Charles Rangel: “Good morning, my colleagues. Like most of you, I have taken so many things around this wonderful Capitol for granted.…”

“Good morning, my colleagues. Like most of you, I have taken so many things around this wonderful Capitol for granted. And this beautiful statement, ``In God We Trust,'' unfortunately for me has been one of them. It has not really struck me like the pledge of allegiance to the flag or the ``Star Spangled Banner'' or so many other things. But I think that now is the time that we really need God to guide us to do the right and the moral thing. And the reason we have to do it is because we're dealing with something that is basic to all religions and faiths and this is our responsibility to make certain that we balance our budget, do what is fiscally necessary for our great Nation to survive. But also to do it in such a way that the poor and the vulnerable, who have nothing to do with the crisis that we face, are not hurt. So I guess this is what we're talking about when we say ``In God We Trust.'' But God works through us. We are the tools. We have the responsibility of the missionaries. We don't have lobbyists that come down to say protect those people. And I guess this is one of the reasons why this saying here is a constant reminder to us that even though we're carried away with our ability to create statutes, that we respect our court system and the Supreme Court, in the final analysis it's the higher authority of morality that should be guiding all of us.…”