Arkansans join traditional reading of Constitution in U. S. House
WASHINGTON — Two days after swearing to defend and uphold the U. S. Constitution, lawmakers Thursday morning read nearly the entire document aloud on the floor of the U. S. House of Representatives.
It took roughly 67 minutes to get from the opening words — “We the People” — to the final words of the 27th Amendment, which limits the ability of Congress to raise its own pay.
The public reading of the Constitution was first done by lawmakers in 2011. Since then, it’s become a biennial and bipartisan Capitol Hill tradition.
Three members of the Arkansas delegation participated in the ritual this year.
The event wasn’t scheduled to begin until 10 a. m. EST, but U. S. Rep. Bruce Westerman showed up early, eager to participate.
“The Constitution’s a big part of why we’re here. It’s the guiding document of what we do,” the Hot Springs Republican said afterward.
Organizers said they had cut from the text old passages that have been superseded by subsequent constitutional amendments.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R- Wis., kicked off the event by reciting the Preamble. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif., tackled portions of Article I, Section 7, which outlines the president’s veto power.
The reading of the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, was reserved for U. S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat who helped guide the civil- rights movement in the 1960s.
Other lawmakers simply lined up and read whatever passage was next.
“It’s first- come, first- serve. They hand it to you right before you walk up to the podium. You take what you get,” said U. S. Rep. French Hill.
The Little Rock Republican waited about 15 minutes so that he could read a 25- second- long selection, showing up in time to hear his Arkansas colleague read.
Westerman was given a single sentence from Article I, Section 5: “Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to
any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.”
Once Westerman’s 10- secondlong snippet had been completed, he stepped aside so a colleague could continue.
Twelve minutes later, Hill read Article I, Section 5: “No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.”
Start to finish, it took him 25 seconds to read.
Hill had a backup copy of the passage; he’d taken his own copy of the Constitution, a gift he was given by a fellow Arkansan a couple of years ago. “I carry it in my pocket every day,” he said.
The reading is a way for Congress “to communicate to the American people that we honor the Constitution, we take an oath to abide by the Constitution, and for me it’s an opportunity to send a message to our young people that they ought to read and understand our Constitution,” he said.
U. S. Rep. Rick Crawford, a Jonesboro Republican, didn’t read this year. His colleague, U. S. Rep. Steve Womack, stood patiently in the House chamber, listening as a long string of constitutional amendments were covered.
By the time Womack made it to the front of the line, the reading had been going for nearly an hour.
The Rogers Republican was handed one of the heftiest passages, a chunk of Amendment 20.
Ratified in January 1933, the amendment moved the start of Congress and the date of presidential inaugurations from March to January. It also addresses how to proceed if a president- elect has died or if no president- elect has been selected by Inauguration Day.
The first reading, in 2011, occurred shortly after Womack was sworn into office for the first time. He never misses it.
“I can’t remember all of the ones that I’ve read before, but that was a pretty lengthy reading piece today,” he said, after completing the minuteanda- half long passage.
Lawmakers, Womack said, believe that the Constitution “is important enough for us to read, word for word and place into the Congressional Record at the beginning of each Congress,”
“I think it says that we are committed to the constitutional principles that guide our decisions every day,” he added.