NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK

On 2024-12-17, Representative Rick W. Allen (R-GA-12) delivered a floor speech titled "NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK" in the House. The speech addressed taxes and also covered trade policy, agriculture.

NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK

Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 187 (Tuesday, December 17, 2024) [Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 187 (Tuesday, December 17, 2024)] [House] [Pages H7303-H7306] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 9, 2023, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn) for 30 minutes. General Leave Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Colorado? There was no objection. Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I think it is appropriate that the last presenter ended with a verse from the Bible. It was a marvelous verse, and that is what this Special Order is going to be about. Recently, in November, we celebrated, once again, since the year 1941, National Bible Week. This is something that has been declared and proclaimed by every President since Franklin D. Roosevelt, who started this in 1941, just days before we were attacked at Pearl Harbor. As the world was hurdling toward World War II, it was so appropriate that the country turned to the Bible for sustenance and guidance. I have been leading this particular commemoration on National Bible Week for--I don't know--8 or 10 years on the floor of the House. This will be my last opportunity because I will be voluntarily retiring from Congress in January. I want to thank so many people who have helped me during my career, but, most of all, I would like to first thank my Lord and Savior for the opportunity to represent Colorado's Fifth Congressional District for 18 years. It is my relationship with Him, with God, who has provided any wisdom or success that I have experienced in my congressional career. National Bible Week was in November, but that was during Thanksgiving, when we were all out of town, so we chose this week to actually formally celebrate it and commemorate it here on the floor of the House. This was begun in 1941 as an official National Bible Week, and it is the Bible that led me to a relationship with my Lord and Savior. I was a freshman at college, and some people talked to me, and they said: Have you ever read the Bible for yourself? I said: No, but I think I know what is in it. That is kind of an arrogant and foolish thing to say, but that is where I was coming from in my ignorance, my naivete. They said: Hey, why don't you read the Gospel of John, and you will understand what the message of the Bible is. So I did that, and, as I read the Gospel of John, I realized that this is a relationship with the living God that I did not have and that I needed and that I wanted. John 14:6 is where Jesus says: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. That spoke to my heart, and that is when I began a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior. My salvation came through reading the Bible, so I am so happy that we can celebrate and commemorate National Bible Week here tonight. We have some Members of Congress who are going to be speaking about what the Bible means to them personally and what the Bible means to the United States of America, this special and marvelous country that we have the privilege of living in. As David said in the book of Psalms: Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path. That is ultimately what the Bible is about. It is a lamp to our feet and it is a light to our path. It guides us day to day as we take footsteps. It guides the path that we see in the future, the direction our lives should go in. So it is a lamp and it is a light. That makes it so special. At this point, I yield 4 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from the great State of Alabama (Mr. Aderholt). Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I thank my colleague, Congressman Lamborn, for once again organizing this important Special Order, as he has done many times in the past. Not only that, but I thank him for his service to this legislative body. He has been one of the good guys here in this body that has really stood for those principles that really, I think, date back to when our Founding [[Page H7304]] Fathers first envisioned this great Nation, the United States of America. We thank our colleague from Colorado. Mr. LAMBORN. Thank you. Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, the Bible has been and, really, it still is more than just a book. It is the foundation of our moral compass. It is the inspiration behind our laws. It is the source of strength and comfort for countless families and individuals, literally around the world. From the founding of our great Nation, we have seen how the truths that are found in the Bible have shaped our culture, have influenced our leaders, and have guided the hearts of our people. Here in America, as in so many places around the world, we have been blessed with the freedom to worship and the right to hold our religious beliefs without fear and without persecution. Unfortunately, there are a lot of places in the world that don't have that freedom, but here in America, we do. However, with all that is said about the Bible, let us not forget the power that is in the Word of God and how it always gives us a hope that instills so much into the lives of so many people across the world. There have been many books that have been written over the ages, and a lot of books have sold literally millions and millions of copies, some 200 or 300 million copies. You think about books like ``A Tale of Two Cities,'' ``Don Quixote,'' ``The Lord of the Rings,'' those that rank up there, and perhaps maybe 300 or 400 million copies have been sold. As far as I know, there is only one book that has sold into the billions, and it is estimated that over 5 billion copies of the Word of God, the Bible, has been printed and put out there, and I would say that is a very conservative number. It is no wonder the Bible is the most popular book ever written, as it holds the key to life and actually to life everlasting, for in the New Testament, we read the words of Jesus of Nazareth, and we read about his life. The words of the Bible are different from all the other books that were written. The words of the Bible cut like a double-edged sword, yet its full life is found to its fullest, and those are the words of Jesus. We hear the words of Jesus in John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. As a young boy, like Congressman Lamborn, I realized what that meant and wanted to have that relationship with God myself, and realizing that I could have that directly through Christ, I asked him into my life through a simple prayer. That still holds true for any person today who wants to go down that road and take God up on that offer. I thank Congressman Lamborn this evening for his dedication, but, more than anything else, for recognizing the Bible is the book of all books. It is the Bible, for it is in the Bible that life is found. Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those kind and gracious words and the insights that he shared with us. Congress has changed over the years. I am really not telling a secret that anyone here doesn't already know but let me tell you the perspective that our first Congressmen and -women had in this country of ours. It would have been men at the time, and the women came later, as we know. Many early-American settlers came to the New World wanting to live out their faith in God and his Word, and so Congress, as one of their first acts, authorized an American-published Bible. You see, they were at war with the British and, because of embargoes, shipments of the Bible, among other things, were not coming into the country. In 1782, Congress reviewed, approved, and authorized the first known English-language Bible to be printed in America. The resolution said, in part: Resolved, that the United States in Congress assembled to recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States, and hereby authorize Mr. Aitken to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper. {time} 2100 Congress authorized the printing of the Bible and recommended that everyone read it. Our country has changed over the years. I can't imagine us doing that now, but maybe we should. We have things in this country that are not going in the right direction and that could only help. Mr. Speaker, I will now yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen) to share his thoughts with us, please. Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, it has been a privilege to serve with Doug, and I thank him for his great service to our country and for emphasizing the importance of the Bible. It is an honor to stand here, but particularly tonight to commemorate National Bible Week along with my friends and colleagues. I am here to talk about what the Bible has meant to me and its impact on our Nation's history. There are divisions across our country, including in this Chamber, that highlight the challenges that we are facing. I was baptized in a small, rural church at 9 years of age and my parents raised me in the church there. I had a few other priorities in college, but after my marriage to my wife, we found a church home in Augusta and that church home has meant the world to our family. However, it was almost 30 years later that I realized that maybe my priorities were not in order. I decided that I would make Bible study and prayer a priority in my life. I started Bible study with a friend about 6 months later, and I realized that God was writing His Word on my very heart. I had this urge to know God and study His Word and understand His purpose and will for me. All of my life, as