IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 334 

Recognizing May 2, 2019, as the 31st anniversary of the National Day 

of Prayer established under the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for 

setting aside the first Thursday in May as the date on which the 

National Day of Prayer is celebrated’’, approved May 5, 1988, which 

was signed by President Ronald Reagan on May 5, 1988. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2019 

Mr. LOUDERMILK (for himself, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. 

MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. COLE, Mr. RATCLIFFE, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Ohio, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. WALKER, Mr. BACON, Mr. KELLY of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. 

MARSHALL, Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. ESTES, Mr. 

WOODALL, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. BABIN, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. EMMER, 

Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. TIMMONS, and Mr. WITTMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Oversight and Reform 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing May 2, 2019, as the 31st anniversary of the 

National Day of Prayer established under the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for setting aside the first Thursday in May as the date on which the National Day 

of Prayer is celebrated’’, approved May 5, 1988, which 

was signed by President Ronald Reagan on May 5, 1988. 

Whereas section 119 of title 36, United States Code, states 

that ‘‘The President shall issue each year a proclamation 

designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day 


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of Prayer on which the people of the United States may 

turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in 

groups, and as individuals.’’; 

Whereas, May 2, 2019, marks the 31st anniversary of the 

National Day of Prayer established under the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for setting aside the first Thursday in May as the date on which the National Day of 

Prayer is celebrated’’, approved May 5, 1988 (Public 

Law 100–307; 102 Stat. 456) (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘Public Law 100–307’’), which was signed by 

President Ronald Reagan on May 5, 1988, and later 

codified as section 119 of title 36, United States Code; 

Whereas, as Senator Jesse Helms stated on the day the vehicle that would become Public Law 100–307 passed the 

Senate— 

(1) ‘‘Designating the first Thursday in May as the 

National Day of Prayer allows the people of the United 

States to plan and prepare to intercede as a corporate 

body on behalf of the Nation and its leaders from year 

to year with certainty.’’; and 

(2) ‘‘[T]he magnitude of America’s problems, within 

and without the country, evidence a need for divine healing and guidance.’’; 

Whereas, as Representative Tony Hall stated on the day the 

vehicle that would become Public Law 100–307 passed 

the House of Representatives, ‘‘This will help to bring 

more certainty to the scheduling of events related to the 

National Day of Prayer, and permit more effective longrange planning. For the past 7 years, the day has been 

observed in May, but before this period it was observed 

at different times of the year. Clarifying legislation is 


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needed to ensure consistent and dependable observance of 

the National Day of Prayer.’’; 

Whereas both the Senate and House of Representatives have 

a long tradition of opening their daily legislative sessions 

with prayer, which was most recently upheld once again 

in Barker v. Conroy when Judge David S. Tatel wrote 

for the Court, ‘‘[A]lthough the Court has warned against 

discriminating among religions or tolerating a pattern of 

prayers that proselytize or disparage certain faiths or beliefs, it has never suggested that legislatures must allow 

secular as well as religious prayer. In the sui generis context of legislative prayer, then, the House does not violate 

the Establishment Clause by limiting its opening prayer 

to religious prayer.’’; 

Whereas the United States has a long history of turning to 

prayer both in times of crisis and in times of thanksgiving, as demonstrated on the following occasions: 

(1) President Barack Obama stated in Presidential 

Proclamation No. 9441 of May 4, 2016 (81 Fed. Reg. 

27983), ‘‘In times of steady calm and extraordinary 

change alike, Americans of all walks of life have long 

turned to prayer to seek refuge, demonstrate gratitude, 

and discover peace. Sustaining us through great uncertainty and moments of sorrow, prayer allows us an outlet 

for introspection, and for expressing our hopes, desires, 

and fears. It offers strength in the face of hardship, and 

redemption when we falter. Our country was founded on 

the idea of religious freedom, and we have long upheld 

the belief that how we pray and whether we pray are 

matters reserved for an individual’s own conscience. On 

National Day of Prayer, we rededicate ourselves to extending this freedom to all people.’’. 


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(2) President Donald Trump stated in Presidential 

Proclamation No. 9741 of May 3, 2018 (83 Fed. Reg. 

20713), ‘‘As a Nation, we have continued to seek God in 

prayer, including in times of conflict and darkness. At 

the height of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for prayer ‘for the vision to see our way 

clearly to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow men and to the achievement 

of His will to peace on earth.’ Decades later, following 

one of the darkest days in our Nation’s history, President 

George W. Bush offered this prayer for our heartbroken 

country, mourning the precious souls who perished in the 

terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001: ‘We ask Almighty God to watch over our Nation, and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to come. We pray that 

He will comfort and console those who now walk in sorrow. We thank Him for each life we now must mourn, 

and the promise of a life to come. America has known 

peace, prosperity, war, and depression and prayer has 

sustained us through it all. May our Nation and our people never forget the love, grace, and goodness of our 

Maker, and may our praise and gratitude never cease. On 

this National Day of Prayer, let us come together, all according to their faiths, to thank God for His many blessings and ask for His continued guidance and strength.’.’’. 

