[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[February 3, 2005]
[Pages 121-123]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast
February 3, 2005

    Thank you for the warm welcome. You know, last night was a prayerful 
occasion. [Laughter] I noticed a lot of Members were praying that I 
would keep my speech short. [Laughter] I want to thank you for getting 
up so early in the morning. You resisted temptation to sleep in. Thanks 
for having us.

    I appreciate Jo Ann Emerson's leadership 
on this prayer breakfast. I want to thank Elaine Chao for her prayer and for representing my Cabinet, and I want 
to thank all my Cabinet officers who are here today. I appreciate the 
leadership of the Congress, Senator Frist and 
Leader Pelosi, Leader DeLay. I want to thank the Senators who spoke and appreciate the 
Congresspeople who are on the stage here as well.
    I want to thank His Excellency Marc Ravalomanana, from the--Madagascar, the President of that great 
country, and welcome to our country, Mr. President. Tambien, mi amigo, 
the President of Honduras, Ricardo Maduro, 
welcome. Glad you're here.
    I want to thank Wintley Phipps for his 
beautiful music. Sergeant Norman, your 
prayers worked. [Laughter] You did a fantastic job. Pretty darn eloquent 
for a person from Wyoming. [Laughter] Don't tell the Vice 
President. [Laughter]
    Tony Hall, as you can tell, I obviously 
made the right choice to send somebody--

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really good job. And Janet, thank you for your 
service as well.
    Laura and I are really honored to be here. 
It's a fabulous moment in our Nation's Capital. This morning reminds us 
that prayer has always been one of the great equalizers in American 
life. Here we thank God for his great blessings in one voice, regardless 
of our backgrounds. We recognize in one another the spark of the Divine 
that gives all human beings their inherent dignity and worth, regardless 
of religion.
    Through fellowship and prayer, we acknowledge that all power is 
temporary and must ultimately answer to His purposes. And we know that 
affirming this truth is particularly appropriate in the heart of a 
Capital built upon the promise of self-government.
    No one understood this better than Abraham Lincoln. In November 
1864, after being reelected to his second term, Lincoln declared he 
would be the most ``shallow and self-conceited blockhead'' on Earth if 
he ever thought he could do his job ``without the wisdom which comes 
from God and not from men.'' Throughout a terrible Civil War, he issued 
many exhortations to prayer, calling upon the American people to humble 
themselves before their Maker and to serve all those in need.
    Our faith-based institutions display that same spirit of prayer and 
service in their work every day. Lincoln's call is still heard 
throughout the land. People of faith have no corner on compassion. But 
people of faith need compassion if they are to be true to their most 
cherished beliefs. For prayer means more than presenting God with our 
plans and desires; prayer also means opening ourselves to God's 
priorities, especially by hearing the cry of the poor and the less 
fortunate.
    When the tsunamis hit those on the far side of the world, the 
American Government rightly responded. But the American response is so 
much more than what our Government agencies did. Look at the list of 
organizations bringing relief to the people from Indonesia to Sri Lanka. 
They're full of religious names: Samaritan's Purse, American Jewish 
World Service, Baptist World Aid, the Catholic Medical Mission Board. 
They do a superb job delivering relief across the borders and continents 
and cultures.
    Today, millions of people across this Earth get the help they need 
only because our faith-based institutions live the commandment to ``love 
thy neighbor as thyself.'' Often, that means remembering the people 
forgotten or overlooked in a busy world, those in Africa suffering from 
HIV/AIDS, young girls caught up in the global sex trade, victims of 
religious persecution.
    In these great moral challenges of our times, our churches, 
synagogues, mosques, and temples are providing the vision that is 
changing lives. I've seen some of their miracles up close. Last June, I 
met Veronica Braewell, a 20-year-old 
refugee from Liberia. As a 13-year-old child, Veronica witnessed armed 
men killing children in horrific ways. As she fled this madness, 
Veronica left--was left for dead atop a pile of bodies, until her 
grandmother found her. In August 2003, Catholic Social Agency helped 
resettle her in Pennsylvania, where Veronica is now completing the 
circle of compassion by working in a home for elderly in Bethlehem, 
Pennsylvania, and studying to become a certified nursing assistant.
    When Veronica told me of her story, it 
was through the kind of tears no young woman should ever know. And when 
she finished, she dried her eyes and said, ``Thank you, Mr. President, 
for my freedom.'' But I told her, it wasn't me she needed to thank; she 
needed to thank the good hearts of the United States of America. The 
America that embraced Veronica would not be possible without the prayer 
that drives and leads and sustains our armies of compassion.
    I thank you for the fine tradition you continue here today and hope 
that as a

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nation we will never be too proud to commend our cares to Providence and 
trust in the goodness of His plans.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 8:59 a.m. at the Washington Hilton Hotel. 
In his remarks, he referred to speaker and entertainer Wintley Phipps; 
Sgt. Douglas Norman, USA, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment; and Ambassador Tony 
P. Hall, U.S. Mission to United Nations Agencies for Food and 
Agriculture, and his wife, Janet.