Reverend Dr. Kate Braestrup, Maine Warden Service, Lincolnville, Maine, offered the following prayer: St. Francis of Assisi advises us to pray constantly. If necessary, he says, use words. God, our prayer today arises from a house of words, from a Nation rooted in words. We do not derive our identity as Americans from our color or our creed, from our wealth or power, nor even from the land itself, though we do love the land. Rather, by Your grace, America is America through its words: That all men are created equal, that all are endowed with inalienable rights--life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--these beautiful, necessary words. God, may every word spoken and written from this Chamber contain an echo of those words. May our words, too, be necessary and true. May our words remember and inspire the brave, compassionate action that is and always has been America's finest prayer. Amen.