Date: 1997-04-30
Speaker: BENJAMIN CARSON (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you very much. Its a real pleasure and an honor to be here before so many distinguished people. I dont feel that I really belong here under these circumstances. But the nice thing is. when it comes to love that is inspired by Jesus Christ. were all equal. And it makes you feel good. You begin to realize that Hes the one who empowers us to do whatever we do and to go wherever we go. I want to give you some little vignettes from my own life and how my relationship with God developed. Let me set my stopwatch here because I understand that if I go overtime. the Secret Service will take me away. I always wanted to be a missionary doctor. I used to listen to the mission stories in church. and they frequently featured missionary doctorspeople who. at great personal expense. would go to foreign lands and bring not only physical but mental and spiritual healing to people. It seemed like the most noble thing a person could do. I harbored that dream from the time I was 8 years old until I was 13. at which time. having grown up in dire poverty. I decided Id rather be rich. So at that point. missionary doctor was out and I decided I wanted to be a psychiatrist. Now I didnt know any psychiatrists. but on television. they seemed like very rich people. They lived in these big fancy mansions and drove Jaguars and had these big plush offices. and all they had to do is talk to crazy people all day. It seemed like I was doing that anyway. so I said. "This should work out quite well." and started reading Psychology Today. I was the local shrink. I majored in psychology in college. did advanced psych when I went to medical school. But thats when I started meeting a bunch of psychiatrists. Now. some of my best friends are psychiatrists. Actually. on a serious note. some of the smartest people I know really are psychiatrists and Im a little bit miffed. as a medical professional. as to why the insurance companies and HMOs are g7Ing psychiatrists such a hard time. I hope well do something about that. I discovered that I wasnt going to be a psychiatrist and I had to stop and ask myself "What are you really good at?" I discovered I had a lot of eyehand coordination. the ability to think in three dimensions. I was a very careful person. never knocked things over and said "oops!" and I enjoyed the brain. So I put all that together and thats how I came up with neurosurgery. If you had seen me as a youngster. and someone had told you that I was going to grow up to be a neurosurgeon. much less chief. of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. you would have laughed until you died. because there was unanimous agreement amongst my classmates. my teachers. and myself that I was the dumbest person in the world. I was always the first one to sit down in a spelling bee. got big goose eggs on everything that dealt with academics. I remember one time we were taking this math quiz. and I had a major philosophical disagreement with my math teacher who seemed to think it was important to know your time tables. As far as I was concerned. why waste my time learning those when I could look them up on the back of the notebook? So you can imagine what kind of grades I got in math. But that particular day Id been having a discussion with some of my classmates about lack of intellectual agility. one might say. In fact. they were saying I was the dumbest person in the world. and I was disputing that. We had a math quiz that day. I had about thirty questions. And in those days you would pass your test to the person behind you. and they would correct it as the teacher called out the answers. give it back to you. The teacher would call your name out loud and you would report your score out loud. Well. I had gotten my usual zero. But. on this particular day. having had those discussions. I was looking for a way to hide that fact from my classmates. so I schemed and I said. "When the teacher calls my name. Im going to mumble. And maybe she will misinterpret what I said." So when she called my name. I said. "Nnngn." And she said: "Nine?" Benjamin. you got nine right? Oh. this is wonderful. This is the greatest day of my life. I told you you could do it if you just applied yourself." She ranted and raved for about five minutes. Finally. the girl behind. me couldnt take it any longer. She stood up and said. "He said none." Of course the kids roared with laughter. and the teacher sat down quite embarrassed. If I could have disappeared into thin air. never to be heard from again in the history of the world. I would gladly have done so. but I couldnt. The thing that really hurt was when I got my report card at midterm. and my poor mother saw it. and she was just distraught. There I was failing almost every subject. and there she was. working two or three jobs at a time as a single parent. trying to raise her young sons in innercity Detroit. realizing what a difficult time she had because of her lack of education. having had only i. thirdgrade