[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21949-21950]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            CONSTITUTION DAY

  (Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. YARMUTH. Madam Speaker, today marks the 222nd anniversary of the 
ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America, one 
of the most important documents ever written. This historic day 
coincides with the historic debate now taking place in this Chamber and 
in communities across the Nation over how we can solve our health care 
crisis.
  So I thought it might be useful to reference the sections of our 
Nation's foundational document that empower this legislature and this 
government to act in the best interests of the Nation rather than sit 
idly by while our health care system spirals out of control.
  From the preamble in which ``We the people of the United States'' 
established the Constitution to, among other purposes, ``promote the 
general

[[Page 21950]]

welfare,'' to article I, which gives Congress all of the legislative 
powers granted in the Constitution, the legislators--rightly elected by 
the people of the Republic--have the ability to make all laws which 
shall be necessary and proper for carrying out our enumerated powers. 
Among those are providing for the common defense and general welfare, 
the promotion of the progress of science and the arts, and the 
regulation of commerce, each of these directly pertaining to our health 
care crisis.
  It is time for us to act pursuant to the Constitution.

                          ____________________