[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 252]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         AMERICAN CONSTITUTION

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JUDY CHU

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 7, 2011

  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the reading of the 
American Constitution on the Floor of the House of Representatives. Our 
founding fathers spent nearly four months debating the original 
Constitution during the summer of 1787. They spent the following two 
and a half years securing the support of each of the thirteen original 
colonies. Since the constitutional convention in Philadelphia, the 
Constitution has been debated and successfully amended a total of 27 
times. Today, we take an important step by recognizing this important 
history of debate and change.
  When it was originally drafted, the American Constitution laid out a 
framework of government that reflected their best of understanding of 
the world as it existed in 1787. That document included many important 
insights and compromises, but the drafters realized that the 
Constitution--and the great Nation it created--would only last if the 
Constitution could adapt and change to meet the challenges of the day. 
That is why the drafters included a mechanism in the Constitution to 
change the very document they spent months crafting.
  As we are all aware, the first exercise of this amendment mechanism 
concluded in December 1791 when our young Country ratified the Bill of 
Rights. Those ten amendments embody some of our most important 
protections from government power including the freedom of speech, 
protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the guarantee 
of due process.
  During the 19th and 20th Centuries the American people amended the 
Constitution by adding to Congress's express constitutional powers and 
ensuring Congress has all the tools necessary to address national 
problems and protect the rights of all Americans. Shortly after the 
U.S. Civil War, the Constitution was amended to abolish slavery, 
guarantee the equal protection of the law to all Americans, and 
guaranteeing the right to vote. With these changes, ``We the People'' 
expanded the power to Congress to protect the promises of freedom and 
equality for all Americans.
  I could go on, but my point is not to give a history of the 
Constitution but to explain how the Constitution has changed for the 
better. Without these changes, a Chinese-American woman, like me, would 
never be able to vote in this Country much less serve as a member of 
Congress. With these powers, Congress has not only been given great 
power by the American people, it has also been given great 
responsibility. That responsibility includes ensuring that all 
Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, creed, gender, 
gender identification, or sexual orientation, have the opportunity to 
pursue their own version of happiness.
  I welcome this reading today as a symbol of the Constitution as a 
living document. Our understanding of the Constitution is constantly 
changing and evolving just as the words of the constitution have 
changed over time. If anything has remained constant, it is the 
principles espoused by that great document. Those principles ensure 
that we will have a representative government, ``of the people, by the 
people, and for the people,'' and that this government will protect the 
core values of liberty, equality, and opportunity. I look forward to 
working with my friends across the aisle to ensure this Congress uses 
its broad powers to promote these values.

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