[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 124 (Thursday, September 17, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H7925]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REMEMBERING THE 211TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIGNING OF THE CONSTITUTION OF 
                           THE UNITED STATES

  (Mr. GINGRICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GINGRICH. I wanted to share with my colleagues that this is the 
211th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United 
States. I think all of us should pause and reflect on that.
  Over 200 years ago, a relatively small group of the Founding Fathers, 
led by George Washington, whose portrait hangs here, by Jefferson, 
Adams, Madison, Hamilton, Franklin, 55 people met in Philadelphia. They 
drafted a document which has lasted longer than any other Constitution 
in the modern world.
  They created a framework of self-government with balanced rules, and 
they determined once and for all that the age of kings was over; that 
all men and women are under the law. None is above it and none is below 
it, and all deserve the protection of a free judiciary within the rule 
of law which is established through a pattern of free speech and free 
elections.
  I just thought today was a good day for all of us to remember that we 
are the heirs to a great tradition, and it is our job to safeguard that 
tradition to give our children the constitutional liberties we have 
known.

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