[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 211 (Tuesday, December 7, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8944-S8945]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Recognizing Delaware Day

  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, 234 years ago today, the State of 
Delaware became the first State to ratify the Constitution. For 1 whole 
week, Delaware was the entire United States of America. And we opened 
it up, and 49 other States have joined us since then. For the most 
part, I think it has turned out well.
  But the preamble to the Constitution didn't say that we are going to 
form a perfect union when they adopted it all those years ago. They 
said, ``in Order to form a more perfect Union . . . ''--acknowledging 
that we are not perfect, haven't gotten it right, and we may never get 
it right.
  But today, we take a big step--or perhaps we can take a big step 
towards making our Union a bit closer to perfection.

[[Page S8945]]

  The Constitution lays out a balance of powers that certain 
responsibilities fall on the executive branch--the President--and 
certain responsibilities fall on us; and, of course, the courts have 
responsibilities of their own.