WASHINGTON — Alabama’s congressional delegation joined together in bipartisan fashion to pray for the state, education and elected leaders Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol.
In a Senate room filled with Alabamians, staffers, and Alabama’s members of congress, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., hosted the third annual prayer breakfast, touting the group’s shared faith and home state.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., attended the event alongside Reps. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, Gary Palmer, R-Birmingham, Barry Moore, R-Enterprise and Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham.
“We know where the solutions come from and that’s one of the reasons we’re here today,” Tuberville said. “We’re going to pray for our country and our great state.”
Tuberville honored the late Auburn football chaplain Chette Williams, who died falling into Lake Martin in December. Williams was originally slated to speak at the breakfast.
“Every day he made our football team, our athletic department and our university better,” Tuberville said. “The loss is just unimaginable.”
At the podium, Palmer compared the unity found even between Auburn and University of Alabama supporters with finding harmony between each other under God.
As the dean of Alabama’s delegation and chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees education, Aderholt prayed for teachers and students.
“We pray that you would guard our children from harm,” Aderholt said. “Watch over their journeys to and from school and keep our classrooms safe.”
Sewell touted the bipartisan work the state’s delegation does to benefit all of Alabama. She also lifted the military up in prayer.
“We as a state may be small…nine of us total in our delegation, but we often box above our weight and I believe it’s because we try to set aside partisanship where we can to work on behalf of our great state,” Sewell said.
Moore led a scripture reading and said it was nice to see the event grow every year since Tuberville started the tradition in 2023.
“There is one thing for sure, this nation needs prayer and it’s a fantastic way to bring the delegation together, the staff together and pray over our state, our nation, and certainly the people that are involved in this process of trying to govern this country,” he told Alabama Daily News.
Britt concluded the breakfast with a prayer and thanked Alabamians who have lifted up lawmakers in prayer.
“For those of us who serve Alabama back home and for those of us who serve here in Washington, teach us to see our challenges as you see them and give us eyes to see the solutions that honor you,” she said.
