Food for thought, or food for unstinting aversion to thought

H. CON. RES. 94

Recognizing the public need for reconciliation and healing, urging the United States to unite in seeking God, and recommending that the Nation's leaders call for days of prayer.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 4, 1999

Mrs. CHENOWETH (for herself, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. DELAY, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. COBURN, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. HAYES, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. METCALF, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. PITTS, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, and Mr. WALDEN of Oregon) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Recognizing the public need for reconciliation and healing, urging the United States to unite in seeking God, and recommending that the Nation's leaders call for days of prayer.

Whereas it is the necessary duty of the people of this Nation not only to humbly offer up our prayers and needs to Almighty God, but also in a solemn and public manner to confess our shortcomings;

Whereas it is incumbent on all public bodies, as well as private persons, to revere and rely on God Almighty for our day-to-day existence, as well as to follow the charge to love and serve one another;

Whereas we have witnessed the rejection of God's love through gratuitous violence and mayhem, hate, abuse, exploitation, abandonment, and other harms, much of which has been directed at the most vulnerable of our society, our children;

Whereas oppression, violence, cultural and ethnic division, strife, and murder have stained our communities and the world;

Whereas we are compelled to remind the people of the United States of the events that currently burden the hearts of the people, including--

(1) the senseless murder of our young people in Jonesboro, Arkansas, West Paduca, Kentucky, Springfield, Oregon, Pearl, Mississippi, and Littleton, Colorado;

(2) the brutal deaths of individuals by dragging, beating, burning, and exposure in Texas, Alabama, and Wyoming; and

(3) the civil unrest, systematic genocide, and religious and political persecution in Yugoslavia, Tibet, Turkey, China, Rwanda, and Sudan;

Whereas despite all, we as a Nation have been blessed with great prosperity and an unprecedented period of economic stability, for which we owe a debt of gratitude; and

Whereas in previous times of public need and moral crisis, the Congress and the President have recommended the observance of a day of solemn prayer, fasting, and humiliation: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress--

(1) recognizes the unique opportunity that the dawn of a millennium presents to a people in a Nation under God to humble and reconcile themselves with God and with one another;

(2) urges all Americans to unite in seeking the face of God through humble prayer and fasting, persistently asking God to send spiritual strength and a renewed sense of humility to the Nation so that hate and indifference may be replaced with love and compassion, and so that the suffering in the Nation and the world may be healed by the hand of God; and

(3) recommends that the leaders in national, State, and local governments, in business, and in the clergy appoint, and call the people they serve to observe, a day of solemn prayer, fasting, and humiliation before God.