A Presidential Proclamation

Today, by proclamation of the President is known as Equal Pay Day:


Despite these achievements, 46 years since the passage of the Equal Pay Act and 233 years since our Nation was established with the principle of equal justice under law, women across America continue to experience discrimination in the form of pay inequity every day. Women in the United States earn only 78 cents for every dollar a man earns, and today marks the inauspicious occasion when a woman's earnings finally catch up with a man's from the previous year. On National Equal Pay Day, we underscore the importance of this issue to all Americans.

Carrying the weight of the world!

You think you have stress? Imagine if you were the President of these United States!

What if you had to have every an answer to every question ever asked? And what if that answer immediately became the law of the land; the new policy of the law...just because you said it. What if you could never be wrong about anything; things have always be right the first time you did anything? So you think you can be the president now?

Ever wondered why each minute of the day for the president is scripted down to every small detail? His life, his words, his way and character is the life-blood for millions. If he makes a mistake, or implies that he doesn't know the answer to a specific problem, he would be unable to effectively govern because no one would put their trust and confidence in him. Still want the job?

If for one moment, the president seems out of touch or out of the loop on various matters, how can they convince you to participate by paying taxes and helping your community if they don't know what it takes to do either of those things.

We hate for our leaders to appear over confident, yet, who would dare take this job and adopt these responsibilities each day unless they honestly believed, rather very heavily, in themselves.

This weight that they must carry, this nation that they must carry takes every thing out of them each and every day. It robs their families, their desires, theirs as well as their friends. It truly takes more than most would ever know to assume this office or any other of its calibur. This is why we are here! The White House Prayer Team is here to speak those mountains that might appear before our leadership and bring them down by the power of prayer.

Everytime we see them, they have to smile even if they don't want too. Why? Because if you think something is wrong, it may cause panic as well as indicate a lack of confidence on the POTUS' working schedule. See the posting entitled, "The Midnight Oils".

Okay, everyone knows its a tough job. We all are aware that there is an insurmountable sacrifice offered up. For what is offered, for all that is endured, we surely ought to pray for the sanity of the man, the sanctity of the office and the surity of the mission. You may just be a great president or a first lady, however, we now have an occupant who has inspired hope and personal dedication to family and community. Until it becomes your turn at bat, let us join together in locked arms and rally around the mission of the man.

The White House Prayer Team needs you to join up and get involved daily as we pray for this government. Visit us on facebook; "WhiteHousePrayer". Join in with us to bring the hope you elected into reality.

Obama's First Ambassador to Iraq?

That is correct! Today will be the day when the Obama Administration is expected to announce the addition of Christopher Hill to serve as Iraq's U.S. Ambassador after getting clearance from the Senate on yesterday. Not without some controversy however.

Republicans led by Senators Sam Brownback of Kansas delayed a final vote on the nomination of Mr. Hill, a career diplomat with bipartisan support, after the Senate easily cleared an initial procedural hurdle on a 73 to 17 vote. Sixty votes were needed.

As you can see, the Embassy in Iraq under construction at the time this photo was taken is now opened and functional. As of December 31, 2008, the embassy officially moved out of the Republican Palace, the jewel of Baghdad’s government buildings and the headquarters of the American presence in Iraq since shortly after the invasion.

For months, officials and members of the support staff, adding up to 1,200 people in all, have been gradually moving into the new embassy, America’s largest in the world. The Congressional Research Service said the final cost was $736 million; the original estimate was $592 million.

As for those 1,200 embassy employees, the State Department initially was concerned that they woudn't have enough interest from volunteers to go and serve in the new embassy given the amount of violence in the region. Threats had been made to motivate many of the State employees to consider a stint under the new Ambassador. This we know for sure on the Prayer Team; we know that God is going to protect these employees and families as they depart on this diplomatic, yet dangerous assignment.

Mr. Brownback accused Mr. Hill of lying to him about earlier negotiations with North Korean over its nuclear program and of failing to move aggressively against North Korea on the question of human rights violations.