education herself. Then there I was going down the same path. my brother also doing quite poorly. She did not know what to do. and she prayed and asked God to give her wisdom. What could she do to get her young sons to understand the importance of intellectual development so that they could have control of their own lives? And you know something? God gave her the wisdom. at least in her opinion. My brother and I didnt think it was all that wise because it was to turn off the TV set and let us watch only two or three TV programs during the week. With all that spare time. we read two books apiece from the Detroit Public Library and submit to her written book reports which she couldnt read. but we didnt know that. So she had pulled a fast one on us. I was in no way enthusiastic about this program. All my friends were outside having a good time. and there I was. inside. reading. A lot of times parents come to me today. and they say: "How was your mother able to get you and your brother to turn off the TV and read? I cant get my children to do that." I have to chuckle and I say. "Back in those days. the parents were in charge of the house. They didnt have to get permission from the kids how to run it." Interestingly enough. because of the readingal*ays reading. I learned how to spell. so I wasnt the first one to sit down in a spelling bee. I learned grammar and syntax because I had to put those words together. I learned to use my imagination because I had to take those sentences and make them into concepts. Within the space of a year and a half. I went from the bottom of the class to the top of the class. much to the consternation of all those people who called me "dummy." The same ones were coming to me now and saying. "Hey. Benny. how do you work this math problem?" I would say. "Sit at my feet. youngster. while I instruct you." I was perhaps a little obnoxious but it sure did feel good to do that. The fact of the matter is. what am I talking about? Im talking about a persons image and selfconcept. When I was in the fifth grade. I thought I was dumb. and I acted like a dumb person. and I achieved like a dumb person. When I was in the seventh grade. I thought I was smart. and I acted and achieved accordingly. Does that say a lot about the human brain. about the potential that our Creator has given us? Think about it. There is no computer on Earth that comes close to the capacity of the normal human brain. How many people here remember your home telephone number? Okay. thats pretty good for a bunch of people in Washington. What did your brain have to do for you to react to that question? First of all. the sound waves had to leave my .lips. travel through the air into your external auditory meatus. travel down to your tympanic membrane. set up a vibratory force. which traveled across the ossicles of your middle ear to the oval and round windows. setting up a vibratory force in the endolymph. which mechanically distorted the microcilia. converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. which traveled across the cochlear nerve to the cochlear nucleus at the pontomedullary junction. from there to the superior olivary nucleus--wait a minute. weve got a ways to goascending bilaterally up the brain stem to the lateral lemniscus. to the inferior colliculus and the media janicular nuclei. across the thalamic radiations to the posterior temporal lobes to begin the auditory process. from there to the frontal lobes. coming down the tract of Vicq d Azyr. retrieving the memory from the medial hippocampal structures of the mammary bodies. back to the frontal lobes to start the motor response at the Betz cell level. coming down the corticospinal tract. across the internal capsule into the cerebral peduncle. descending down to the cervicomedullary decussation into the spinal cord gray matter. synapsing. going out to the neuromuscular junction. stimulating the nerve in the muscle so you could raise your hand. Due to our limited time. I didnt want to get into the complexities. But the fact of that matter is. you could do that. and you barely had to think about it. Can you imagine what the human brain is capable of if people actually put some time and thought into things? . This is the thing that is so disturbing to me. When I see surveys about how our young people are doing in school visavis other industrialized nationsnotwithstanding the outstanding individuals that the president pointed out the other day in the State of the Union address. Thats the exception and not the rule. We have to change that as we enter the information age. We have to change the tremendous emphasis on sports and entertainment. and lifestyles of the rich and famous. Because there are other great nations that went that pathway: Egypt. Greece. Rome. They were all at the pinnacle. just like the U.S.A.. and then they forgot about the things that made them great. and they became enamored of the things that werent so important. Where are they today?. Some people think that that cant happen here. but it can. We have a real obligation to do