Rear Admiral Barry Black (Ret.), the Senate chaplain, opened the legislative session with a powerful prayer for lawmakers to take action in the wake of the recent school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. He urged them to reject “the paralysis of analysis” and move beyond “thoughts and prayers” to make a difference. Black invoked the words of Edmund Burke, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing,” as a reminder of the urgent need for gun control legislation.
