IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 790 

Expressing support for designation of July 2, 2016, as the ‘‘National Day 

of Personal Reflection and Repentance’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2016 

Mr. LAMBORN (for himself, Mrs. HARTZLER, and Mr. FRANKS of Arizona) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Government Reform 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for designation of July 2, 2016, as the 

‘‘National Day of Personal Reflection and Repentance’’. 

Whereas, on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the language of the Declaration of Independence, 

and we now annually celebrate July 4 as Independence 

Day; 

Whereas two days earlier on July 2, 1776, Congress voted to 

dissolve all ties with Great Britain and become an independent Nation; 

Whereas John Adams said that July 2 ‘‘ought to be commemorated as a day of deliverance by solemn act of devotion to God Almighty’’; 


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Whereas this practice of offering ‘‘solemn acts of devotion to 

God Almighty’’ become an oft-repeated precedent across 

the centuries of our history; 

Whereas President John Adams declared April 13, 1798, to 

be observed by the people of the United States as a day 

of public Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer, as well as 

April 25, 1799; 

Whereas President James Madison declared June 9, 1812, as 

a day to be observed by the people of the United States 

as a day of public Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer, as 

well as July 23, 1813, and November 16, 1814; 

Whereas by 1815, there had been 794 separate calls for days 

of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer issued by colonial, 

State, and Federal governments; 

Whereas national leaders after that time continued that tradition, including when President John Tyler called for a 

Day of Fasting and Prayer on May 14, 1841; as did 

President Zachary Taylor on August 3, 1849; President 

James Buchanan on January 4, 1861; President Abraham Lincoln on September 26, 1861, April 30, 1863, and 

August 4, 1864; President Andrew Johnson on May 25, 

1865; President Chester A. Arthur on September 26, 

1881; President Woodrow Wilson on May 30, 1918; and 

so forth; 

Whereas Congress itself separately issued eight calls to Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer during the American Revolution and continued the practice across the generations, 

up to and including the congressional call for a Day of 

Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer on April 30, 1974; and 

Whereas President Lincoln, in his April 30, 1863, call for a 

Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer, expressed timeVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:09 Jun 17, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR790.IH HR790

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less sentiments that remain applicable to this day, including that ‘‘it is the duty of nations as well as of men to 

own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; 

to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will 

lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime 

truths announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by 

all history that those nations only are blessed whose God 

is the Lord. . . . We have been preserved these many 

years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power, as no other nation has ever 

grown. But we have forgotten God; we have forgotten the 

gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have 

vainly imagined, in deceitfulness of our hearts, that all 

these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom 

and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, 

we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of 

redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the 

God that made us! It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national 

sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness’’; and 

Whereas we have failed to respond personally and collectively 

with sacrifice and uncompromised commitment to the 

unmet needs of our fellowman both at home and abroad, 

and as a people we have become so absorbed with the 

selfish pursuits of pleasure and profit that we have blinded ourselves to God’s standard of justice and righteousness for this society: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives, in fol2 lowing the numerous wholesome and positive examples set 

3 by previous Congresses and presidents— 


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1 (1) supports the designation of a ‘‘National 

2 Day of Personal Reflection and Repentance’’; and 

3 (2) calls upon the people of the Nation to hum4 ble themselves as they see fit before our Creator to 

5 repent of our national sins and acknowledge our 

6 firm dependence upon Him. 

Æ 


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