“This is a person that we now want to promote to the biggest diplomatic post we have in the world,” Mr. Brownback said. But other Republicans urged the Senate to move forward with Mr. Hill, saying his presence in Iraq was crucial.

“It is important to get our next ambassador in place as quickly as possible,’’ said Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, who praised Mr. Hill for agreeing to accept such a difficult assignment.

‘We need an ambassador in Iraq,” said Senator Saxby Chambliss, a conservative Georgia Republican who just returned from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. “We need it desperately.”
Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Mr. Hill, who has been an envoy in multiple hot spots, was following the instructions of the Bush administration when dealing with Korea.

We definitely need to make sure that we are in support of the Ambassador, Mr. Hill, as he too alike many of our military service men and women give of themselves. Keep Mr. Hill and his family lifted up before God so that even in this hostile territory, he may serve his nation with the wisdom of almighty God in a land that is yet to be deemed friendly through and through.

“This should not be a controversial nomination,” Mr. Kerry said. “There are very few American diplomats with more experience than Chris Hill where it matters most.”

Order Our Steps!

In our research recently, some amazing finds were discovered. Imagine a life with no stairs or grand staircases. Is that even possible? Apparently so, considering there were no stairs built into The White House until the Truman renovations, (President Harry Truman gutted the entire White House in 1948).

Stairs have become such a commonplace fixture in contemporary architecture that it is easy to forget that they were known as "stairsteppes" as they were originally called, most people moved between building levels using ramps or ladders.

The same was true at the White House. While most Presidents were quite adept at negotiating the interior ladders, some found the arrangement unworkable. For that reason, President Benjamin Harrison had an elaborate system of winches and pulleys installed on the White House exterior.

Evening passers-by on Pennsylvania Avenue often could catch a glimpse of the President being hoisted to the window of his second floor bedroom. Indeed, those nightly episodes were the genesis of the campaign slogan, "Heave Ho for Harrison!" which the President used extensively during his unsuccessful 1893 campaign.

While the interior staircases at the White House were all installed during the Truman administration, the various exterior stairs were installed piecemeal, with the last being completed in February 1963.

If I could continue on and utilize the stairs of the White House as a metaphor, with each step built into this expansive residence and global headquarters of the U.S. presidency, the president also rises. Truman, was able to do something no other president before him had ever done before; acend with one step at a time.

2 Samuel 22:37 says "Thou hast enlarged my steps under me so that my feet (do) not slip". Our prayers for the leaders of our government is intended to enlarge their steps to prevent their slipping away from those unrightous deeds that plague the offices they hold. President Truman realized that the White House looked wonderful to the natural eye, but on the inside, the floor literally gave way under heavy furniture and many of the walls, nearly 150 years old, were leaning at the touch.

One of my favorite verses is one of King David's in Psalms 37:23, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord..." In this nation of democracy and order, we aim to elect those of good character and intention to represent us not only in this country but around the world. Going forward, this prayer team would encourage you to build on the monumental efforts accomplished during this past election cycle when by large majorities, the people of this nation elected its first african american to the presidency of the United States.

We need you to continue to perform your citizenry, help those who need it, share with those who do not have, feed those who are hungry as well as love those lack it. However, in all of your doing, pray for this White House and all that is expected to come down the stairs from the residential quarters and walk over to the Oval. Pray that every step he takes is ordered by the Lord. Believe God, that as his family follows behind him in places he trods, they too will serve as the examples our families in all corners of this country have come to hope for from them.

Every secretary, clerk, guard and house-keeping staff member will be blessed as they serve through the historical progress of this nation. With each new office holder, the country moves forward just as another step in the right direction. Progress. Where there were ramps and hoists, now there are 8 sets of staircases and 3 elevators.

Write to us and tell us some of the steps you have taken and how God has blessed you through the progress of your life. We've all had some hoists and spiraling ramps in our spiritual lives. Thank God for His mercy so that now the steps we take are "grand". Let me hear from you by email whitehouseprayer@live.com, or facebook by clicking the ad to your left on the home page.