something to change that. You would think that having realized that. life was going to be wonderful for me. But it wasnt. You see. I had this problem with my temper. I was one of those people who thought I had a lot of rights. Have you ever met anybody like that? Its like when youre driving in your car and somebody gets in your lanethie one you own and paid for and you begin to dictate to them how they should be driving? Well. this was me. I thought I had a lot of rights. I remember one time a kid hit me with a pebble. It didnt hurt. I was so incensed. I grabbed a big rock and I threw it at him and broke his glasses. almost put his eye out. Another time. a kid was trying to close my locker at school. I didnt want it closed. and I hit him In the head. Unfortunately. I had my lock in my hand and put a threeinch gash in his forehead. Another time. my mother was trying to get me to wear something. I didnt want to wear it. I picked up a hammer and tried to hit her in the head with it. Other than that. I was a pretty good kid. But it all sort of culminated one day when another kid did something I didnt like. I had a large camping knife and I tried to stab him in the abdomen. Fortunately. under his clothing. he had a large metal belt buckle and the blade struck it with such force that it broke. and he fled in terror and I ran to the bathroom and started thinking about my life. A few years ago. I was in San Quentinas a speakerand I was looking out over those hardened faces. and realizing that. except for the grace of God and our Lord and Savior. I could easily have ended up in a place like that myself. Sometimes it does us good to think about that when we believe how high and mighty we are. that except for certain circumstances. things might have been quite different for us. We need to learn how to be compassionate and how to put ourselves in other peoples places. As I was in that bathroom. thinking about my life. having turned things around academically. I realized that with that temper there was no possibility of me ever achieving my dream of becoming a physician. I fell on my knees and I began to pray. I said: "Lord. I cannot control this temper." I said: "Its up to you. I am giving it over to you." I picked up my Bible. I started reading from the Book of Proverbs. There were so many verses in there about anger. the trouble that people get into: "If you deliver an angry man. youre going to have to keep doing it". Proverbs. 19:19. "Like a city that is broken down and without walls is the man who cannot control his temper". Proverbs. 25:28. Also verses about how God admired people who could control their temper. Proverbs. 16:32: "Mightier is the man who can control his temper than the man who can conquer a city." It seemed like. verse after verse. chapter after chapter. they were all written for me. After three hours in that bathroom. I came out of there. and the temper was gone. Ive never had another problem with it since that day. I knew that it was our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ. who did that for me. I began to understand that we have not only a heavenly Father. but I adopted God as my earthly Father. somebody that I could go to. somebody who was a nice guy. somebody who didnt force himself upon you but someone who. if you allowed him to be in your life and to control your life. would make it something special. something wonderful. would give you perspective and understanding. the ability to look at things from other peoples points of view. rather than castigating people who disagree with you putting them in a corner and throwing stones at them. like so many people are prone to do. I think the more highly civilized a society is. the less likely they are to do that. the more likely they are to be able to engage in intelligent conversation. discussing their differences and arriving at common solutions. There is a segment of our society that I am particularly concerned about. who seem to be affected by the things that Ive talked about. the temper. the outrage. the lack of intellectual development. Its the young black males in our society in America. Weve all heard the young black male in this society is an endangered species. Why do people say that? Because there are more young black males in jail than there are in college. And you know the interesting thing? My good friend Wintley Phipps told me that 90 to 95 percent of those people in prison grew up in homes without fathers. Does that tell us something? Something about what we need to be doing as a society in terms of -reaching out and providing appropriate role models for individuals? Why do we have this dismal situation occurring? Some people say: "I am not a black male. so it doesnt affect me. Its not my problem." I beg to differ with you because all of our ancestors came to this country in different boats. But were all in the same boat -now. And if part of the boat sinks. eventually the rest of it goes down. too. We have to understand that. The interesting thing is that young black males never had to become that way. Those