I please remain standing as the chaplain of the house of the United States Patrick Conroy gives the convocation. Let us pray. Lord, god of mercy, we gather to remember an iconic moment in our history when millions of souls in american were declared to be freed men and women and slavery was forever formally banned from the United States of america by the adoption of the 13th amendment to the constitution. It was in advance in our evolving sense of those freedoms we have come to believe define us as a selfgoverning people. Unfortunately, the badges and incidents of slavery remained for decades. The pains of racism, like a National Genetic defect, plague us still, though so many wish it were not so. Lord, have mercy on us. Bless those who have been elected to secure laws protecting and expanding our cherished freedoms with the wisdom and vision to root out all traces of involuntary servitude in our nation, most notably Human Trafficking in our own time, so we can declare with pride we are