The Office of the Chaplain United States House of Representatives

Chaplain Scott Crosley

101st Airborne Division
Fort Campbell, KY

Sponsor: Rep. Hon. Marsha Blackburn, (R-TN)
Date of Prayer: 11/15/2006

One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:

(Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, please join me in thanking Chaplain Scott Crosley of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) for delivering today's opening prayer. Chaplain Crosley serves as the battalion chaplain for the First Battalion 187th Infantry Regiment, the ‘‘Leader Rakkasans.''

These soldiers only recently returned to Fort Campbell from Iraq. While they were deployed in Iraq, I had the opportunity to visit them at forward–operating base Summerall. The Leader Rakkasans engaged in close combat with insurgent and terrorist enemies. They worked to train Iraqi army and police units, and they continued the work of building Iraqi civil society to offer a better future to the next generation of Iraqis.

Chaplain Crosley came to the Army late in life, moving his family from his native California and heeding a call to tend to the spiritual and emotional needs of soldiers at war.

In this time of deployment, his efforts helped soldiers deal with the stress of combat, separation from their loved ones and, above all, the loss of nine brother warriors in action.

Mr. Speaker, we thank Chaplain Crosley and the soldiers of the 101st Airborne for their great service to our great Nation.

Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:

Dear Lord, today we pray for productivity, for purpose and for passion. We ask, Lord, for your encouragement, for those who need it; for your direction, for those who need it; and for your discernment, for those who need it. Your Word promises that "he who stands firm to the end will be saved." Today, I pray for the leaders in this room, that you, Lord, would help them to stand firm in You. Help their dependence to be upon You and their persuasion to reflect You. As it reads in Ephesians, Chapter 3: "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being." It is in His name that I pray Rakkasan and Amen!

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