[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 140 (Thursday, October 1, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2425-E2426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            CONSTITUTION DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 29, 2009

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House 
Resolution 734, which expresses support for and honors September 17, 
2009, as ``Constitution Day.'' September 17 is the day that our United 
States Constitution was signed in 1787, by 39 delegates from 12 states, 
including from Connecticut, Samuel Huntington, Oliver Wolcott, and 
Roger Sherman, whose statue resides in the crypt of this Capitol 
building.
  My home state of Connecticut has a strong and proud connection to the 
founding principles and documents of this country. Roger Sherman was 
the only man to sign the Articles of Association, the Declaration of 
Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. 
Connecticut itself is known as the Constitution State, for its 
enactment of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, the first written 
constitution of its kind.
  The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was adopted by the Connecticut 
Colony in 1639 and established a government for the Connecticut Colony, 
based on the yearly election of a governor and six magistrates, two 
from each town in the Colony. These officials were chosen by the count 
of a written vote, and all freedmen who resided in the colony and had 
taken an oath of fidelity were eligible to cast their vote.
  The Fundamental Orders established limits on the powers of 
government, emphasizing the power of the people to elect their leaders 
and act against them should those leaders ignore their concerns. 
Further, it defined the operating procedures of a government 
established by the people, of the people, and for the people, ensuring 
each elected magistrate a vote in matters of governance, and the 
governor a vote only in the event of a tie.
  Many of the principles in the eleven sections of the Fundamental 
Orders of Connecticut later were echoed in the familiar cadences of our 
great Constitution, which continues to represent the American ideal of 
a government consisting of a body of officials elected by the people to 
serve in their best interests.
  It was Roger Sherman's ``Connecticut Compromise'', made during the 
Philadelphia Convention of 1787, which ensured fair representation for 
large and small states in the 
bicameral legislature which defines our body of Congress.
  As a high school history teacher, I had the privilege of studying, 
learning, and teaching the Constitution. It is the innovation and 
undiminished endurance of the ideals of our Constitution for which I 
rise in support of

[[Page E2426]]

House Resolution 734 to express support for and honor September 17, 
2009, as ``Constitution Day.''

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