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Historic reading of Constitution sees House tussle
Sigh.... only Congress could screw up reading of a 5 page document.....They didn't for the most part. WASHINGTON -- Republicans made history Thursday by staging the first-ever reading of the entire Constitution on the House floor. But that record may come with an asterisk: Democrats asked why original sections that later were amended, including references to slaves, were left out of the recital, and lawmakers initially did not catch that a couple of key paragraphs were omitted when two pages got stuck together. The former was done because the '3/5' rule is no longer part of the Constitution, having been superseded by the 14th Amendment. Disputes and glitches aside, Republican and Democratic lawmakers silenced their differences over what the words of the Founding Fathers mean for today's politics long enough to spend 90 decorous minutes reciting the venerable document. 90 minutes to read a 5 page document? I think I know why they don't read the bills they vote on anymore.... There was a certain seriousness to the reading. Having John Lewis read the 13th amendment was a nice touch. The document, long a subject both of reverence and wrangling, has never been read in its entirety in the House, and the event, coming on the second day of Republican control of the chamber, was a nod to the tea partiers who returned Republicans to power. Tea party backers often cited the Constitution in arguing that Washington is ignoring the limits of federal power outlined in the document. The reading also skipped the 18th Amendment that was ratified in 1919 to institute prohibition of alcohol. That amendment was overturned in 1933 by the 21st Amendment. Precisely. During the reading of the Constitution, lawmakers lined up to take their turn at the podium, with Goodlatte generally alternating speakers between the two parties. Some got to read from profound sections that describe how the new American government was to be set up and what were the rights of its citizens. Others got more prosaic sections regarding the oversight of forts and dockyards or the prohibition on office holders receiving gifts from foreign princes. The reading of one of the clauses most familiar to Americans, the Second Amendment provision on the right to bear arms, fell to freshman Republican Frank Guinta of New Hampshire. For the first hour of the recital the Republican side of the chamber was full, while far fewer Democrats occupied the other side. After an hour, the number of Republican listeners also declined. And some could not even take the time to listen.... Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-01-07 |
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