With that in mind and in celebration of National Prayer Day, today I have proposed in the House of Representatives a Constitutional Amendment that would restore voluntary prayer in our Nation's schools.

Today, our actions must be motivated only by our intense desire to achieve a just and lasting peace. The compassion and charity of the American people should be reflected in this legislation, though sadly, they are silenced.

We all understand that compromise is part of the legislative process, yet at the same time, I would submit that wilderness is not for sale.

Wilderness is not defined by the absence of certain activities, but rather by the presence of certain unique and invaluable characteristics.

But through world wars and a Great Depression, through painful social upheaval and a Cold War, and now through the attacks of September 11, 2001, our Nation has indeed survived.

America, 5 years after this brutal attack, is testament that a Nation conceived in liberty and equality will endure. It is a triumph of millions of Americans but it is also the triumph of an idea larger than any one person, larger than any one nation.

Wilderness designations should not be the result of a quid pro quo. They should rise or fall on their own merits.