of love. May God grant wisdom to any 
Senator who thinks otherwise.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________