[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12957-12958]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING CONSTITUTING AMERICA'S ``WE THE PEOPLE 9/17 CONTEST''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Garrett) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. It was John Adams who once wrote, 
``Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge of the 
people.'' And when I first came to Congress, I resolved that promoting 
knowledge of the U.S. Constitution would be one of my primary 
responsibilities and priorities. And to that end, I founded and 
continue to this day to chair the Congressional Constitution Caucus.
  I come here to the floor tonight just to say that I'm not alone in 
this effort in working to preserve our freedoms through education and 
specifically of the U.S. Constitution. And so tonight I would just like 
to recognize a group whose mission is to inform America's youth and her 
citizens about the importance of the U.S. Constitution and the 
foundation it sets forth regarding our freedoms and rights.

[[Page 12958]]

  The name of this group is Constituting America. And I commend the 
efforts of the two founders, and that is Janine Turner and Cathy 
Gillespie. It is these two women, along with Janine's daughter, 
Juliette, who are trying and working hard to inspire students across 
this country to learn more about this fundamental, primary document, 
the U.S. Constitution. And they're doing it by launching the first ever 
annual ``We the People 9/17 Contest.''
  Students had until just last week, that was July 4, to submit either 
a poem or an essay, a song or even a short film or any other type of 
creative work. I come here tonight to offer to every one of the 
participants my heartfelt congratulations for their hard work in this 
endeavor.
  This contest, and the creation of Constituting America, really 
fittingly represents the genius of the American Republic, for we are a 
civilization that prizes individual freedom, that prizes personal 
responsibility, continuing education, great innovation and, most 
importantly, civic virtue.
  So I thank Janine and Cathy for providing a relevant means to further 
our understanding of our Nation's values, our history, and our founding 
documents. The American story is filled with great intrigue and 
bravery; and remembering its past, remembering and having an 
understanding of these founding documents of the U.S. Constitution will 
help secure us as we write the next chapter.

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