United States Congress (1954) approved in both the Senate and House of Representatives of the 83rd Congress, a joint resolution calling for the establishment of:
<A room with facilities for prayer and meditation for the use of Members of the Senate and House of Representatives.> 1954US001
<This small room in the Capitol, just off the rotunda, is always open when Congress is in session. It is for the private prayer and meditation of members of Congress, and is not open to the public. An open Bible is upon an altar, and located above it is the focal point of the room, which is a stained glass window showing George Washington kneeling in prayer. Behind him are etched these words from Psalm 16:1: "Preserve me, O God; for in thee do I put my trust."
Of note is that every session of the House and the Senate begin with prayer, each house has its own chaplain. Presidential tradition is to conclude their oath of office with their hand upon an open Bible saying the words, "So help me God."
Inside the rotunda is a painting of the Pilgrims about to embark from Holland on the Speedwell. The ship's revered chaplain, William Brewster, has on his lap a Bible open to the page, "The New Testament according to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" and on the sail "God With Us."
The phrase, "In God We Trust," appears opposite the President of the Senate, who is the Vice-President of the U.S. The same phrase, in large words inscribed in the marble, backdrops the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
On the Great Seal of the United States, the phrase Annuit Coeptis is inscribed, which means, "[God] has smiled on our undertaking." Under the Seal, the phrase from Lincoln's Gettysburg address is engraved, "This Nation under God."
The Dirksen Office Building has the words, "IN GOD WE TRUST" inscribed in a bronze relief.> 1954US002
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
1954US001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). United States Congress, 1954, approved in both the Senate and House of Representatives of the 83rd Congress, a joint resolution calling for the establishment of A room with facilities for prayer and meditation for the use of Members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
1954US002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). United States Congress, 1954, Robert Byrd, United States Senator from West Virginia, July 27, 1962, in a message delivered in Congress two days after the Supreme Court declared prayer in schools unconstitutional. Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (Philadelphia: Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), pp. 66-69. Willard Cantelon, Money Master of the World (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1976), p. 135. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), pp. 54-56.