[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 206 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 206
Honoring the memory of Dr. William R. (``Bill'') Bright and commending
his life as an example to succeeding generations.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 30 (legislative day, July 21), 2003
Mr. Brownback (for himself and Mrs. Dole) submitted the following
resolution; which was considered and agreed to
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Honoring the memory of Dr. William R. (``Bill'') Bright and commending
his life as an example to succeeding generations.
Whereas Dr. Bright died on July 19, 2003, at age 81 in Orlando, Florida, from
complications related to pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease for which
there is no known cure or effective treatment;
Whereas Dr. Bright was an agnostic humanist and materialist, and successful
Hollywood businessman, until he became ``overcome by the love of our
great Creator God and Savior'' in 1945, whereupon he spent 5 years in
theological studies at Princeton and Fuller Theological Seminaries;
Whereas Dr. Bright, with his wife Vonette, in 1951 founded Campus Crusade for
Christ International, which now serves people in 191 countries through a
staff of 27,000 full-time employees and up to 500,000 trained
volunteers;
Whereas his life focus was on students and laypersons, and from the first he
emphasized the role of women as full partners in leadership in the
various ministries;
Whereas Dr. Billy Graham, a long-time friend of the Brights, has said: ``He is a
man whose sincerity and integrity and devotion to our Lord have been an
inspiration and a blessing to me ever since the early days of my
ministry'';
Whereas Dr. Bright lived simply, owning neither houses nor land, and receiving
no honoraria or donations for his thousands of appearances across the
world, and the scores of writings and video presentations he developed;
Whereas when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, he fulfilled a dream of more
than 40 years of praying for Russia by donating his entire pension to
establish a ministry to the students of Moscow State University;
Whereas Campus Crusade for Christ International operates more than 70 ministries
and projects which offer hope and spiritual enlightenment across the
globe to students on hundreds of campuses, urban residents, including
minorities, the well-known Athletes-in-Action ministry, leaders of
governments, inmates of prisons, aid to families, aid to health and
education programs, aid to families of military personnel, executives,
entertainers and musicians, and many others;
Whereas in 1979, Dr. Bright commissioned the JESUS film, a feature-length
documentary on the life of Christ, directed by John Heyman, which has
since been viewed by more than 5,100,000,000 people in 234 countries and
has become the most widely viewed, as well as most widely translated, in
786 languages, film in history;
Whereas Dr. Bright is author of more than 100 books and booklets, as well as
thousands of articles and pamphlets that have been distributed by the
millions in most major languages, including the widely regarded Four
Spiritual Laws of which 2,500,000,000 copies have been distributed;
Whereas Dr. Bright received 8 honorary degrees from universities in the United
States and other nations, and numerous awards and honors from higher
education, his home state of Oklahoma, and his peers in religious,
radio, and television broadcasting;
Whereas, Dr. Bright was awarded the unique and prestigious Templeton Prize for
Progress in Religion in 1996, presented by Prince Phillip at Buckingham
Palace in London, and was received by Pope John Paul II in Rome where he
addressed world spiritual leaders in accepting its $1,100,000 prize,
which he directed be given to worldwide fasting for peace and spiritual
enlightenment;
Whereas Dr. Bright sought ecumenical and trans-denominational cooperation
throughout the world by building more than 1,000 partnerships with other
ministries, and in 1983, he and former President Ronald Reagan, along
with Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant members of the clergy, informed
Congress which voted to establish The Year of the Bible to help focus on
timeless truths for the Nation;
Whereas he helped create what media reports describe as the largest non-
denominational Christian ministry in the world, and he rejected appeals
to establish a single religious denomination and would not allow his
name to be attached to any single denominational enterprise;
Whereas he urged followers to be ``salt and light'', to seek civility in
society, and to be active in ministry to prisons, hospitals, orphanages,
and he declared the duties of citizenship to be reliably informed,
active in the study of issues, voter registration and get-out-the-vote
drives, and personal voting;
Whereas he never endorsed individual candidates or parties, and encouraged
laypersons to seek public service and often called upon people in all
lands to study American History, declaring President George Washington
as his secular hero after Jesus of Nazareth and the Apostle Paul;
Whereas in response to a suggestion from a Member of the United States Senate,
he helped establish the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
to set high standards and monitor their compliance, setting an example
for all charitable organizations;
Whereas Money magazine has often cited Campus Crusade for Christ International
as best or one of the top 5 non-profit ministries for effective
stewardship of donor dollars; and
Whereas in his last months he co-founded the Global Pastors Network, a separate
ministry to pastors worldwide with helpful resources and a goal to start
5,000,000 home-based studies of the attributes of God: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) sends its condolences to Mrs. Vonette Zachary Bright,
their grandchildren, their sons, Zac and Brad, and their wives,
Terry and Katherine, all of whom are also in full-time
Christian ministry; and
(2) does hereby honor the memory of Dr. William R.
(``Bill'') Bright, an ambassador of spiritual goodwill, whose
58 years of dedicated and effective service stand as an
outstanding example of selfless leadership to all humankind.
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