[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 394-395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HISTORIC INAUGURATION IN SOUTH CAROLINA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 18, 2011

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, Senator Glenn McConnell 
(R-Charleston) presided over the historic inauguration in Columbia, 
South Carolina, on January 12, 2011, as President of the State Senate. 
With the Inauguration of Governor Nikki Randhawa Haley as the first 
female Governor in the 341-year history of the state and in the first 
all-Republican inauguration in over 130 years, Senator McConnell 
delivered a moving tribute to our Constitution:
  Welcome to the inauguration of the 117th Governor of South Carolina 
and for the Inauguration of the Lt. Governor of South Carolina and 
Constitutional Officers.
  As a wife and the mother of two, Nikki Haley understands the 
importance of what is at stake both for our state and for her family. 
With young children and a husband who wears the uniform of our state 
and Nation, she should know full well the importance of what is ahead 
in the coming years for our state and this country, and knowing that, 
she has offered herself for service in this difficult time. Her 
steadfast convictions have brought her here today ready to do what she 
believes is best for all South Carolinians.
  We have come again to celebrate the wonder of our system of 
government--a system of government that allows for the transition of 
power from one person to another without the need for guns or violence 
but with only words and ideas.
  We have all been called to serve for myriad reasons. We all have 
different ideas and varied goals. Despite our different issues and the 
different paths we take to get there, our legislative journey must all 
have the same starting point--our oath of office. No matter the 
political party or our philosophical bent we all have one thing in 
common: the bedrock of our political service is our sworn oath to 
uphold and follow the constitution.
  To paraphrase Hugo Black, our constitution was not written in sand 
but in the foundation of our state and Nation. It is our bedrock and is 
not to be altered by the shifting winds of current sentiment. Our 
constitution must always be followed strictly and faithfully by those 
who elect to serve. It is what our founders put in place to protect 
those at home from those of us in Columbia and Washington. It is a 
limit on what we can do. The constitution is both the means to an end 
as well as the beginning and end of what we do. We must never allow our 
desire to achieve some laudable goal tempt us to try and bypass the 
constitution. No great right will ever justify the wrong needed to get 
there.
  Let us depart from each issue we confront as we leave this 
celebration--united in a desire to provide for a better future for our 
children and grandchildren. With God's will, we will muster the 
strength, wisdom and patience to do what we must do.
  Our state's motto is ``Dum Spiro Spero'' or ``while I breathe, I 
hope.'' Let us leave here and have each breath we take and each word we 
speak give hope to those at home that our best days are not behind us 
but yet are still ahead.

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