[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 116 (Thursday, July 16, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4119-S4120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              America 250

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we recently celebrated the 250th 
anniversary of the Declaration of Independence--the 250th birthday of 
our country.
  On July 4 in 1776, the Continental Congress formally adopted the 
Declaration. The document laid out the causes which impelled the 
colonists' separation from Great Britain. But more than that, it laid 
out the political beliefs that would govern a new nation.

       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 in order to 
     secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, 
     deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

  Unalienable rights--rights inherent in man, given by God; rights that 
exist before government; and that it is the job of government to 
protect--government not by divine right or military might, but by 
consent; a government that represents the people, not the will to 
power.
  A revolutionary document--pun intended. Many of the ideas in the 
Declaration, of course, were not new. It was a document built on the 
wisdom of the ages, on the tradition of British common law, on the 
inheritance of Christianity, and the colonists' own experiment in self-
government in the colonies.
  Jefferson himself, writing in 1825, said of the Declaration:

       Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, 
     nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it 
     was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to 
     give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for 
     by the occasion.
       All its authority rests then on the harmonizing sentiments 
     of the day, whether expressed in conversation, in letters, in 
     printed essays, or in the elementary books of public right, 
     as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc.

  While many of the ideas in the Declaration were not new, the document 
was nevertheless, as I said, revolutionary because the Declaration 
marked an event essentially unique in human history.
  There had been philosophical treatises on laying out principles of 
government, but this was not a philosophical treatise. It was the 
founding

[[Page S4120]]

of a government, of a new nation, based on philosophical principles--a 
nation inaugurated not by conquest but on a set of ideas.
  And what ideas: All men are created equal. Where before in the 
history of governments do we find that? All men are created equal. No 
one is given special dignity by nature; no man has a divine right to 
rule over any other. No, all men are created equal--created equal and 
endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights, rights that cannot be 
taken away, rights that are not the gift of government but of nature 
and of nature's God, rights that government must defer to and defend.
  As everyone knows, the United States is currently hosting the World 
Cup. The media has been filled with stories on how much visitors to 
this country are enjoying the United States. They are encountering the 
American character: generous, optimistic, big-hearted, friendly. And 
they are embracing it.
  And it occurs to me that that American character almost 
unquestionably has a lot to do with our founding principles. When you 
believe that all men are created equal, when you believe that they have 
God-given rights and dignity--well, that has consequences.
  All men are created equal. There is no class of divinely appointed 
rulers, no hereditary aristocratic class, no barriers set to prevent 
you from rising. Those principles have consequences.
  So I don't think it is surprising that Americans are generous and 
big-hearted and optimistic and friendly. I think it is the natural 
consequence of the principles that we espouse.
  Every Fourth of July is a day of celebration, but this one--marking 
250 years--was particularly special. South Dakota was honored to 
welcome President Trump to our fireworks at Mount Rushmore--a truly 
spectacular event. There is no better place to reflect on the majesty 
of this great country.
  It is fitting too, though, that along with the celebrations--along 
with the fireworks and the parades and the hotdogs and the hamburgers--
that July 4 be a day of thanksgiving for the Declaration of 
Independence and the Nation it founded, for the blessing of liberty, 
and for all those who have pledged their lives to its defense, from the 
founding of our country to the present day.
  Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his ``Concord Hymn,'' referred to the opening 
shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord as ``the shot heard round 
the world.'' If I may borrow his phrase, I think it is fair to say that 
the Declaration was the ``statement heard round the world.'' It is 
still--still--heard round the world to this day, and I pray it will be 
heard until the end of time.
  May God bless our beloved country and keep us faithful to the 
principles for which we stand.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.