of you who are in education know that young black males in the kindergarten. first grade. second grade. are as good a students as anybody else: Then something happens along the way. What happens? They start reading in American history about this great nation of ours and they discover that theres nobody in there who looks like them who did anything of significance. They say. "Well. maybe next year. when I take world history." Then they discover theres nobody who looks like them who did anything of significance. then they come home and they turn their TV on. and they say. "Oh! There I am. Playing football and basketball and baseball. and rapping in these baggy pants that look like you could fly in them. and acting a fool on some sitcomedy." You begin to develop certain selfimages. certain concepts: "Thats how Im going to make it. Im going to become the next Michael Jordan." The media doesnt tell them that only seven iii one million will make it as a starter in the NBA. that only one in ten thousand make it in any lasting way in sports and entertainment. We need to emphasize the right things. I wish we had a program that came on television every day. called "Lifestyles of the Formerly Rich and Famous." so that they could find out what happens to many of these people. because its not as glamorous as we make it out to be. We need to emphasize the intellect. -But. they dont have that emphasis. And then they find out later on that theyre not going to be a sports star or in entertainment. Whats left? Up drives this big black BMW with tinted glass. out steps this tall gentleman. jewels and furs and women. .and he says "Wouldnt you like tohave some of what I have? That society sold you a bill of goods. Let me show you how you get it." Hence. we have people who do some things that none of us can imagine that a human being would do. because they feel betrayed by society. Thats part of it. part of the sociology. Thats not all of it. but its part of It. Its something that should give us pause. but it never had to happen. Any of us could have taken that young man at age 6. and walked down the streets of Washington. D.C.. and given him a lesson that would have thrilled his heart. ablack history lesson that could have started by pointing to his shoes .and saying "It was Jan Matzlinger. a black man. who invented the automatic shoelasting machine which revolutionized the shoe industry throughout the world." Step on that clean street. they can tell him about Charles Brooks. who invented the automatic streetsweeper. Down that clean street comes one of those big refrigerated trucks and you can tell him about Frederick Jones. who invented the refrigeration system for trucks. later adopted for airplanes and trains and boats. It stops at the red light. and you can tell him about Garrett Morgan. a black man who invented the stop sign. the stop signal. and also invented the gas mask. saved lots of lives during the war. You can tell him about Henrietta Bradbury. a black woman who invented the underwater cannon. made it possible to launch torpedoes from submarines. And a black woman is walking down the streeta black man did not invent herbut you can take that opportunity to talk about Madame C.J. Walker. a black woman who invented cosmetic products for women of dark complexion. was the first woman of any nationality in this nation to become a millionairess on her own efforts. You walk past the hospital. and you can talk about Charles Drew and his contributions to blood banking. blood plasma. and Daniel Hale -Williams. the first successful open heart surgeon. You look up at the surgica light. Thomas Edisonyou didnt know he was black. did you? He wasnt. but his righthand man. Lewis Lattimer. was. Lewis Lattimer came up with the filament that made the light bulb work. pioneered research in fluorescent lighting. diagrammed the telephone for Alexander Graham Bell. People dont even know who Lewis Lattimer was. You walk by the railroad tracks: Andrew Beard. automatic railroad car coupler. helped spur on the industrial revolution. Elijah McCoy had so many great inventions. like the automatic lubricating machine for engines. that people were saying when something big in the industrial era came up. "Is that a McCoy? Is that the real McCoy?" You got racist people like David Duke running around talking about "the real McCoy." dont even know who theyre paying homage to. And Im just scratching the surface. Im barely scratching the surface. Heres whats interesting I can take that same walk down the street for any group. any ethnic group in this nation. and point out tremendous contributions. because the fact of the matter is we have all made enormous contributions to this nation. Thats how this nation got to be number one faster than any other nation in the history of the world. because we have people here from -every place. from all corners of the earth. This is not a problem. this is a good thing. Think about it. How many people here would want to go to the National Zoo and pay money to get in there if every animal was a Thompsons