WASHINGTON — Three and a half months after he was shot during an
early morning baseball practice in Alexandria, Louisiana Congressman Steve
Scalise, the House majority whip, received thunderous applause and standing
ovations from the House floor Sept. 28 where he attributed his recovery to the
power of prayer.
"I'm definitely a living example that miracles really do
happen," he told his colleagues after acknowledging: "You have no
idea how good it feels to be back here at work at the people's house."
The congressman, a parishioner at St. Catherine of Siena Church
in Metairie, La., along with his wife, Jennifer, and their two children, said
the past few months have been challenging for him and his family, but he said
the outpouring of love, warmth and prayer gave them the "strength to get
through all of this."
"It starts with God," he said, noting that right after
he was shot on the baseball field and couldn't move, he "just started to
pray."
"I will tell you, it gave me an unbelievable sense of calm
knowing that at that point it was in God's hands," he said. He also
recounted how he prayed for specific things and many of those prayers were
answered, which gave him "renewed faith and understanding that the power
of prayer is something that you just cannot underestimate."
Scalise and fellow Republican House members along with staffers
and others were practicing June 14 for the annual Congressional Baseball Game,
which is played for charity, when James Hodgkinson from Illinois, who was
targeting the group, opened fire. He wounded Scalise and four others, including
Capitol police officers on Scalise's protective detail, a congressional staffer
and a lobbyist. The gunman died at a local hospital from gunshot wounds.
Scalise's shot fractured bones, injured internal organs and
caused severe bleeding that required multiple surgeries.
The congressman thanked the Capitol Police, especially the
officers on his security detail, David Bailey and Crystal Griner. He also
thanked the doctors at MedStar Washington Hospital Center who gave him "a
second chance at life."
He thanked his wife and the many people who reached out with
prayers and support, including colleagues from both parties and world leaders.
Scalise said many people have asked whether the shooting changed
him.
"Yes, it changed me, but not in ways you might think,"
he said on the House floor, noting that the experience strengthened his faith
in God and his belief in the goodness of people, since he witnessed "how
much compassion there is out there."
A big takeaway for him was the reaction of world leaders, which
he attributed not just to their personal concern for him.
"Sure, they cared about my well-being," he said, but he
also is convinced they saw the shooting as an attack on U.S. political leaders
as a whole.
"They count on us to
be successful," Scalise said, reminding his colleagues to rise above the
challenges of the day because "all around the world, people are counting
on us."