Honoring The Reverend Billy Graham

Floor Speech

HONORING THE REVEREND BILLY GRAHAM -- (Extensions of Remarks - June 06, 2007)

* Mr. SHULER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize an important milestone in the historic ministry of the Reverend Billy Graham. On Thursday, May 31, 1,500 of Reverend Graham's friends gathered for the dedication of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. Among those friends were all three of our living former Presidents. Reverend Graham's ministry has touched more people in this world than could ever be able to attend such a dedication.

* I am honored to have Reverend and Mrs. Graham as two of my constituents in Western North Carolina. The Grahams moved to Montreat many decades ago, and have made an indelible mark on the area. I have the utmost respect for Reverend Graham.

* The newly dedicated Billy Graham Library is appropriately built in the shape of a barn, which no doubt reminds Reverend Graham of his childhood on a nearby dairy farm. When Billy Graham was born some 88 years ago no one but God knew the influence he would have on the world.

* Billy Graham has ministered to hundreds of millions of people across the world, over 210 million of those contacts coming through the form of live audiences. Reverend Graham has ministered to Congressmen, celebrities, and heads of state. He has ministered to people without regard to their wealth, political affiliation, social status, or skin color; and he did it before such things were popular. Billy Graham has stood for what is right throughout his long career. He paid Reverend Martin Luther King's bail on numerous occasions, refused to speak in Little Rock while school segregation was being insisted upon by the state government, and he would not visit South Africa during Apartheid until The government would allow a desegregated audience.

* Reverend Graham commented at last week's dedication that ``I feel like I've been at my own funeral, listening to all these speeches. I feel terribly small and humbled by it all.'' That statement explains the character of Reverend Graham better than anything I can say.

* Madam Speaker, the legacy of Billy Graham will live on long after he is gone, and I am proud to congratulate him on the opening of this new library which will help to carry his legacy forward. Billy Graham has served his Lord for a lifetime, and it is an honor to serve Reverend Graham in the United States Congress. May God continue to bless Billy Graham.

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