[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 129 (Friday, August 4, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11478-S11479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        REMARKS OF LLOYD OMDAHL

 Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, more than 30 years ago, President 
John F. Kennedy challenged us all to ``Ask not what your country can do 
for you. Ask what you can do for your country.'' Plenty of statesmen 
have come and gone since, and few have approached such eloquence. But I 
read a column recently in which the writer, former North Dakota Lt. 
Gov. Lloyd Omdahl, comes pretty close, if not in style, certainly in 
his message. He echoes President Kennedy's challenge at a point in our 
history when I think we need to get reacquainted with that challenge. 
His words remind each and every one of us about the depth of our 
responsibility to preserve and nurture our birthright--our Republic. 
Mr. President, I think Mr. Omdahl's remarks deserve the attention of 
the Senate, and I ask that his column be printed in the Record.
  The column follows:

                     A Republic--If You Can Keep it

                           (By Lloyd Omdahl)

       The Fourth of July represents the most patriotic time of 
     the year when we celebrate the treasonous act of declaring 
     revolutionary intentions against the government. It was okay 
     because we won.
       Just as important in United States history was the 
     ratification of the U.S. Constitution and the creation of a 
     democratic republic.
       Shortly after the Constitutional Convention, Delegate Ben 
     Franklin was asked: ``And what kind of government did you 
     give us?'' To this he replied: ``A republic--if you can keep 
     it!''
       For over 200 years, we have kept the republic through a 
     second war for independence, a traumatic civil war, a 
     devastating depression and a variety of complex international 
     conflicts. But just because the Republic has survived to this 
     point does not give it automatic life eternal. Each 
     generation must cope with the forces that would erode or 
     destroy the system.
       It is my thesis that the present populace is less prepared 
     to preserve the Republic than prior generations.
       Republics are citizen governments, which probably caused 
     Franklin to express dubiousness about its future. No one 
     really knew whether citizens could really successfully govern 
     a large geographic republic.

[[Page S 11479]]

       As former U.S. Senator Mark Andrews once commented: ``A 
     republic is a do-it yourself kit.'' The effectiveness with 
     which it operates is dependent on whether or not citizens are 
     willing to accept responsibility to ``do it'' themselves.
       It seems that a number of basic prerequisites must be met 
     to preserve a republic.
       And we're losing them.
       First, citizens must be well-informed. They are not. We now 
     have an entire generation of citizens whose primary source of 
     news has come from television--an entertainment medium 
     designed to feed viewers entertainment and not news. This 
     medium requires that news must be entertaining to attract and 
     keep an audience thirsty for fun. Every TV personality 
     claiming to offer news--from Sam Donaldson to Rush Limbaugh--
     is really offering entertainment disguised as news.
       Second, citizens must be future-oriented. They are not. 
     Citizens oppose fiscal responsibility and other policies that 
     require short-term sacrifices for long-term benefits. They 
     want present gratification. (The latest example is popular 
     support for a 75-mile speed limit that would burn up the 
     world's limited oil supply faster.)
       Third, citizens must function primarily from a rational 
     perspective. They do not. Reason has given way to paranoia, 
     anger, hate and a cornucopia of psychologically-based 
     responses. It is no longer possible to deal with serious 
     issues on a cognitive level.
       Fourth, citizens must be public-regarding, i.e. place some 
     value on sacrifice for community and support for the 
     organized society. They are not. Organizations and 
     institutions are literally collapsing as people are 
     withdrawing into their shells. In reality, we have been 
     disassociating ourselves more and more from family, religious 
     and community organizations. Community and civic life is 
     dying.
       The degree to which citizens are informed, future-oriented, 
     rational and public-regarding is the degree to which the 
     republic will function effectively. As we lose these 
     qualities, the republic's effectiveness will decline.
       Because of the growing shallowness of citizen concern with 
     affairs of the republic, the republic becomes more vulnerable 
     to demagoguery, deception and disorganization. Politicians 
     with the simple, easy answers will be preferred to those 
     insisting on difficult decisions and sacrifice.
       Even though it is over 200 years old, the future of the 
     Republic is still conditional. Ben Franklin's big ``if'' 
     should hang over us as a warning that republics have fallen 
     in the past and this one will also go if citizens aren't 
     willing to assume the perspective and commitment it takes to 
     make the system work.
       It's our republic--if we can keep it.
       

                          ____________________