Congress marks day with prayers
Members voice confidence in our arms, then resume old party contentiousness
Washington – (June 6)
Congress was stirred deeply by word that the Allied invasion of continental Europe from the north was on and turned today to prayers for speed and complete victory with a minimum of human losses.
The members voiced confidence in the skills and plans of our military and naval leaders.
“Grant that on this D-Day of liberation,” was the supplication of the Rev. Dr. Frederick Brown Harris, chaplain of the Senate, “weapons of freedom forged in fires of faith may pierce the shields of pagan steel and the cruel invaders’ walls, reared in treachery and tyranny and oppression, may crumble and fall at the boast of Allied might.
Upon our dear boys in this fearful baptism of fire, of whom we think today with special tenderness, lifting them up on the winds of our intercession as knights of Thy Righteous will, and upon the hosts of oppressed now at last to emerge from dark dungeons of thralldom pour thy enabling grave as together they strike the blow on that fair and storied land where the grapes of wrath are stored.
We pray today, this day of days, for our enemies with calloused hearts and warped minds and poisoned conceptions. Forgive them, they know not what they do.
In the House, the Rev. Dr. James Shera Montgomery prayed:
In our prayer, we bring unto Thee our heroic sons and daughters of the battle lines who have surrendered their secret hoys, their aspirations and the blessings of the years. Amid the walls and bulwarks of savage war embrace them in Thy fatherly arms, reveal Thyself unto them in mercy and hide not Thy face from them; comfort them in the face of all adversaries as their swords of righteousness prevail.
In the Senate and House, heads were bowed in silent prayer. Senators joined in reciting the 23rd Psalm. The prayer composed last night by President Roosevelt was read in both chambers.
Senator Alben W. Barkley, Majority Leader, said:
I am sure I speak the sentiment of the Senate, when I say that we all recognize the solemnity of this hour, the great, tragic importance of the events which are now in our minds and hearts, and that all we need to do, and all we probably should do now, or can do, is to pray fervently and devoutly for the success of our troops and those of our allies.
Senator Wallace H. White Jr., Minority Leader, said that the day was shadowed by the possibilities of disaster, but in it there was the substantial promise of a glorious ending.
The spirit of unity left the House as the day progress and as it continued its contest over legislation designed to extend the statute of limitations on court-martial proceedings against RAdm. Husband E. Kimmel and Maj. Gen. Walter C. Short, commanders at Pearl Harbor.
Party lines were drawn as Republicans succeeded in extending the limitation for only three months.
In the Senate, consideration of the bill to extend the Emergency Price Control and Stabilization Acts led to sharp criticism, mostly by Democrats, of the lack of flexibility in the OPA.