Gazelle? It wouldnt be that interesting would it? How many people would go downtown Baltimore to the National Aquarium. pay to get in there. if every fish were a goldfish? How many people want a bouquet of flowers if every one was identical? And how many people would want to get up in the morning. if everybody looked exactly like you? Think about it. In some cases. it would be a disaster. I think we should praise our Heavenly Father for giving us diversity. and please. lets not let those people with small minds make that into a problem. We dont have to do that. Let me close quickly by saying I really feel that we have to get this into our young people. this idea about our diversity being our strength. this ideal about developing ourselves intellectually. What if everybody in this room. with all your influence. wrote a letter to Kelloggs and General Mills. when you went home. and said. put on your cereal boxes Nobel Prize winners and people of intellect instead of just people who use sports and entertainment. and our young people could read about them when they were eating their cereal in the morning. Just those kinds of things will make a big difference. It helped me to have a very rapid rise in my career. and it came up with my philosophy for success in life: Think big. The "T" is for talent. which God gave to everybodynot just the ability to sing and dance and throw a ball. Dont get me wrong. I love sports and entertainment. I love sports stars and entertainers. but its not the most important thing. Intellectwe need to develop that. We need to emphasize it. Honestylead a clean and honest life. You wont have to worry.about skeletons in the closet coming back to haunt you just when you dont want to see them. If you always tell the truth. you dont have to try to remember what you said three months ago. What a difference that makes. The "I" is for insight. which comes from listening to people who have already gone where youre trying to go. Solomon. the wisest man who ever lived. said. "Wise is the person who can learn from someone elses triumphs and mistakes." He said. "The person who cannot is a fool." The "N" is for nice. Be nice to people. because once they get over their suspicion of why youre being nice. theyll be nice to you. If youre not nice. try it for just one week. Try for one week not saying something bad about anybody and being nice to everybody. Youll see it makes a big difference. and you wont go back. The "K" is for knowledge. which is the thing that makes you into a more valuable person. You askdo I have a big house? Yes. Do I Carson. That business about worrying about have many cars? Yes. I grew up in Detroit. I whether the Secret Service would take you like cars. Do I have a lot of things that away if you talked too longif that were "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" thinks true. I wouldnt be here today. Id be long are important? Yes. I do. but theyre not Im- gone. portant. Guess what: If somebody comes and That biochemical descriptionIve got a takes all those things away from me today. real problem. I cant remember my home its no big deal. Why? Because I can get them phone number anymore. all right back with whats up hereat least Senator Akaka. Mr. Speaker. Congressman I could before managed care. Thats what Gephardt. to all the members of Congress Solomon was talking about when he said and the governors who are here. and our gold is nice. silver is nice. rubies are nice. leaders and visitors from other lands. and but to be cherished far above those: knowl- ministers and citizens from the United edge. wisdom. and understanding. because he States. Ive had a wonderful day today. knew with knowledge. wisdom. and under- I would like not to pour cold water on the standing. you could get all the gold and sil- day. but just as you go through the day. I ver and rubies you wanted. More impor- would like to ask all of you to remember the tantly. he knew. with knowledge. wisdom. heartbreaking loss that our friends in Israel and understanding. you would come to un- have sustained in the last couple of days. derstand that they--gold and silver and ru- with 73 of their finest young soldiers dying biesarent important. that the important in that horrible accident in the air. thing is developing your Godgiven talents to I would like to also say that. like all of the point where you become valuable to the you. I was very elevatedby this experience. people around you. as I always am. I thought Dr. Carson was The "B" is for books. Ive already talked wonderful. I thought the Scriptures were about the importance of reading. wellchosen. I appreciate all the people who I want you to know that my mother did work on the prayer breakfast so much. eventually teach herself how to read. She I would like to just say a couple of things finished high school. She went on to college. very briefly. And in 1994 she got an honorary doctorate In my Inaugural Address and again in my degree. Its never too late. Its never too State of the Union. Ive quoted Isaiah 58:12. late. which Reverend Robert