[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16883-16884]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         CELEBRATING THE 215th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSTITUTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 23, 2002, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, it is Constitution Day in America, which may 
sound boring for some, their eyes may glaze over, but not for me in my 
house.
  It was on this day, Mr. Speaker, 215 years ago that all 12 State 
delegations approved at the Constitutional Convention what was to 
become the Constitution of the United States. Think about that, 215 
years ago. If we reckon a life is 75 years, Mr. Speaker, it was 
scarcely 3 lifetimes ago which this awesome document which begins with 
words that have now rung through generations, through history, to 
inspire not only the American people, to inspire the world, were 
crafted and adopted. Words that begin with ``We the people of the 
United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish 
justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity, to ordain and establish this 
Constitution.''
  It would take until June 21 of 1788 that the Constitution would 
become effective, Mr. Speaker, when ratified by the ninth State, New 
Hampshire. And then in the Spring of 1789, the government would first 
convene in the first Congress in Federal Hall in New York City where 
the 107th Congress, of which I am privileged to be a part, gathered 
just 10 days ago, the second time only that we have met since those 
very first days.

                              {time}  1245

  Three short lifetimes ago, the Federal convention convened and 
created a document which John Marshall, the Chief Justice of the U.S. 
Supreme Court, appointed by our second President, John Adams, would 
describe thusly: ``A Constitution intended to endure for ages to come, 
and consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human 
affairs.'' There have been crises in those three lifetimes, Mr. 
Speaker.
  Think of it. Seventy-five years to the day after this document was 
ratified, Americans would find themselves locked in the bloodiest 
battle in American history. September 17, 1862, outside Sharpsburg, 
Maryland, would be the battle of Antietam on this very day; and there, 
as much as anything, they were fighting over this document. They were 
fighting over a vision of a Union that would be preserved.
  Seventy-five years from that day it would be September 17, 1937, and 
war was gathering in Europe, a dictator unchecked expanding his 
borders, violating international convention, and 75 years would pass 
and those experiences resonate with our experiences today.
  Three short lifetimes ago, our founders bequeathed to us a document 
that has been the inspiration of the world, written most assuredly, Mr. 
Speaker, by the hand of man, men with feet of clay, very human in every 
sense of the word, but as we embrace the realities of these 215 years 
and how this great Republic, this great representative democracy has 
inspired the world, we can be certain of this, that while it was 
written by the hand of men, they were most certainly guided by 
providence to offer this gift to their posterity and to the entire 
world.
  So I thought it imperative today, Mr. Speaker, that we gather to 
remember the accomplishment of three short lifetimes ago, the 
Constitution of the United States of America, and may it be said as 
equally as it is today when four short lifetimes have passed that

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we will gather in this same place, that we will celebrate the liberties 
ensconced in the Constitution and in the Bill of Rights; and may it be 
our prayer in our lifetimes to pass along this great document and these 
great traditions as adequately and as ably as our forebears have passed 
it onto us on this Constitution Day, 2002.

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