Congressional Constitution Caucus Constitution Hour

CONGRESSIONAL CONSTITUTION CAUCUS CONSTITUTION HOUR -- (House of Representatives - September 19, 2006)

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Schmidt). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Garrett) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, we come to the floor tonight for our weekly Congressional Constitution Caucus Constitution Hour to honor the annual Constitution Day, September 17. September 17 marks the anniversary of the signing of our founding legal document, the U.S. Constitution.

On September 17, 1787, 39 revolutionary and visionary Founding Fathers changed the course of history and this country and the world, securing liberties and freedoms that centuries of civilization had only dreamed of before and that democracies around the world have tried to emulate ever since. I encourage all of my colleagues to use this occasion to remind us all and all Americans of the true intent of the U.S. Constitution and all the rights and the liberties that are guaranteed to them when our government was first formed. Today more than ever before these freedoms are too often encroached upon by every branch of government.

Unfortunately, for most Americans, the Constitution is nothing more than a historical document, really, too often cited, and cited inaccurately, and nearly always greatly misunderstood.

Still more unfortunate, this esteemed body and our Federal Government have lowered the standard of constitutional understanding and adherence, and so it is no wonder the general public has little interest or comprehension of the intent of our Nation's Founding Fathers. Just today, for example, if someone tuned in to see the discussion on C-SPAN of what was going on on the floor, the House was debating, as if, you might say, a school board was debating, for we were looking at legislation of how schools should be run with regard to their securities within their confines.

Thomas Jefferson was once asked the question, why is it that the Federal Government does not regulate and promote schools throughout the country? And he answered the question by saying: Madam, we shall do so when the Constitution is amended to say that we have the right and constitutional power to do so. But until that time, we shall not.

Here in the House floor today, unfortunately, we were doing just that, acting as if this was one large super-school board for the entire 50 States of this country.

But we were happy to come to the floor, along with my colleague from Utah, earlier this evening and other members of the caucus to help reorient the conversation to the original beliefs of our Founding Fathers and purposes of our founding documents. I think we have become a society that has begun to take for granted our systems of self-government and our liberties and freedoms. You know, gone are the days of the tyrannical rulers that inspired patriots to dump tea in the Boston Harbor or to compel Patrick Henry to cry out, ``Give me liberty or give me death,'' or motivated such important luminaries as General George Washington, who successfully led a patchwork of army of little resources and even less hope to take up arms against one of the mightiest armies in the world for their freedom.

As societies around the world are currently struggling to establish or maintain democracy as the true model of self-government, let us not forget the many rights that we possess and the single document that protects them.

So as we celebrate the anniversary of our signing of our Nation's most significant legal document, let us each and every one of us try to better familiarize ourselves with it. Highlighting and understanding what the Constitution actually says; what the intent of the authors actually was, and how it is now interpreted, stretched, or ignored will empower the public, like our forefathers once did, to stand up for their innate rights and to resist the growth of government at every level.

You see, Mr. Speaker, it is easy to let our rights slip away, but tremendously difficult to get them back ever again. The best weapons that we have against either of those things ever happening is to arm ourselves with the knowledge found in the United States Constitution.

And so I conclude as I had once before on this floor, to encourage this House to adopt legislation that is pending right now called the AMERICA Act, which is simply asking every Member of this body to on a yearly basis to simply read the Constitution, and their staffs as well. Let us start in this body to have an understanding of the Constitution and to share that belief with the American public as well

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