Recognizing Faith Month

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, tonight, I am incredibly privileged to join the patriots at Concerned Women for America for the third year in a row by recognizing April as Faith Month. It is a time when we can set aside our differences and talk about the most important aspect of our lives: our faith.

Since our founding, in America, we have believed that God governs in the affairs of men. Actually, every day here in Congress, we acknowledge God by opening Congress with daily prayer.

It was my faith in God that first inspired me to run for public office. As a Christian, my faith is at the heart of everything I do. Before any major decision and during moments of conflict, I ask for God's guidance and wisdom to guide me in accordance with his will.

For my husband, Chris, and I, our Christian faith was central to raising our seven children. Now, they are making faith a central pillar for the upbringing of our 20 grandchildren. We also put our Christian faith first in running our family farm, seeking to honor God as stewards of the land and everything he has blessed us with.

Faith was key to our Nation's founding. In fact, the Pilgrims came to the new world in search of religious freedom, making the voyage across the Atlantic to the shores of Massachusetts. The right to publicly express their faith was so important that they risked their very lives.

Contrary to public opinion, our Founders did not believe America should be an atheistic society that shuns God. Benjamin Franklin called for prayer at the Constitutional Convention when it seemed destined for failure. The convention then proceeded smoothly, and a few weeks later, the delegates adopted the Constitution that endures to this day.

John Adams believed that our Republic could not function without faith. In fact, he said: ``Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.''

Thomas Jefferson attended and promoted a church service in this very building every Sunday.

Our Founders never meant for faith to be separate from public life. Quite the opposite, they intended for faith to play a central role in our Nation.

In Matthew 17:20, Jesus said: ``If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.''

I believe faith is what is needed in this body today. We need faith to overcome our mountains of division so we can do what is right for our country and the American people.

I am humbled to share my faith on the House floor and recognize that this sacred right has been preserved by those who have selflessly laid down their lives for our freedom.

I am honored to share this Special Order with several other friends and colleagues in this body.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, before I yield to Mrs. Harshbarger, I thank her for being a co-chair of the Congressional Family Caucus. We know two things made our country not only good but great, and that is faith and family.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, as I yield to my friend, Congressman Andrew Clyde, I thank him for making it obvious that his faith is so important to him by being such a principled and courageous man in how he handles his opportunity here as a Congressman.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, the freedom to share our faith is not something we should take lightly. To preserve that right, we need to exercise it.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Allen for his words. I can give testimony that he is very faithful to share the prayer requests of other Members, and we pray over them.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is hard to constrain ourselves when we are talking about our faith and the impact that the faith of many Americans who have gone before us have had on our country and the world.

We know that faith without works is dead, and when you consider, Mr. Speaker, just the amount of missionaries that have been sent from our country into the world, it is very profound. It is something to really celebrate tonight.

It is a real privilege to meet regularly with Mr. Webster and another group to pray for our country on a weekly basis.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. I thank my friends and colleagues for participating in this year's Special Order on Faith Month.

None of us knows what tomorrow holds, but we can rest assured that our sovereign God is watching over our Nation.

America has endured nearly 250 years, and I believe the secret to our greatness has been our faith in God.

Through vicious wars, economic hardships, and conflicts that threaten to rip us apart, God has graciously preserved the United States of America as a shining city on a hill.

As 2 Chronicles 7:14 says: ``If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.''

If we truly humble ourselves, pray, repent, and turn from our sins, I believe that God will hear our prayers, forgive us, and heal our deeply divided land. We are never beyond the reach of His grace.

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