WHPT

Obama Administration to boycott UN Summit on Racism

The Obama administration quietly announced this weekend that it would boycott an international conference about racism and discrimination because of concerns that the conference unfairly singles out Israel for criticism and because the conference may set the stage for restrictions on free speech.

The United Nations conference is set to begin tomorrow in Geneva, Switzerland.Protesting what their leaders see as anti-Semitic and anti-Israel overtones to the conference, Australia, Canada, Israel, Italy and Sweden are also not sending delegations.

Acting U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood Saturday issued a statement saying that the 2009 Durban Review Conference draft outcome document "still contains language that reaffirms in toto the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) from 2001, which the United States has long said it is unable to support" because it "singles out one particular conflict and prejudges key issues that can only be resolved in negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians."

"Its inclusion in the review conference document has the same effect as inserting that original text into the current document and re-adopting it," Wood said. In addition, he added that the United States "also has serious concerns with relatively new additions to the text regarding 'incitement,' that run counter to the U.S. commitment to unfettered free speech."

Earlier drafts of the document expressed disapproval of any "defamation of religion."Wood said: "Therefore, with regret, the United States will not join the review conference."Human rights organizations expressed disappointment at the decision.“From the outset we have shared Washington’s deep concern about the efforts by some governments to use the racism meeting to single out Israel for criticism and to promote the idea that religions should be protected over rights, ” said Juliette de Rivero, Geneva advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “But governments have now excised troubling language about the Middle East and ‘defamation of religion’ from the meeting’s draft resolution.”

Congressional Black Caucus chair Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said the CBC was "deeply dismayed" by the President's decision.``This decision is inconsistent with the administration's policy of engaging with those we agree with and those we disagree with,'' she said. "By boycotting Durban, the U.S. is making it more difficult for it to play a leadership role on U.N. Human Rights Council as it states it plans to do.

This is a missed opportunity, plain and simple.''The announcement was not unexpected.In February, Wood said that "the document being negotiated has gone from bad to worse, and the current text of the draft outcome document is not salvageable." United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice told Politico's Ben Smith that the document was "rife with anti-Israeli and other problematic substance" and "not a credible basis for a responsible outcome."

The Obama administration had worked with the Russian leaders chair the conference, as well as senior United Nations officials, on making changes to the document.Ultimately some changes were made -- and specific mentions of Israel were removed -- but not enough to satisfy American policymakers.The draft outcome document specifically "(r)eaffirms the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), as it was adopted at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in 2001.

"Much of the debate at the 2001 conference focused on whether or not Zionism was inherently racism, prompting the US and Israeli delegations to withdraw from the conference. An early draft called Israel "a racist apartheid state" and referred to Israel's "systematic perpetration of racist crimes, including war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing."The final language in the DDPA 2001 document, was much tamer, though no other country or struggle except for the Israel-Palestinian conflict was singled out for criticism."We are concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupation," it stated.

"We recognize the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent State and we recognize the right to security for all States in the region, including Israel, and call upon all States to support the peace process and bring it to an early conclusion."Calling the conference "a celebration of racism and vile anti-Semitic activity" and "further evidence of the U.N.'s inability to demonstrate any semblance of fairness or objectivity on these issues when it comes to the Jewish State," the American Israel Public Affairs Committee issued a statement applauding President Obama's decision as "the right thing to do and underscores America's unstinting commitment to combating intolerance and racism in all its forms and in all settings."

Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories. We thank you Jake for this blog posting.

Santorum says "No" to filibuster!

On Friday, April 17, 2009, once a rising star in the Republican Party and a friend of the The White House Prayer Team, Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., urged a room full of Republican attorneys today to fight President Obama's judicial nominees -- but to stop short of the filibuster.

As he spoke to the Republican National Lawyers Association conference at the National Press Club, the former Senator urged his listeners to refrain from a filibuster of President Obama's judicial nominees insisting that this action would be counterproductive to their efforts to realign the party for a rebirth.