(3) On June 14, 2017, after the shooting in Alexandria, Virginia— 

(A) Senator James Lankford said in a prayer 

on the floor of the Senate, ‘‘[A]s I have walked 

through the hallways heading back and forth to different meetings, I have been interested to see many 

doors that I have walked by, and when those doors 

were open, I could hear people inside praying. There 


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have been at least three organized prayer meetings 

on the Hill today, specifically related just to that, 

and others spontaneously occurring. Just for a moment we have the opportunity to be able to reflect 

and say to God: Thank You so much for protecting 

the people on that field. Thank you again to the 

Capitol Police, who literally put their lives on the 

line to protect the guests and the Members and staff 

here every single day . . . I would like to be able to 

join what is happening all over this Hill for just a 

moment in this room—for us to be able to pray for 

a moment . . . .’’; 

(B) Minority Leader of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said on the floor of the House 

of Representatives, ‘‘You may not know this, my colleagues, but every time I pray, which is very frequently, and certainly every Sunday, I pray for all 

of you, all of you together. In the earlier years, I 

used to pray for your happiness, for the fact that we 

would, working together, heed the words of President Kennedy in the closing of his inaugural address 

when he said: ‘. . . God’s work must truly be our 

own.’ How do we view what God’s will is for us? 

How do we come together to give confidence to the 

American people? As our Founders intended, we 

would have our disagreements and we would debate 

them, and we would have confidence in our beliefs 

and humility to listen to others. But in more recent 

years, I have been praying not only for that, but for 

our safety . . . My prayer is that we can resolve our 

differences in a way that furthers the preamble to 

the Constitution, takes us closer to ‘e pluribus 

unum.’ And today, again, it is in the family. It is 


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an injury in the family for the staff and for our colleague and for his leadership.’’; and 

(C) Speaker of the House of Representatives 

Paul Ryan said on the floor of the House of Representatives, ‘‘My colleagues, there are so many 

memories from this day that we will want to forget, 

and there are so many images that we will not want 

to see again. But there is one image in particular 

that this House should keep, and that is a photo I 

saw this morning of our Democratic colleagues gathered in prayer this morning after hearing the news 

. . . So before this House returns to its business, 

let’s just slow down and reflect to think about how 

we are all being tested right now, because we are 

being tested right now. I ask each of you to join me 

to resolve to come together, to lift each other up, 

and to show the country, to show the world, that we 

are one House, the people’s House, united in our humanity. It is that humanity which will win the day, 

and it always will. God bless.’’. 

(4) On September 28, 2017, Representative Steve 

Scalise, marking his return to the House of Representatives after being shot on a baseball field in Alexandria, 

Virginia, said on the floor of the House of Representatives, ‘‘[W]hen I was laying out on that ball field, the 

first thing I did once I was down and couldn’t move anymore is I just started to pray. And I’ll tell you it gave 

me an unbelievable sense of calm knowing that at that 

point it was in God’s hands. But I prayed for very specific things, and I will tell you pretty much every one of 

those prayers was answered, and they were some pretty 

challenging prayers I was putting in God’s hands. He 

really did deliver for me and my family. And it just gives 


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you that renewed faith and understanding that the power 

of prayer is something that you just cannot underestimate.’’. 

(5) On June 18, 2015, after the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, 

South Carolina, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said 

on the floor of the Senate, ‘‘The thought of people who 

were in a house of worship being gunned down as they 

gathered to pray is heart wrenching, devastating and is 

an ultimate act of cowardice and hatred. As our good 

chaplain said, our hearts go out to the families and 

friends, the people who are gunned down in that church. 

It’s hard for me to comprehend anything so awful. So on 

the behalf of the Senate family, we send our support, our 

sympathy . . .’’; 

Whereas Congress joined the people of the United States to 

pray for the victims and families of the following tragedies at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018; Santa Fe High 

School in Santa Fe, Texas, on May 18, 2018; Borderline 

Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, on November 7, 2018; and Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on 

June 12, 2016; 

Whereas the people of the United States condemned the horrific, anti-Semitic attack on the Tree of Life synagogue 

in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 2018, and 

express support and prayers for all those affected by this 

tragedy; 

Whereas the act of prayer is both an expression of religious 

belief and an act of speech that is protected by the First 

Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; 

Whereas the National Day of Prayer— 


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(1) is consistent with the Establishment Clause of 

the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

States; 

(2) belongs to all people in the United States; and 

(3) ‘‘is very much in keeping with the pluralistic 

spirit of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. No single religious group can claim ownership or 

control of the National Day of Prayer; rather, it truly belongs to all Americans who seek divine guidance for 

themselves and for the country’’, as Representative 

Mervyn Dymally noted on the day the vehicle that would 

become Public Law 100–307 passed the House of Representatives; 

Whereas calling for prayer in times of crisis and thanksgiving 

creates a sense of unity in the United States, and, as 

President Ronald Reagan noted in a radio address in 

1982, ‘‘[P]rayer is one of the few things in this world 

that hurts no one and sustains the spirit of millions.’’; 

and 

Whereas declaring a National Day of Prayer sets the United 

States apart as a country, and, as Representative William 

Dannemeyer noted on the day the vehicle that would become Public Law 100–307 passed the House of Representatives, ‘‘A Nation in prayer has traditionally given 

this great Republic of ours the efficacy required to sustain it. A National Day of Prayer should be more than 

a mere commemorative occasion, it should be the spiritual sustenance that sets America apart from the rest of 

the world, the difference between freedom under God or 

slavery under the rule of men.’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 


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1 (1) recognizes May 2, 2019, as the National 

2 Day of Prayer established under the Act entitled 

3 ‘‘An Act to provide for setting aside the first Thurs4 day in May as the date on which the National Day 

5 of Prayer is celebrated’’, approved May 5, 1988 

6 (Public Law 100–307; 102 Stat. 456), which was 

7 signed by President Ronald Reagan on May 5, 1988, 

8 and later codified as section 119 of title 36, United 

9 States Code; 

10 (2) encourages all people in the United States 

11 to reaffirm the importance prayer has played in the 

12 heritage of the United States; and 

13 (3) expresses support for the continued recogni14 tion each year of— 

15 (A) the National Day of Prayer; and 

16 (B) the importance that prayer and faith 

17 have played in the history of the United States. 

Æ 


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