[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 21, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H4692]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1100
                       LEGACY OF AMERICAN LIBERTY

  (Mr. McGuire of Virginia was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. McGUIRE. Mr. Speaker, imagine riding 40 miles through dark 
Virginia woods to save the American Revolution.
  In June 1781, militia Captain Jack Jouett did just that, galloping 
from Louisa County in the Fifth District to Monticello, also in the 
Fifth District, to warn Governor Thomas Jefferson of an impending 
British capture. Jouett's warning saved Jefferson and the general 
assembly in Charlottesville, preserving our young Nation's leadership.
  These heroes are deeply tied to Virginia's historic Fifth 
Congressional District, which still includes Albemarle and Louisa 
County today.
  In 1789, the Fifth District hosted a legendary race: James Madison, 
the father of the Constitution, campaigned against his friend and 
neighbor, James Monroe, the Revolutionary War veteran who was the 
father of the Monroe Doctrine. Madison won, becoming Virginia Fifth 
District's very first Representative.
  From Jack Jouett's courage to the vision of three Presidents, the 
legacy of American liberty was forged right here in Virginia's Fifth 
Congressional District.


                      A Remarkable Founding Story

  Mr. McGUIRE. Mr. Speaker, Virginia's Fifth can tell one remarkable 
founding story through four names.
  Thomas Jefferson gave the Nation its words in the Declaration of 
Independence and served as Virginia's wartime Governor and our third 
President. He left this district with Monticello and the University of 
Virginia.
  James Madison gave those words structure, helping shape the 
Constitution and Bill of Rights. Though Montpelier now sits just 
outside today's Fifth, his work still lives in Charlottesville through 
the university he helped build and lead.
  James Monroe was a soldier, diplomat, Governor, and the fifth 
President. He gave us the Monroe Doctrine, and he carried that work 
forward from his Albemarle home, Highland.
  Jack Jouett rode through the night from Louisa to Charlottesville to 
warn Jefferson and save Virginia's leadership from capture.
  Together, these Virginians helped write, defend, and steady the 
American experiment.


                     It Began With Thomas Jefferson

  Mr. McGUIRE. Mr. Speaker, Virginia's Fifth Congressional District 
began with Thomas Jefferson. He gave independence its voice as the 
principal author of the Declaration, then helped secure liberty again 
through the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and the founding of 
the University of Virginia.
  Beside him stood James Madison, Jefferson's close collaborator and 
the Nation's constitutional architect. Known as the father of the 
Constitution, Madison helped win ratification through the Federalist 
Papers and then steered the Bill of Rights through Congress.
  James Monroe carried that Virginia legacy from soldier to statesman. 
A Continental Army veteran, he later helped to negotiate the Louisiana 
Purchase, presided over the Era of Good Feelings, and gave American 
diplomacy a landmark win in the Monroe Doctrine.
  Connecting them all is militia Captain Jack Jouett, whose overnight 
warning in 1781 helped Jefferson and Virginia leaders escape British 
capture, protecting the cause these Founders were still building.

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