[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[June 6, 1991]
[Pages 614-616]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 614]]


Remarks at the Annual Southern Baptist Convention in Atlanta, Georgia
June 6, 1991

    Thank you all very, very much. Thank all of you. And Dr. Chapman, 
Morris, a fellow Texan, pride of Wichita Falls and the rest of the 
country. And Dr. Bennett, I salute you, sir. You came down today with 
one who's serving well our principles overseas, and that is a son of 
Atlanta, Paul Coverdell, Director of the Peace Corps, who's with us--one 
of Georgia's favorite sons. I salute him.
    The last time--and we were talking about this on the long way up the 
stairs over here; this is a tremendous auditorium--the last time I 
attended a Southern Baptist Convention was in 1982. Too long ago. But 
never so long that I'd lose touch with the rock-solid values of this 
community, qualities that make it uniquely American. Strong but 
compassionate, proud but not boastful, decent and giving, and as Morris 
said, believing strongly in family, bearing an enduring belief in 
freedom, an abiding faith in the love of God and, yes, in the power of 
prayer.
    Everywhere you turn, it seems, American values are ascendant around 
the world. Look at Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union: there, places of 
worship long stood silent and subdued, forced underground by the iron 
fist of the state. But now, the churches, the synagogues, and the 
mosques buzz with life, reclaimed by the people, joyfully emerging to 
proclaim their faith anew.
    In Africa and Asia and Latin America, your ministries flourish and 
spread the word of God around the world. And even in the heat of the 
Persian Gulf, nearly 200 Southern Baptist chaplains reported that well 
over 1,000 conversions among the service men and women of Operation 
Desert Storm had taken place, and some solemnified with poncho-lined 
holes in the sand serving as makeshift baptistries.
    Southern Baptists have been doing quiet but crucial work, engaging 
in countless acts of kindness and compassion, spreading the word of God, 
demonstrating the profound power of religious freedom. And you've held 
to faith where others may have lost it, gained in numbers where others 
haven't, and made a difference where others couldn't. You prove that the 
flower of faith can bloom anywhere; that no matter how hard the journey, 
no matter how humble a surroundings, God's love provides.
    During the Gulf crisis, Barbara and I, and much of this nation--I 
think, in this instance, most of this nation--found guidance and comfort 
in prayer. And throughout the struggle, your prayers sustained us. And 
so, I want to thank you all and ask that you keep--as Morris generously 
said--those in the decisionmaking process, keep us in your prayers.
    You know, I've confessed this to Dr. Chapman and a few others, 
leaders in the Southern Baptist movement. And for me, prayer has always 
been important, but quite personal. You know us Episcopalians. 
[Laughter] And like a lot of people, I've worried a little bit about 
shedding tears in public or the emotion of it. But as Barbara and I 
prayed at Camp David before the air war began, we were thinking about 
those young men and women overseas. And I had the tears start down the 
cheeks, and our minister smiled back. And I no longer worried how it 
looked to others. Here we go.
    And I think that, like a lot of others who had positions or 
responsibility in sending someone else's kid to war, we realize that in 
prayer what mattered is how it might have seemed to God.
    Above all, after all the months of praying and asking for God's 
guidance, I thought it important to thank God for sustaining our nation 
through this crisis. And that led to 3 National Days of Thanksgiving and 
Prayer, which I really believed strengthened our wonderful nation.
    You know, for too long, too many have worried that we Americans have 
weakened the two fundamental pillars supporting our society, our 
families and our faith. But while the cynics may sense some kind of 
religious resurgence over the last 2 or 3 years, they've always been a 
lagging indicator of

