[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12295-12296]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            A HOUSE DIVIDED

  Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, our greatest Republican President, 
Abraham Lincoln, in his drive to end slavery, said ``a house divided 
against itself cannot stand.'' With these few words, Lincoln is calling 
to us through the echoing halls of history. He is calling for us to put 
aside our differences and to become unified into one people, one 
Nation, one common purpose.
  Mr. Lincoln recognized that the issue of slavery was tearing this 
great Nation apart and that it could not survive half slave and half 
free. Slavery was the great unfinished business of our Founders. The 
institution of slavery was so ingrained in the infant country's past 
and future that even Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Franklin 
could not disentangle it. I am not trying to equate carrying too much 
debt with slavery, please understand that, but the truth remains. A 
house divided against itself cannot stand.
  This house, this Nation, this Republic, is divided against itself. 
Our Founders called their effort at establishing a new Nation ``a great 
experiment''--and it has been. Nothing like it had ever been tried and 
America has been the unequaled success in all of world history. Truly, 
we are the envy of the world. We began as 13 weak and barely united 
States but quickly became the strongest country in the Western 
Hemisphere. About 70 years after we adopted the Constitution, we 
survived a deadly Civil War. All the while we grew in stature and in 
favor with other nations. Our economic power grew rapidly. American 
influence grew as we became the agent of democracy and capitalism for 
the entire world. Although our military power was slow to develop, we 
fought on the winning side in two world wars and we grew into an 
economic, military and cultural super power.
  We are a Nation of immigrants, of many faiths, of many races and our 
national call to union is E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. Out of 
many States is forged one Nation. Out of many races is forged one 
people. Out of many, one. The Founding Fathers had to balance the 
agrarian interests of the South and West with the industrial and 
shipping interests of the North and East. They balanced small States 
and big States. They balanced regions dominated by the frontier with 
regions dominated by the old world. They balanced Catholicism and 
Protestantism and Judaism. They balanced English culture with German 
culture with French culture. Out of many, one. Had previous generations 
of leaders not achieved oneness, we would not be, could not be, the 
great Nation we are today. The Senate was added to the Constitution as 
a compromise. Washington, DC, was placed on the banks of the Potomac as 
a compromise. States were added to the union as the result of 
compromise. In this sense, America's ability to find compromise has 
always been our pathway to greatness. Our Founders established this 
more perfect union with the clear-eyed knowledge that came from 
experience that a house divided against itself cannot stand.

[[Page 12296]]

  Division leads to failure. To make our democracy work, we all must 
work together. We must acknowledge that we have differences of opinion 
and differing points of view, but we must commit to unity. The floor of 
the U.S. Senate is the marketplace for ideas and it is a window into 
democracy that is a living testimony to the greatness and diversity of 
our Nation. The floor of the U.S. Senate should not be a graveyard for 
ideas or innovation or promise. Campaigns should stop at the threshold 
of this chamber. What happens in this chamber is much greater than any 
single Senator's political fortunes, and it is much more important than 
a political party's fate at the next general election. We have a sacred 
responsibility to the people through the Constitution, and if we orient 
ourselves to the next presidential election, we are failing in our 
duty. The U.S. Senate, at its core, by its nature, is where decisions 
get made. We have our ideological battles here, that is certain, but 
this is where consensus should be achieved. The Senate should fuel the 
engine that propels us to a better future, not stall that engine.
  All Americans should fully participate in our government. We should 
register to vote and serve on the jury. We must volunteer in the 
schools and pay our taxes. We must teach our children about our 
country, their country, and prepare them for their time to lead. We 
must tell them that our system of government is the best that man ever 
devised and that it works. It works very well if we allow it to work.
  This moment in history is a day where we can show our children, as 
well as our Founding Fathers, that this is no longer a house divided. 
We can show the world that our parents instilled in us the value of E 
Pluribus Unum. America's best days lay ahead if we are mutually 
committed to that future. It is, however, not possible unless we set 
aside our differences and work together for that common goal. My fellow 
Senators, please heed the words of Abraham Lincoln and understand that 
there is truth of what he said, ``A house divided against itself cannot 
stand.''
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico is recognized.

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