Schuller sent to me The second "I" is for indepth learning. a few days before I started my second term. learning for the sake of knowledge and un- to remind us that we should all be repairers derstanding. as opposed to superficial learn- of the breach. Its a very moving thing. Basiers who cram. cram. cram before an exam. cally. the political press here read it in the sometimes do okay. and *three weeks later proper way. They said that Clinton wants know nothing. I am sure no one here knows the Republicans and Democrats to make nice anyone like that. to each other and do constructive things. The "G." the most important letter for for But then I got to thinking about who is it God. Dont ever get too big for God. and thats in the breach. Who has fallen between dont be ashamed of a relationship with God. the cracks? If we repaired the breach. who We live in a country where some people say would we be lifting out of the hole? Very that youre not supposed to talk about God briefly. Id like to just mention three things. in public. that somehow. thats a violation of and to ask you not only to pray for these the separation of Church and State. what a three groupsof people but also to do somebunch of hogwash! Do they know that Thom- thing about It. as Jefferson had 190 religious volumes in his I dont know about you. but whenever I library? Do they know that the preamble to hear somebody like Dr. Carson speak. I can our Constitution talks about certain inalien- clap better than anybody In the audience. able rights that our Creator endowed us then the next day when I get up and try to with? Have they ever said the Pledge of Alle- live by what he said I was supposed to do. it giance to that flag. which says we are one turns out to be harder than it was to clap. So nation under God? In every courtroom In our I would like to ask you to think about who land. on the wall. it says. "In God. we trust". is in the breach if were supposed to be reevery coin in our pocket. every bill in our pairers of the breach. wallet says. "In God. we trust." The first group of people that are In the So tell me something. if its in our Con- bh ar e th a T re ifstitution. its. in our pledge. its in our breach are the poor in America. Theyre difcourts. and its on our money. but were not ferent than they used to be. When I was a supposed to talk about it. what is that" boy. most poor people were old. In 1995. we Thats schizophrenia. does that not explain learned last year. we had the lowest rate of some of the things going on in our society poverty among older Americans in the histoday tory of. the country. We have succeeded in Weve got to get it across to our young taking them out of poverty. virtually all of people that its okay to be nice to. people. to them. We should be proud of that. and gratecare about your fellow man. to develop your ful. Today almost all the poor are young. Godgiven talents to their utmost. to have Very young people without much education. values and principles in their lives. If we do A lot of mothers like Dr. Carsons mother. that. I believe we in this country can lead struggling. doing the best they can to raise the world to the type of civilization that this their kids. world should know. We should not be casti- We just passed this welfare reform bill. gating each other. we should be loving each which I signed and voted for because I beother. We should follow the example of our lieved it. and we did it because we believed Lord. Jesus Christ. We should make sure that the welfare system had gone from being that in all things we honor him. The way we a system that helped the poor to help themhonor him is by honoring each other. selves to move off welfare to a system that Thank you. and good luck. trapped people because the family unit has Representative BARRETr: Thanks. Dr. Car- changed and there are so many single parson. thank you so much for those words. for ents out there having "children. and there that inspirational message. Were grateful to isnt the stigma on it there used to be. A lot you. of people now seem to be stuck on that sysLadies and gentlemen. it is now my great tem from generation to generation. So we privilege and high honor to introduce to you changed it. William Jefferson Clinton. the president of We didnt change it" we tore it down. we the United States. threw it away. We said theres no longer a President CLnryoN: Thank you very much. national guarantee that you can always get Congressman Barrett. I want to thank you a check from the government just because for making it possible for me to follow Dr. youre poor and youve got little babies ii your home. Now. the kids can have health care and well give them food. but you dont get an income check every month. Youve got to go to work if youre able to. So the people that are in the breach are the people that we say have to go to work. who want to go to work. who can go to work. You have to help us repair the breach. Two and a quarter million people moved off of welfare rolls in the last four years. A million of them. more or less. were