[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 134 (Thursday, September 17, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S6799]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 228TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSTITUTION

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, we celebrate the 228th anniversary 
of the signing of the Constitution of the United States. Some elected 
officials talk about their love of ``the Constitution and the Bill of 
Rights''. That specific phrasing is interesting in that it somehow 
implies that the Constitution does not itself include the Bill of 
Rights, which of course it does. But it contains much more than those 
original 10 amendments. Each year, I remind Americans that we must 
celebrate not just the original Constitution of Washington, Hamilton, 
Madison, and the Founding generation but the whole Constitution, 
including its 27 amendments. This includes the 13th, 14th, and 15th 
Amendments, which many scholars have rightly described as our Nation's 
Second Founding.
  The Senate commemorated the Sesquicentennial or the 150th anniversary 
of the Second Founding earlier this year when the Senate passed a 
resolution raising awareness about this series of amendments, which 
provided the country with a new birth of freedom. Ratified by President 
Lincoln and his generation after the Civil War, these Second Founding 
amendments transformed our original charter--most fundamentally--by 
elevating the principle of equality to a central place in our 
constitutional order.
  This year, the Supreme Court once again upheld the Constitution's 
promise of equality when it ruled that the 14th Amendment of the 
Constitution protects the right of each American to marry the person 
they love, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 
Because of that ruling, LGBT children all across America will grow up 
knowing that they can love without fear, and that they are equal 
citizens of this great Nation.
  Although the Constitution provides us with the promise of equality, 
we must never forget that it is up to all of us to advance and protect 
that intrinsic American value of equality. Each generation must do its 
part. This is true whether it is racial equality, gender equality, or 
equality based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. We 
have come a long way in each of those areas, but we continue to have 
work to do.
  On racial equality, too many of our citizens continue to face racial 
discrimination in voting. As a result of the Supreme Court's dreadful 
ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, Americans across the country are now 
vulnerable to racially discriminatory voting laws that restrict the 
franchise without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. On 
this 50th anniversary year of the March in Selma and of the Voting 
Rights Act, we must do all we can to restore and enhance the 
protections of that landmark legislation.
  On gender equality, we continue to see women being paid less than men 
for doing the same job. We also continue to see partisan attacks on 
women's health care choices. From legislation blocking these choices to 
efforts defunding critical health services for women, we clearly have a 
long way to go to ensure gender equality.
  And while LGBT Americans are now able to marry the person they love, 
they continue to experience discrimination in other aspects of their 
lives. Achieving full equality means that LGBT individuals should be 
able to provide for their families without fear that they will be fired 
from their jobs or denied housing. It means that a restaurant should 
not be able to refuse to serve an LGBT couple because the owner 
disapproves of that couple's relationship. New civil rights laws are 
needed to protect LGBT Americans so they can live their lives free from 
discrimination.
  We must uphold this promise of equality for the vulnerable and the 
voiceless as well. We are a nation of immigrants with a long, proud 
history of opening our doors and welcoming people from around the 
world. After all, the Statue of Liberty has long proclaimed America's 
welcome: ``Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning 
to breathe free. . . . Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I 
lift my lamp beside the golden door.'' That is what America has long 
stood for and what we should continue to represent. Instead, I have 
seen ugly partisan rhetoric about changing the 14th Amendment of our 
Constitution to remove birthright citizenship specifically to target 
immigrants. We should be a nation that embraces and lifts our most 
vulnerable, not a nation that acts out of spite or malice.
  We must also fight for the voices of all Americans and not just 
corporations or the wealthy few. Our country has flourished because we 
have worked hard to ensure that more, not fewer, Americans can take 
part in the democratic process. Instead, our campaign finance laws have 
been eviscerated by a Supreme Court that views money as speech and 
refuses to place any limits on the ability of the wealthy and special 
interests to drown out hard-working Americans. The Court has also 
irrationally limited the definition of ``corruption'' in our campaign 
finance laws to just bribery. But unlike a narrow majority of the 
Court, the public understands that corruption is not just bribery; 
rather, corruption is the idea that money buys access and influences 
our democracy for a wealthy few. This cannot be allowed in our 
democracy. The size of your bank account cannot and should not 
determine whether and how the government responds to your needs. We 
must act to restore the First Amendment and to preserve those 
protections to ensure that all voices can be heard in the democratic 
process.
  Constitution Day is an occasion to celebrate our founding charter and 
the historic democracy it has caused and fostered. It is also a time to 
reflect on what we are doing as citizens to uphold the promises that 
the Constitution has provided. I encourage all Americans to mark this 
day by reading the whole Constitution and celebrating how it reflects 
the great progress we have made to become a more inclusive and stronger 
democracy.

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