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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 587 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 587

 Declaring June 6, 2008, a national day of prayer and rededication for 
 the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and their mission.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 5, 2008

    Mr. DeMint (for himself and Mr. Hatch) submitted the following 
    resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Declaring June 6, 2008, a national day of prayer and rededication for 
 the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and their mission.

Whereas public prayer and national days of prayer are a long-standing American 
        tradition to bolster national resolve and summon the national will for 
        victory;
Whereas the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in 
        forming a nation in 1775;
Whereas Benjamin Franklin proposed that the Constitutional Convention begin each 
        day with a prayer;
Whereas General George Washington, as he prepared his troops for battle with the 
        British in May 1776, ordered them to pray for the campaign ahead, that 
        it would please the Almighty to ``prosper the arms of the united 
        colonies'' and ``establish the peace and freedom of America upon a solid 
        and lasting foundation'';
Whereas President Abraham Lincoln, in declaring in the Gettysburg Address that 
        ``this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom'', 
        rededicated the Nation to ensuring that ``government of the people, by 
        the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth'';
Whereas, as 73,000 Americans stormed the beaches at Normandy, France, on June 6, 
        1944 (D-Day), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt went on the national 
        radio to lead the Nation in prayer for their success;
Whereas, in his D-Day radio prayer, President Roosevelt did not declare a single 
        day of special prayer, but instead compelled all Americans to ``devote 
        themselves in a continuance of prayer'';
Whereas the words of President Roosevelt calling on all Americans to ``devote 
        themselves in a continuance of prayer'' for American soldiers, sailors, 
        airmen, and Marines in harm's way are just as appropriate today as they 
        were in June 1944;
Whereas, with our troops once again facing danger abroad and the Nation looking 
        for support here at home, the time is ripe to once again heed the words 
        and prayerful wisdom contained in the D-Day radio address of the 20\th\ 
        century's greatest Democrat president as he implored the Nation: ``as we 
        rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of 
        prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts'';
Whereas more than 300,000 men and women of the United States Armed Forces are 
        deployed worldwide today;
Whereas about 200,000 of these troops are engaged in armed combat in Iraq and 
        Afghanistan against determined and ruthless enemies;
Whereas more than 4,500 brave Americans have been killed, and over 42,000 have 
        been wounded, while fighting the War on Terror;
Whereas, because the War on Terror will be long and hard, because success is not 
        likely to come with rushing speed, and because the sacrifice will 
        continue to be immeasurable in human terms, it is appropriate to make 
        the anniversary of D-Day, June 6, a national day of prayer and 
        rededication for the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and 
        their mission; and
Whereas the D-Day radio address of President Roosevelt is the inspiration and 
        model for this annual national day of prayer and rededication: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) June 6, 2008, will be a national day of prayer and 
        rededication for the men and women of the United States Armed 
        Forces and their mission; and
            (2) in encouraging our fellow Americans to join us in this 
        national day of prayer and rededication for our troops and 
        their mission, by reflecting on President Roosevelt's D-Day 
        radio prayer, as follows:
``My Fellow Americans:
Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at 
that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were 
crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to 
pass with success thus far.
And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a 
mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and 
our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to 
their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the 
enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with 
rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by 
Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will 
triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest--until the 
victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's 
souls will be shaken with the violences of war.
For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not 
for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to 
liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill 
among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their 
return to the haven of home.
Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy 
heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.
And for us at home--fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and 
brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever 
with them--help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed 
faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.
Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of 
special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I 
ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we 
rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of 
prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
Give us strength, too--strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the 
contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our 
armed forces.
And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear 
sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever 
they may be.
And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; 
faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness 
of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, 
of temporal matters of but fleeting moment--let not these deter us in 
our unconquerable purpose.
With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our 
enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. 
Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into 
a world unity that will spell a sure peace--a peace invulnerable to the 
schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in 
freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.
Thy will be done, Almighty God.
Amen.''.
                                 <all>
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