[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 55 (Thursday, May 1, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            NATIONAL LAW DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 1, 1997

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, May 1, 1997, members of the 
legal profession throughout the lower Hudson Valley region will join 
with their colleagues in the national observance of Law Day. Law Day 
serves as an opportunity for all Americans to celebrate our liberties 
and to reaffirm our commitment to the ideals of justice and equality 
under the law.
  Law Day will be celebrated in my district by the Orange County Bar 
Association and the Women's Bar Association of Orange and Sullivan 
Counties in a ceremony at the Orange County Government Center. This 
year's theme is ``Celebrate Your Freedom.''
  Our Republic was founded on several key principles, many based on the 
English common law. Yet our Founding Fathers went further than their 
predecessors in England, and established a written Constitution with a 
codified Bill of Rights. They also founded a legal system which places 
the burden of proof on the accuser, not the accused, and in which 
everyone is entitled to having their day in court.
  Moreover, they also established an independent judiciary, a first for 
the world at that time, which has safeguarded the rights and freedoms 
of our citizens for over 200 years.
  Accordingly, liberty and equality under the law is one of the guiding 
principles of our Republic. Without any legal system, freedom quickly 
dissolves into anarchy. Yet, without liberty, the rule of law devolves 
into mere authoritarianism.
  I am pleased to join my colleagues in the legal profession from the 
20th Congressional District of New York in celebrating Law Day. This 
year's celebration reaffirms the fact that the principles upon which 
our country was founded upon are alive and well.

                          ____________________