(CNSNews.com) - "Let us all be very prayerful about how we go forward," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told a news conference on Thursday.
Pelosi used herself as an example of prayerful reflection:
On Sunday morning, when we met with the M's--McConnell, Mnuchin, McCarthy--Chuck and I were there, and I said: Since it's Sunday morning, why don't we begin with a prayer? My part of it, not their part of it, my part of it: begin with a prayer. His Holiness, Pope Francis, called for a world prayer.
I don't--I won't do it justice, but what he did was to pray that those who have the responsibility to care for others would be enlightened to take that responsibility and act upon it. When I finished my prayer, the Secretary (Mnuchin) said, 'Well, you've quoted St. Francis, I mean Pope Francis. I'll quote the markets.'
"So that's kind of how we--Gosh knows we want the markets to succeed. That's very important. Markets are not going to succeed unless we take care of people and we restore their health. Whether there is a cure or whether there's behavior that reduces this tragedy in our country.
"But let us work together in the most bipartisan way possible to get the job done as soon as possible. It won't happen unless we respect science, science, science.
And for those who say we choose prayer over science, I say science is an answer to our prayers.
At that point, Pelosi opened the floor to questions.