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American life. Most of us have never had to get our faith in God back, 
because we never lost it. In a recent survey, 40 percent of Americans 
named ``faith in God'' the most important part of their lives. Only 2 
percent selected ``a job that pays well.''
    In this bicentennial year of the Bill of Rights, we would do well to 
pause and reflect on religion's roots in our society, and our society's 
roots in religion. The Founding Fathers thought long and carefully about 
the role of religion and government in our society. And it's no accident 
that among all of the freedoms guaranteed by the first amendment--
freedoms of speech, of the press, of assembly, of petition--the first 
was the freedom of religion. And that's why the story of a little girl 
named Monette Rethford, out in Norman, Oklahoma, is now getting national 
attention.
    A fifth-grader in public elementary school, Monette liked to read 
her Bible under a shade tree during recess. No teachers involved, no 
disruption of the school activities. Just Monette and then, from time to 
time, a handful of friends who joined her voluntarily to share their 
faith and discuss how it touched their daily lives. Yet school officials 
told Monette that her prayer group was illegal on school property, an 
``unlawful assembly.'' They forgot that the first amendment was written 
to protect people against religious intrusions by the state, not to 
protect the state from voluntary religious activities by the people.
    I would add this: that the day a child's quiet, voluntary group 
during recess becomes an ``unlawful assembly,'' something's wrong.
    In that spirit, once again I call on the United States Congress to 
pass a constitutional amendment permitting voluntary prayer back into 
our nation's schools. You see, let's put people first and allow them the 
freedom to follow their faith.
    Putting people first also means making sure government allows people 
to make their own decisions. And that means giving parents and families 
the right to choose the kind of child care that they want for their 
kids. Choice in child care.
    Just today we are publishing regulations that will provide the first 
vouchers for child care. And finally, low-income parents will have the 
chance to choose where their kids get child care, including religious 
settings and with religious instruction. Just on my way over here this 
morning, here in Atlanta, I visited a church-based child-care center 
where children receive first-class care regardless of their parents' 
religion, background, or income. We fought a long time to preserve 
choice for parents. And today it truly becomes a reality, at least in 
child care.
    We want to extend the concept of choice to include schools. Every 
family should have the freedom to choose a school for a child. Our 
efforts for choice in schools seek to put power in parents' hands. We 
trust them to make the right decisions for their kids. And some argue 
that choice will make bad schools worse. Our new Secretary of Education 
doesn't agree with that, and I don't agree with that. I am confident 
that choice will make even the bad schools better. They'll have to 
compete.
    And something more--one of our national education goals: We believe 
that kids should be safe to walk the streets, any streets. Schools 
should also be free from the fear of crime and the despair of drugs. And 
if you detect a note of frustration in what I'm about to say, you're a 
good psychiatrist, because it's true.
    Back on March 6th, I challenged the Congress of the United States to 
pass a tough crime bill in 100 days to keep our streets safe. And yet, 
the leadership has failed to make crime a priority issue. We submitted 
our first crime bill more than 2 years ago, and nothing has happened. 
Surely the United States Congress can pass a crime bill in what's left 
of that 100 days.
    There's another issue before the Congress: that's the question of 
human life, the question of abortion, a difficult and a deeply emotional 
decision for all Americans. The question--and we've faced it before--is 
whether the American taxpayer should pay for abortions. And honest 
people of good will, I'm sure, differ on this question, but I firmly 
oppose Federal funding of abortions, except where the life of the mother 
is endangered. Since 1981 the Federal Government 
has determined that taxpayer funds should be used for abortion only in 
this

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most narrow of circumstances.
    And whatever we've learned over the last few decades, it's clear 
that America is a nation that no longer lacks a moral vocabulary. Ideals 
like decency and virtue are no longer subject to scorn.
    And I'd ask that you hold fast to the Southern Baptist ideal of ``a 
free church in a free state.'' Hold fast to protect--and, Morris, once 
again, in his generous introduction, spoke of this--to protect all 
faiths in freedom, and hold fast to protect our most essential unit of 
life, the family.
    As I look at our social agenda, and as Barbara and I talk about it 
and worry about it in the wonderful setting of the White House, we keep 
saying: What can we do? Privileged as we are to serve this great 
country, what can we do to strengthen family life in America? It is 
essential to our well-being.
    Let me close with a story--well, let me just make a couple of other 
remarks. [Laughter] Not many. I mentioned family, so let's ask ourselves 
in child care and education and crime legislation: Are we doing all we 
can to preserve faith and family? And, if not, we've got to do more. 
Only when we protect and preserve our most cherished ideals and 
institutions, does government by the people serve the people.
    We are, as ever, ``One nation under God.'' No nation better 
reconciles diversity of faith with unity of purpose. And as new 
challenges confront us we must draw on that strength and work to build a 
nation united in its commitment to decency and opportunity, to freedom, 
to family, and to faith.
    Now to this story about a Kurdish family, Mikail and Safiya Dosky, 
who escaped from Iraq over a decade ago. During their perilous journey 
across the Iranian border, they became separated from their 2-year-old 
daughter, Gilawish. Mikail and his wife made it; the child, left behind. 
Their daughter did not make it out.
    After settling in America, Mikail, the father, kept trying to get 
his daughter out of Iraq, even traveling there himself, but to no avail. 
And just a few weeks ago, the dad, Mikail, got a phone call from an 
American helicopter pilot in Turkey, one of our heroes. This pilot had 
been flying supplies to save the lives of these Kurdish refugees when he 
got a note from Gilawish--now, this child, now 18 years old--asking him 
to call her parents in America. He did, and Mikail's friends at the 
First Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, helped him get to Turkey 
and bring his daughter back. And after thousands of miles, thousands of 
days, and thousands of dollars, Mikail and Gilawish arrived in America 
Tuesday night--where years of sorrow were washed away with tears of joy.
    What a testament to the power of faith and hope and love, all of 
which God provides in abundance. In war and peace, as I've mentioned 
above, faith provides our solace, our shield, and our shelter. I 
understand what Lincoln talked about when he said many times he went to 
his knees as President of the United States. And as the Psalmist wrote, 
``God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.'' 
God's light leads us forward. And today, as always, let us pray for His 
continued guidance and His grace.
    Thank all of you for your commitment, your leadership, your love, 
and your prayers. And may God continue to bless this land with freedom 
and peace.
    Thank you all very, very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 11:44 a.m. in the 
                        Georgia World Congress Center. In his remarks, 
                        he referred to Morris Chapman and Harold C. 
                        Bennett, president and executive president of 
                        the Southern Baptist Convention; Paul D. 
                        Coverdell, Director of the Peace Corps; and 
                        Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander. Prior to 
                        attending the convention, the President toured 
                        the child development center at Central 
                        Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.