Cord Byrd: “Soon the Senate will recess for Christmas. Members will travel home to their families and to their States to share in…”

“Soon the Senate will recess for Christmas. Members will travel home to their families and to their States to share in Christmas parades and tree lightings, Christmas cantatas, and festivals of lights. They will decorate their own trees and attend the Christmas season celebrations in their own churches. Some will make trips to Iraq or Afghanistan, while others will comfort people who are struggling to recover from wildfires or the recent devastating snow and ice storms that have left so many homeless and without power. I join in the prayers for their swift recoveries, and I rejoice in the fellowship and the support that are flowing to Americans in need all across the Nation and all around the world. That fellowship and that support is the true spirit of the Christmas season. Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight! Christmas in lands of the fir-tree and pine, Christmas in lands of the palm-tree and vine, Christmas where snow peaks solemn and white, Christmas where cornfields stand sunny and bright. Christmas where children are hopeful and gay, Christmas where old men [like I] are patient and gray, Christmas, where peace, like a dove in its flight, Broods o'er brave men in the thick of the fight; Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight! For the Christ-child who comes is the Master of all; No palace too great, no cottage too small. Christmas is a special time, no matter where the season finds us.”