[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 189 (Friday, November 30, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H9751-H9752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REDISCOVERING THE DECLARATION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus) is
recognized for the remainder of the hour as the designee of the
majority leader.
Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, since the House of Representatives moved
into this very Chamber in 1857, the people's Representatives have
debated the great issues of the day. The Speaker's rostrum behind me
was redesigned after World War II and words were added to the bottom
level that speak to noble aspirations of our Nation: union, justice,
tolerance, liberty, and peace.
These words are not the fundamental principles upon which our Nation
was founded, but are, I suggest, the fruits of those principles.
Consequently, if our founding principles are eroded, these fruits will
be eroded as well.
Over recent decades, our Nation has endured a great and ongoing
debate that, at its heart, goes to the continuing relevance of our
Nation's founding principles. And what are those principles? They are
in our Declaration of Independence.
[[Page H9752]]
``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed.''
``The consent of the governed.'' These five words recognize that our
Nation's sovereignty is in her people--not the government, not the
legislative branch, not the judicial branch, not the executive branch
or the Federal bureaucracy, but in the people.
Sovereignty in the people was, indeed, revolutionary in 1776, and it
is at the heart of the notion of self-government. This sovereignty in
the people, however, is not absolute. It is restrained by a higher law
that acknowledges that certain of our rights come from our Creator and
are inalienable, among them, the right to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.
These rights do not come from or depend on government, or what a
majority of people electing the government decide. They require,
however, that the government protect them. Sovereignty is further
restrained by the higher law that we are created equal.
Our laws should not favor one person over another. All are to be
equal before the law, and there must be a fair playing field where all
are given the opportunity to develop their God-given gifts and talents.
These concepts, Mr. Speaker, are not just founding principles. These
are truths, self-evident truths. There are many today who challenge the
notion of truth and claim everything is relative. But the Founders
recognized the self-evident truths of the Declaration in establishing
this country.
Our Founders built on these principles when they adopted our
Constitution and Bill of Rights which limited the power of the Federal
Government. The Founders understood that the bigger government became,
the more it would infringe on the principles in our Declaration.
It was appealing to our founding principles that our Nation was able
to correct the defect in our Constitution that denied equal rights and
liberty to those held in slavery.
But some current political views reject the framework of sovereignty
in the people, and that such sovereignty is limited by God-given rights
and freedoms. Some decry our Constitution's structure as being a
charter of negative liberties.
For example, Barack Obama, prior to becoming President said that our
Constitution, `` . . . says what the States can't do to you. Says what
the Federal Government can't do to you, but doesn't say what the
Federal Government or State government must do on your behalf.''
If you don't like what the Constitution says, there is a process to
amend it. And those who would advocate for the government to do things,
should go through the process of proposing amendments.
Those who are Progressives believe that they can better order a
society than can a free people relying on their God-given rights to
life and liberty. But this is inconsistent with the notion of self-
government.
Progressives believe in the power of government. The power of
government should be used to protect rights, not infringe or abridge
them. What Progressives miss is how the power of government can destroy
communities and lives and infringe upon God-given freedoms, which we
have seen in recent decades.
It is the power of the government acting through the Supreme Court
that denied the very first right recognized in our Declaration, the
right to life, for an entire class of human beings.
To be clear, insisting on universality of the God-given right to life
is not an establishment of religion. It is simply an affirmation of a
self-evident truth described in our Declaration of Independence.
It is the power of government that put through great society programs
that undermine the family and dramatically increased societal
challenges as a result.
It is the power of government that targeted the American energy
industry, threatening hundreds of jobs in my district.
It is the power of government that took away healthcare plans that
people liked, and the power of government that went after the Little
Sisters of the Poor.
Rather than looking to the power of government, perhaps we should
look to the power of the people. Rightly understood, government should
not be looked at as a vehicle for wielding power, but for serving and
protecting the rights in our Declaration and Constitution. It is never
out of season to rediscover those principles.
This is what Abraham Lincoln called upon us to do at another divided
time in our Nation. In an 1858 speech in Lewistown, Illinois, Lincoln
said,
`` . . . if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the great
landmarks of the Declaration of Independence; if you have listened to
suggestions which would take away from its grandeur, and mutilate the
fair symmetry of its proportions; if you have been inclined to believe
that all men are not created equal in those inalienable rights
enumerated by our chart of liberty, let me entreat you to come back . .
. come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of
Independence.''
If we want union, let us unite around the principles of the
Declaration. If we want justice, let us work for equality for all while
protecting the right to life of every human being, no matter their age
or state of dependency.
If we want tolerance, let us appreciate that while we, indeed, have
differences, we should not demonize those with whom we disagree.
If the Little Sisters of the Poor, or a small business, or a private
citizen for that matter, hold sincerely held beliefs that people
throughout history would recognize as being grounded in the exercise of
conscience and faith, we should be tolerant of such exercise.
If we want liberty, let us ensure that our Constitution remains a
check on the power of the State that would infringe on the fundamental
rights and freedoms our Founders sought to protect.
And if we want peace, let us embrace what our Founders embraced. And
like the Founders, let us firmly rely on the protection of divine
providence as we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes,
and our sacred honor.
And when we reaffirm our foundational principles, let us hope that
instead of division, we would see the new birth of freedom that Lincoln
envisioned.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my deepest gratitude to the people of
Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, encompassing Beaver County
and parts of Allegheny, Lawrence, Westmoreland, Cambria and Somerset
Counties. I appreciate that they elected me to represent them in this
House for the past 6 years.
It has been an incredible honor to pursue the objectives they sent me
here to do: to get the economy growing at a healthier pace with more
jobs and higher wages; to stop government overreach that was taking
away the right of people to choose their own healthcare plan and
causing their health insurance costs to skyrocket; to stand in
solidarity with our veterans; and defend the foundational principles on
which this country was founded, including the first right and the first
freedom mentioned in our founding documents, the God-given right to
life and the free exercise of religion.
Mr. Speaker, I could not have done my work without the support of
several constituents, in particular: my wife, Elsie; and my kids, Mimi,
Gerard, Edmund, Maggie, Helen, and Alice.
{time} 1115
Their patience and endurance with my absences are what many families
of those in public life go through, and I cannot thank them enough.
May God grant that our country reaffirm the truths embedded within
our Declaration of Independence. May He grant that such reaffirmation
does lead to that new birth of freedom that President Lincoln spoke of.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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