[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 94 (Friday, June 12, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H4337-H4338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    800TH ANNIVERSARY OF MAGNA CARTA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, June 15, we will celebrate the 
800th anniversary of Magna Carta, a document that revolutionized the 
world and is the foundation for the freedoms that so many take for 
granted today.
  It is impossible to overstate the significance of that day at 
Runnymede in 1215 when King John of England declared that everyone, 
including the King, was subject to the rule of law; and as a result, 
constitutional government was born.
  Magna Carta is Latin for ``great charter,'' and it was so named 
because of the document's protracted length. Only later, did the world 
realize how visionary the name truly is.
  Most of the 63 clauses granted by King John dealt with specific 
grievances of a group of barons relating to his rule, but that 
framework for the relationship between the King and his subjects 
initiated the concept of freedom under law.
  Clause 1 states:

       First, that we have granted to God, and by his present 
     charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, 
     that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its 
     rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. That we 
     wish this so to be observed, appears from the fact that of 
     our own free will, before the outbreak of the present dispute 
     between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by 
     charter the freedom of the Church's elections--a right 
     reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and importance to 
     it--and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. 
     This freedom we shall observe ourselves, and desire to be 
     observed in good faith by our heirs in perpetuity.
       To all free men of our kingdom we have also granted, for us 
     and our heirs forever, all the liberties written out below, 
     to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our 
     heirs.

  Clause 12 reads:

       No scutage or aid will be levied in our kingdom without its 
     general consent.

  Clause 13 says:

       The city of London shall enjoy all its ancient liberties 
     and free customs, both by land and by water. We also will and 
     grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall 
     enjoy all their liberties and free customs.

  Clause 38 reads:

       In future no official shall place a man on trial upon his 
     own unsupported statement, without producing credible 
     witnesses to the truth of it.

  Finally, clause 39 states:

       No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of 
     his rights or possessions, or

[[Page H4338]]

     outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, 
     nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to 
     do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the 
     law of the land.

  Let me repeat those last few words, Mr. Speaker, ``the law of the 
land.'' In those words, we see the idea that the law does not come from 
any individual person or government. To quote Daniel Hannan, who wrote 
a wonderful essay on the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta for The Wall 
Street Journal last month: ``It is immanent in the land itself, the 
common inheritance of the people living there.''
  Mr. Speaker, the language may sound a little stilted, and folks may 
think, goodness, that doesn't sound like something we would say today, 
but it is so important for us to understand the direct link between 
Magna Carta and the Revolution that occurred in this country in 1776.

  Although Magna Carta failed to resolve the conflict between King John 
and his barons, it was reissued several times after his death. Again, 
Magna Carta's legacy is particularly evident in the documents that form 
the basis of our government, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of 
Rights.
  At the National Archives, visitors to Washington have the opportunity 
to view one of four surviving originals of the 1297 Magna Carta 
alongside the remarkable documents it inspired. When visitors come here 
to the House, I often point out to them on the walls the profiles of 
the ancient lawgivers. Pope Innocent III is one of those ancient 
lawgivers shown here in the House.
  Again, we can see directly, in many cases, how our Constitution and 
our Bill of Rights are derived from Magna Carta and also from the 
Bible, that we can see those direct connections.
  Today, I would like to acknowledge the debt of gratitude we owe to 
those rebel barons with grievances against their King, and I am 
reminded that we must always be attentive to the freedom we have 
inherited.
  Ronald Reagan said famously:

       Freedom is not in our genes. It is only a generation away 
     from being lost. It is something we have to cherish.

  Also, Mr. Speaker, with freedom comes opportunity and responsibility, 
and I want to say how grateful I am for the opportunity I have had to 
serve in the House of Representatives along with my colleagues.
  I often tell, particularly schoolchildren, when I talk to them about 
this country and the radical idea that it represents, that I am a 
person who grew up in a house with no electricity and no running water, 
extraordinarily poor, and with parents with no privilege, no exalted 
status in our country.
  As I said, with the freedom that we have comes opportunity. We on our 
side of the aisle--and I know many of my colleagues, or most of my 
colleagues, on the other side of the aisle--want to see that 
opportunity that has been made available to those of us who currently 
serve, many of whom come from no privilege, to be able to hold onto 
that opportunity.
  To do that, Mr. Speaker, we have to hold on to freedom. We are the 
freest country in the world, and that, the rule of law, and our 
capitalistic system are those things that make us such a great country.
  I want to express again my appreciation to those rebel barons and to 
all the people who came after them who kept the idea of Magna Carta 
alive to the time when we could develop our Constitution and Bill of 
Rights and to the present time when we fight so hard to maintain those 
principles.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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