adults who went to work. the others were their children. a million out of 11 million new jobs created. In the next four years. theres more or less 10 million more people left on welfare. about 31/ million adults. maybe 4 (million). most of them ablebodied. All of them are supposed to lose their benefits. if theyre ablebodied. after two years unless they go to work. Where are they going to get the jobs? Youre going to have to give them. private employers and churches. community nonprofits. I see the governor of Michigan. the governor of North Dakota here. They can actually take the welfare check and give it to you now as an employment or a training subsidy or to help you deal with transportation or child care or whatever. But you better hire them. If you dont. this whole thing will be a fraud. and we will not have repaired the breach. All that we dreamed of doing. which is to create more Dr. Carsons out of those children of welfare recipients. will go down the drain because we come to places like this and clap for people like him. and then we get up tomorrow morning. and we dont repair the breach and do what were supposed to do. I need you to help us. The second people who have fallen between the cracks are people around the world who are in trouble that we could help without troubling ourselves very much. I am proud of what our country has done in Bosnia and the Balkansyou should be tooin the Middle East and Haiti. to help our neighbors in Mexico. The impulses of the American people are generous. I want to thank the speaker for supporting me when only 15 percent of the American people thought we were right when we tried to help our friends in Mexico. Thank goodness they proved us right. Mr. Speaker. otherwise. we might be out on the south 40 some*here today. But still our county has. this idea that somehow it demeans us to pay our dues to the United Nations or to participate in the World Bank. or theres lots of things more important than that. or just to give Secretary Albright this year the basic tools of diplomacy. this is an interdependent world. We can get.a long way with having the finest defense in the world. but we also have to help people become what they can be. So I ask you to think about that. Were not talking about spending a lot of money here. Its only 1 percent of our budget. But we cant walk away from our obligations to the rest of the world. We can be a model for the rest of the world. but we also know that we have to model the behavior we advocate. which is to give a helping hand when we can. The third people who are in the breach and in a deep hole and need to be lifted up are the politicians. We need your help. Some members of the press. theyre in that breach with us. too. They need your help. This is funny. but Im serious now. I want you to laugh today and wake up and be serious tomorrow. This town is ripped with people who are selfrighteous. sanctimonious. and hypocritical. All of us are that way sometime. I plead guilty from time to time. We also tend to getwe spend an enormous amount of time here in Washington trying to get even. It doesnt matter who started it. I remember when I came here one time. I got so mad at our friends in the Congress and the Republican Party because they were real mean to me over something. I went back to the White House and I asked somebody whod been there a while in Washington. I said. "Now. why in the world did they do that?" They said. "Its payback time." I said. "What do you mean?" They said. "Well. they think the Democrats in Congress did this to the Republican Presidents." I said. "I didnt even live here then. Why are they paying me back?" They said. "Oh. you dont understand. You just got to pay back." So then pretty soon I was behaving that way. Id wake up in the morning. my heart was getting a little hard. I thought "Now. who can I get even with?" You thinkthis happens to you. doesnt it? Who can I get even with? Sometimes you cant get even with the people that really did it to you. so you just go find somebody else because you got to get even with somebody. Pretty soon everybodys involved in this great act. You know how cynical the press is about the politicians. They think were allwhatever they think. What you should know is that the politicians have now become just as cynical about the press. because cynicism breeds cynicism. We are in a world of hurt. We need help. We are in the breach. We are in the hole here. This country has the most astonishing opportunity we have ever had. We happen to be faced with this time of great change and challenge. Were going into this enormous new world. Instead of going into it hobbled with economic distress or foreign pressures. we are free of any threat to our existence and our economy is booming. Its like somebody said. "Heres this brave new world. and Im going to let you prepare for it and walk into it in the best shape youve ever been in." Instead of doing that. half of us want to sit down and the other half of us want to get into a fight with each other. We are in the breach. We need you to help us