National Bible Week

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor for me to come to the floor tonight to commemorate the 81st Annual National Bible Week, a week in which we celebrate the tremendous influence of the Bible on the freedoms we enjoy today in America.

In 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared the week of Thanksgiving to be National Bible Week, on the eve of World War II. In the years since, every President has issued a national proclamation, as have many governors and mayors.

The Bible has had a profound impact on my own life as well. When I was an 18-year old freshman at the University of Kansas, I was approached by some people who asked me if I knew what was in the Bible. I said I believed I knew what it was all about; however, I had never read any of it for myself.

The only honest thing I could do at that point was to read it for myself. So when I read the gospel of John, I ended up discovering a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who became my Lord and Savior.

In that gospel, He said, ``I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.''

So we recognize the Bible's powerful message of hope. We cherish the wisdom of the Bible. We acknowledge its profound role in the founding of our country; and we thank God for providing this holy book. It has truly been, as it says, a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

We are here, in keeping with tradition, to recognize National Bible Week.

Mr. Speaker, we have a number of fellow Representatives from all across this great country of ours who want to comment on National Bible Week, on the importance of the Bible to them, to their districts, and to the country.

We will go now first with Mr. Robert Aderholt, and then continue down the list in the order that people arrived here.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, secondly, we have the gentleman from Texas, Representative Babin, and then the gentleman from Mississippi after that.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, next I yield to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Guest).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the gentleman had to say. Tomorrow will be the 81st anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day. That day has lived in infamy.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his words.

Mr. Grothman mentioned John Adams. I have a great quote here from John Quincy Adams, the younger of the two that became President: ``I speak as a man of the world to the men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for sharing that message from the heart, and I appreciate what the Bible has done in his life.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his words.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter) for reminding us of what the reason for the season really is.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those thoughts on this commemoration of National Bible Week.

To conclude, Mr. Speaker, I have two more quotes from other Presidents of the United States.

Ronald Reagan, in his own declaration of National Bible Week when he was in office, said: ``When I took the oath of office, I requested that my mother's Bible be opened to 2nd Chronicles 7:14, which reads, `If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.' This passage expresses my hopes for the future of this Nation and the world.''

Lastly, to make this bipartisan, President Truman said during an address at the Attorney General's Conference on Law Enforcement Problems: ``The fundamental basis of this Nation's law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days.''

If that was true in the late 1940s, that is certainly true today.

He continued: ``If we don't have the proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State.''

I am going to conclude by saying this, Mr. Speaker: It has been an honor and a pleasure to commemorate National Bible Week this evening. I am grateful for all of my colleagues who joined me to honor the Word of God.

The Bible is the single most important book ever written. It has the power to change lives. It has liberated many from oppression by its clear teachings. It is truly an amazing and remarkable piece of writing. It contains pure truth about God, about life, the nature of mankind, and our own hearts as human beings.

I am thankful for the Word of God, the impact that it has had on my life, on the lives of those who have spoken here today, and on the life of our great Nation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source