Several wondered aloud why conservatives should hold back with restraint after Democrats blocked several of President Bush's nominees. "We will lose every single filibuster attempt, even if it's the worst judge in the world. We don't have the votes," Santorum rejoined.

"You don't pull out a gun if everyone in the room knows it's not loaded."Santorum also predicted that a filibuster would cause dissent even within GOP ranks. "Half of the caucus will turn on you," Santorum said. "Democrats don't turn on other Democrats. Republicans do."

As we pray for this 111th Congress currently in session, remember that some of what will grow to become a bitter fight on the hill will involve several varying points of view primarily surrounding how we address abortions and family planning concerns. Forever and always a sore spot, this issue looms year after year because we have learned how to skillfully do absolutely nothing.

If you filibuster, which just means someone, a member of the opposition, stalls or outright prevents the issue or concern making up to an actual vote. As you know, if it can't make it to a vote, it then could never become law.

The opposition would need enough votes to block the majority vote or "filibuster proof" by having at least 60 votes in the Senate. So every administration faces the same games by the opposing party so the idea is to prevent that particular president's choices from ever making it to the bench (Supreme Court)...for fear that if they make it, they will in-turn, alter the current balance conviction on the high court and thereby alter abortion law.

When NationalJournal.com caught up with Santorum after his speech, he said that the only way his party will be able to block any of Obama's nominees would be to wage massive campaigns against the most "egregious" ones to the point where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., decides not to bring the confirmation to a vote. Going against every single one of them will not work, he said. Would the former senator be involved in such campaigns himself? "Oh, I don't know," Santorum said with a laugh. "I like to light a lot of fires and then step out of the way.

"One thing that the audience, Santorum and his fellow speaker, Wendy Long, could agree on was their concern about Obama's philosophy in making judicial nominations. Long, counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, expressed her alarm about a comment Obama made on the campaign trail indicating that he preferred judges who have "heart" and "empathy." "This is the first time in history that a president has put forth as his gold standard for judicial nominees the very definition of judicial activism," Long said.

Regardless of where you land on either side of the line in the sand, remember to pray for the nation as we approach yet another landmark decision; this one regarding our views on life and death; abortion and a woman's right to choose.Obama has made just three nominations so far.

The first, David Hamilton, nominated to a 7th circuit Court of Appeals seat in mid-March, has already drawn conservative opposition. Hamilton is now awaiting a confirmation vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans on the committee, including Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., boycotted Hamilton's confirmation hearing on April 1, saying they didn't have enough time to prepare.

WHPT

412 Doors

The White House is one the nation's largest houses and undoubtedly one of the most famously photographed homes in the world, easily. This home is part of every American's national inheritance. As the office and the home of the President of the United States, it is the one place toward which ciitizens look for leadership from the one elected official chosen to act for us all.

There is no other elected offical directly accountable to us, our problems; this home belongs to us. Interestingly enough, this home contains a total four hundred twelve doors in all over the three floor plans.

Our prayer is that God continues to bless the current holder of this office and his family as well as all other who pass through those 412 thresholds. These doors represent so much more than history will ever tell us if those walls within the White House compound could talk. Ever since its first resident occupied the home in 1800.

The 44th President has now taken the reigns of the People's Home in Washington, D.C. and the doors of opportunity have truly gotten him to this point, however these 412 doors don't descriminate, they don't judge and they are always open to him as well as to all points of view. They see him thinking when most of the staff have gone home after their 12 or 16 hour work day and they await his return from a trip to a distant shore.Pray for these doors. Through these doors, the hope and change that you have prayed for walks, thinks and deliberates.

Pray for these doors so that they continue to serve as a transitional interval beyond which some new action or different state of affairs is likely to begin or occur. These doors are invisible borderlines, breaking points and edges to thought in finality.

Pray for all 412 doors. As you can see, they are more than just doors. They are passageways; but where they lead has everything to do with how you and I pray for the occupant of the time.

WHPT