Whereas the Bible has played a prominent role in the culture of the United States and has been a central influence on the United States throughout the history of the United States; Whereas, on September 13, 1782, the Journals of the Continental Congress document that businessman Robert Aitken had petitioned Congress in 1781 to approve the printing of an edition of the English Bible that he had undertaken at great personal expense at a time of war, and that Congress passed a resolution supporting those efforts of Robert Aitken in 1782; Whereas many of the leaders of the United States have declared their deep appreciation for the Bible and implored citizens to read it and recognize the connection of the Bible with the ideals of the United States; Whereas the first President of the United States, George Washington, declared that the rise of the United States was due to above all, the pure and benign light of Revelation [the Bible] ; Whereas the President of the United States and Founding Father, John Adams, declared that the Bible is the best book in the world ; Whereas the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, declared the Bible to be the best gift God has given to Man and invoked the words, metaphors, and teachings of the Bible throughout the Civil War as a source of comfort, inspiration, and wisdom; Whereas the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, declared We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a Nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic ; Whereas, in 1982, Congress passed the Joint Resolution entitled Joint Resolution authorizing and requesting the President to proclaim 1983 as the Year of the Bible ( Public Law 97–280 ), finding that the Bible has made a unique contribution in shaping the United States as a distinctive and blessed nation and people ; Whereas the Museum of the Bible will aim to be the most technologically advanced museum in the world