get out of it. The United States is better than that. we owe more than that to our people. to our future. and to the world. We owe more than that to our heritage. to everybody from George Washington on that made us what we are today. Cynicism and all this negative stuffits just sort of a cheap excuse for not doing your best with your life. Its not a very pleasant way to live. franklynot even any fun. I try to tell everybody around the White House all the time. I have concluded a few things in my life. and one of them is that you dont ever get even. The harder you try. the more frustrated youre going to be. because nobody ever gets even. And when you do. youre not really happy. You dont feel fulfilled. So I ask you to pray for us. I went to church last Sunday where Hillary and I always go. at the Foundry Methodist Church. The pastor gave a sermon on Romans 12:1621. and a few other verses. But Im going to quote the relevant chapters: "Do not be wise in your own estimation." Its hard to find anybody here that can fit that. "Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. If possible. so far as it depends upon you. be at peace with all men. Never take your own vengeance. If your enemy is hungry. feed him. If he is thirsty. give him a drink. Do not be overcome by evil. but overcome evil with good." Pray for the people in public office. that we can rid ourselves of this toxic atmosphere of cynicism and embrace with joy and gratitude this phenomenal opportunity and responsibility before us. Do not forget people in the rest of the world who depend upon the United States for more than exhortation. And most of all. remember that in every scripture Of every faith. there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of admonitions not to forget those among us who are poor. They are no longer entitled to a handout. but they surely deserve--and we are ordered to give them--a hand up. Thank you. and God bless you all. Representative BARRIT: Thank you. Mr. President. for those words. And thank you for. again. scheduling the prayer breakfast. Were grateful to you for taking the time to be with us. as I believe all of your predecessors for 45 years have spent time at this National Prayer Breakfast. Thank you so much. Senator Daniel Akaka from Hawaii has been a dedicated member of the Senate prayerbreakfast group and the House prayerbreakfast group. as well. Hes renowned on Capitol Hill as a man of kindness and a man of great faith. Hell also serve. incidentally. as the chairman of next years prayer breakfast. Please recognize Senator Dan Akaka to lead us in our closing hymn. Senator DANIEL AKAKA (DHI): Thank you very much. Bill. May I ask all of us to stand. please. open our hearts. and raise our voices to the Lord. (Senator Akaka leads in singing of "Amazing Grace.) Representative BAMrr: Thank you so much. Senator. I would like to. at this timeto deliver our closing prayerto recognize a man who has distinguished himself both in public and private life. the governor of the state of North Dakota. the Honorable Edward Shafer. Governor EDWARD T. SHAFER (RND): As we gather here this morning in Washington. DC. I am reminded of greatness. This is a great city. and we are here as great leaders. We are leaders of great governments and nations. leaders in great business and industry. We are here as leaders of our faith. But we gather here not in greatness. but in humbleness. and to give thanks. To remember that it is only through the grace of our Almighty God that we serve our fellow man. On this occasion. I hear again the words of Abraham Lincoln. He said "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overpowering conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that about me seemed insufficient for the day." Mr. President. First Lady Hillary. Congressman Barrett. Mr. Vice President. Mr. Speaker. all distinguished guests. let us open our hearts and minds and bow our heads in prayer. God Almighty. Lord of all mercy. we your servants from around the world thank you for your goodness and loving kindness. As our lives burst with meaningful events. large and small. help us remember patience and compassion. We cannot live by scoring who wins or who loses. or by getting even or paying back. Let us live as neighbors looking out for one another. as friends caring for each other. and as family loving one and all. Encourage us to respect. honor and serve each other. Help us remember it is not the words from our mouths but the actions we take that will command your final judgment. As we depart from this special occasion. we pray that you will give each of us your directions for the decisions that lie before us. that we might govern wisely and lead well those who are in our care. May we have insight and wisdom in our search for justice. mercy and peace. I pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Representative BARRErr: Thank you. governor. This will draw to a close the 45th Annual National Prayer Breakfast. We again thank you for your presence. and we ask that you go wherever with Gods love.