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 ap-
proved 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 inde-
pendent Nation; 
Whereas John Adams said that July 2 ‘‘ought to be com-
memorated as a day of deliverance by solemn act of devo-
tion 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 tra-
dition, 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 Abra-
ham 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 Hu-
miliation, Fasting, and Prayer during the American Rev-
olution 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 time-
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less sentiments that remain applicable to this day, includ-
ing 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 sor-
row, 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 num-
bers, 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 multi-
plied 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 our-
selves 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 blind-
ed ourselves to God’s standard of justice and righteous-
ness for this society: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives, in fol-
lowing the numerous wholesome and positive examples set 
by previous Congresses and presidents— 
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(1) supports the designation of a ‘‘National 
Day of Personal Reflection and Repentance’’; and 
(2) calls upon the people of the Nation to hum-
ble themselves as they see fit before our Creator to 
repent of our national sins and acknowledge our 
firm dependence upon Him. 
Æ 
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