Reverend W. Douglas Tanner, Jr.
The Faith and Politics Institute
Washington, DC
Sponsor: Rep. Hon. John Lewis, (D-GA)
Date of Prayer: 06/29/2006
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
(Mr. LEWIS of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, our guest chaplain for the morning is the Reverend Doug Tanner . Doug Tanner is a Methodist minister, native of the great State of North Carolina, a man of great faith, a man of dedication, a man of commitment.
Doug Tanner was inspired by God Almighty to do what I call get in the way. Somehow and some way he was touched, not just by the spirit of history, but by the spirit of the Almighty to find a way to bring Members together, both Democrats and Republicans, both Members of the House and Members of the Senate. Doug was inspired to become the founding father of
[Page: H4798] GPO's PDFFaith and Politics. Through this organization, through this effort, he has been a blessing to many of us.
So, Reverend Doug Tanner , we want to thank you for being here today, but we want to thank you for helping all of us to become better people of faith.
Many of our colleagues may not know that many of us get together with you from time to time to put our faith in action. You have led many of us to go back to Alabama and visit the historic sites of the civil rights movement; to go to Tennessee and do likewise; to go to Farmville, Virginia; to go to South Africa. Again, we want to thank you for helping us to be reconciled to others.
When historians pick up their pen and write about this period during this part of our congressional lives, they will have to say that the Reverend Doug Tanner made a lasting contribution to the cause of justice, to the cause of freedom, and made each one of us better human beings and better legislators and better individuals of faith. I thank the Reverend.
(Mr. LaHOOD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today also to honor Doug Tanner . Doug has done an extraordinary job of bringing House and Senate Members, both sides of the aisle, together.
I have had the privilege, as have many Members, to be a part of the trips to Montgomery and to Selma; to be a part of the trip to South Africa to learn more about AIDS and more about apartheid and more about reconciliation. That really has been what Doug's life has been about here at the U.S. Capitol, bringing people together, getting people to work together, getting people to pray together; and he will be missed.
So, on behalf of those that have had the experience of knowing Doug Tanner , Mr. Speaker, and knowing the great work that he has done, I will say that he will be missed. I know that his lovely wife Kathy and he will enjoy now future opportunities to bring people together, to pray together and to work together; and we wish you well.
Mr. Speaker, I honor Doug Tanner today for helping those of us who work here to honor one another. Godspeed, Reverend Tanner .
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Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Almighty God, we come before you this morning conscious that 230 years ago next Tuesday, the founders of our nation declared certain truths to be self–evident: that you created us all equal, and endowed us with the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. For the clarity of their insight, we are profoundly grateful. For the myriad of ways even they found to disregard those truths, and the ways we continue to, we seek your pardon.
Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just." We, too, should tremble; sometimes we do. Yet we trust in your love and mercy to save us from both our adversaries and ourselves.
Guide us, we pray, to understand as Reinhold Niebuhr that nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness. Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory