The Congressional Prayer Room near the rotunda in the United States Capitol is a place set aside for the use of members of Congress who seek a quiet place for meditation or prayer. The space is not open to tour groups or visitors to the Capitol.
The Congressional Prayer Room near the rotunda in the United States Capitol is a place set aside for the use of members of Congress who seek a quiet place for meditation or prayer. The space is not open to tour groups or visitors to the Capitol.
The prayer room was established by Concurrent Resolution number 60 for the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, passed in 1954, and officially opened in 1955. [1]
The Concurrent Resolution included the following text:
"Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Architect of the Capitol is hereby authorized and directed to make available a room, with facilities for prayer and meditation, for the use of Members of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Architect shall maintain the Prayer Room for individual use rather than assemblies and he shall provide appropriate symbols of religious unity and freedom of worship." [2]
The official Congressional brochure describing the development of the Prayer Room credits a number of specific Congressional members with its establishment:
"Representative Brooks Hays of Arkansas introduced House Concurrent Resolution 60, Eighty-third Congress, in the House February 12, 1953, directing the setting apart of a place for this purpose. Senator Monroney of Oklahoma introduced a companion resolution, Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, Eighty-third Congress, in the Senate, February 13, 1953. House Concurrent Resolution 60 was passed by the House, July 17, 1953, and by the Senate May 4, 1954. Following passage of this resolution by the House, Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives, made available an appropriate room on the House Side of the Capitol near the Rotunda and shortly after passage of the resolution by the Senate, named a special committee to arrange for the design and equipment of the Prayer Room. This Committee consisted of Representatives LeCompte of Iowa and St. George of New York, with Representative Hays as Chairman." [2]
An interfaith or non-partisan design was integral to the vision of the prayer room so that it could be used by any Senator or Representative regardless of his or her faith. [1] To that end, an interfaith advisory committee was established, including the Chaplain of the Senate, the Chaplain of the House of Representatives, and since they were both Protestant, two additional members representing the Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths. [1]
The room includes a stained glass window of George Washington kneeling in prayer, with the words from Psalm 16:1, "Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust," and the words from President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, "This Nation Under God". [1]
The designers of the Prayer Room felt that the image of Washington was particularly appropriate, given his words from his first inaugural address:
"...it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge." [2]
In addition to an open Bible, the simple furnishings include two prayer benches, six chairs, two candles, plants, and an American flag. [1] The Congressional brochure notes the importance of both the symbolism and the color schemes employed in the Prayer Room:
"On the altar, two vases constantly filled with fresh flowers tell of the beauty of God's world. At the right and left are two candelabra, each with the traditional seven lights. An American flag is at the right of the altar. In front of each candelabrum is a plain prie-dieu, or prayer bench, at which those who desire to do so may kneel. There are ten chairs facing the central window. The walls are pastel blue. The ceiling is the original painting, with cloud panels trimmed with gold. The rug is deep blue. The altar and prayer benches are of white oak. When illumined by the indirect lights of the shielded wall brackets, the room is a soft color harmony of blue and gold. Neither large enough for nor designed for a religious assembly, it is adequate for its avowed purpose --- a shrine at which the individual may renew his faith in his God and his loyalty to his country." [2]
In 2005, a group of congressional members began looking for a room in the Capitol large enough for voluntary group prayer, ultimately receiving permission to use Room 219. [3] Although many individuals and small groups use Room 219, the original group now tries to meet weekly and calls itself the "Congressional Prayer Caucus." [3]
The inclusion of a prayer before the opening of each session of both the House and the Senate traces its origins back to the days of the Continental Congress. The first prayer at that congress was delivered by Jacob Duché, who eventually betrayed the cause of American independence and maligned the Continental army in a letter to George Washington. [4] The tradition of prayers ended at the Constitutional Convention and when Benjamin Franklin proposed a prayer on June 28, 1787, the Convention rejected his proposal. Said Franklin:
"I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that 'except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel . . . I therefore beg leave to move— that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that Service." [5]
Supposedly, Alexander Hamilton argued against the motion because the delegates did not need to call in "foreign aid," though the story is perhaps apocryphal. [6] However, it is certain that the Constitutional Convention did not even vote on Franklin's prayer motion, let alone pass the resolution. “After several unsuccessful attempts for silently postponing the matter by adjourning,” it failed. Franklin himself wrote that “The [Constitutional] Convention, except three or four persons, thought Prayers unnecessary." [7]
In its early days, the Capitol building was actually used for religious services in addition to governmental functions, with Sunday church services regularly held until after the Civil War. According to the Library of Congress exhibit "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic" "It is no exaggeration to say that on Sundays in Washington during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) and of James Madison (1809–1817) the state became a church. Within a year of his inauguration, Jefferson began attending church services in the House of Representatives. Madison followed Jefferson's example, although unlike Jefferson, who rode on horseback to church in the Capitol, Madison came in a coach and four. Worship services in the House were acceptable to Jefferson because they were nondiscriminatory and voluntary. Preachers of every Protestant denomination appeared. (Catholic priests began officiating in 1826.)" [8]
The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Although no longer at the geographic center of the national capital, the U.S. Capitol forms the origin point for the street-numbering system of the district as well as its four quadrants. Like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a neoclassical style and has a white exterior.
The 6th United States Congress was the 6th meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It initially met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and then was the first congress to meet in the new Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.. Its term was from March 4, 1799, to March 4, 1801, during the last two years of John Adams's presidency. It was the last Congress of the 18th century and the first to convene in the 19th. The apportionment of seats in House of Representatives was based on the 1790 United States census. Both chambers had a Federalist majority. This was the last Congress in which the Federalist Party controlled the presidency or either chamber of Congress.
The 28th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1843, to March 4, 1845, during the third and fourth years of John Tyler's presidency. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1840 United States census. The Senate had a Whig majority, and the House had a Democratic majority.
Joseph Taylor Robinson, also known as Joe T. Robinson, was an American politician from Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1913 to 1937, serving for four years as Senate Majority Leader and ten as Minority Leader. He previously served as the state's 23rd governor, and was also the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the 1928 presidential election.
The Russell Senate Office Building is the oldest of the United States Senate office buildings. Designed in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, it was built from 1903 to 1908 and opened in 1909. It was named for former Senator Richard Russell Jr. from Georgia in 1972. It occupies a site north of the Capitol bounded by Constitution Avenue, First Street, Delaware Avenue, and C Street N.E.
The Cannon House Office Building, often called the "Old House Office Building", completed in 1908, is the oldest office building of the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. A significant example of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture, it occupies a site south of the United States Capitol bounded by Independence Avenue, First Street, New Jersey Avenue, and C Street S.E. In 1962 the building was named for former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Joseph Gurney Cannon.
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States is a 1940 oil-on-canvas painting by Howard Chandler Christy, depicting the Constitutional Convention signing the U.S. Constitution at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. Along with Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, the painting is one of the most famous depictions of the early days of the United States. Christy created the painting in April 1940; it is so large that he painted it in a sail loft. It currently is displayed along the east stairway in the House of Representatives wing in the Capitol building.
A concurrent resolution is a resolution adopted by both houses of a bicameral legislature that lacks the force of law and does not require the approval of the chief executive (president). Concurrent resolutions are typically adopted to regulate the internal affairs of the legislature that adopted them, or for other purposes, if authority of law is not necessary.
The 77th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1941, to January 3, 1943, during the ninth and tenth years of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1930 United States census.
Constantino Brumidi was an Italian painter and a naturalised American citizen, best known and honored for his fresco work, Apotheosis of Washington, in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
Daniel P. Coughlin, served as the 59th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives from March 23, 2000, to April 14, 2011. He was the first Roman Catholic priest to serve in that position, and the process that led to his selection included some controversy. However, as a 2010 article in The Washington Post pointed out, on the occasion of Coughlin's tenth anniversary in the House Chaplain position, "there is ample evidence that the rancor that accompanied his selection has disappeared: Last week, lawmakers from both parties streamed onto the House floor to honor his decade of service."
The clerk of the United States House of Representatives is an officer of the United States House of Representatives, whose primary duty is to act as the chief record-keeper for the House.
The United States Senate observes a number of traditions, some formal and some informal. Some of the current and former traditions are described below:
Between 73 and 79 days after the presidential election, the president-elect of the United States is inaugurated as president by taking the presidential oath of office. The inauguration takes place for each new presidential term, even if the president is continuing in office for a second term.
The United States Capitol building features a central rotunda below the Capitol dome. Built between 1818 and 1824, the rotunda has been described as the Capitol's "symbolic and physical heart".
In the United States, state funerals are the official funerary rites conducted by the federal government in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., that are offered to a sitting or former president, a president-elect, high government officials and other civilians who have rendered distinguished service to the nation. Administered by the Military District of Washington (MDW), a command unit of the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region, state funerals are greatly influenced by protocol, steeped in tradition, and rich in history. However, the overall planning as well as the decision to hold a state funeral, is largely determined by a president and their family.
The history of the United States Congress refers to the chronological record of the United States Congress including legislative sessions from 1789 to the present day. It also includes a brief history of the Continental Congress from 1774 through 1781 and the Congress of the Confederation from 1781 to 1789.
The chaplain of the United States House of Representatives is the officer of the United States House of Representatives responsible for beginning each day's proceedings with a prayer. The House cites the first half of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5 in the United States Constitution as giving it the authority to elect a chaplain, "The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers".
The chaplain of the United States Senate opens each session of the United States Senate with a prayer, and provides and coordinates religious programs and pastoral care support for senators, their staffs, and their families. The chaplain is appointed by a majority vote of the members of the Senate on a resolution nominating an individual for the position. The three most recent nominations have been submitted based on a bipartisan search committee although that procedure is not required.
Bernard Braskamp was a Presbyterian minister who served as the 56th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives, from 1950 until his death in 1966.
Of Independence, he wrote: "independency was the idol, which they had long wished to set up, & that rather than sacrifice this, they would deluge their Country in Blood" and of the "Necessity of rescinding the hasty & ill-advised declaration of Independency." Of the army, "Have you, can you have the least Confidence in a Sett of undisciplined Men, & Officers, many of whom have been taken from the lowest of the People, without Principle, without Courage."
