_Congress “Reads” the Constitution
_
When Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) suggested that the "full
text" of the Constitution be read on the House floor for the first
time in history, it sounded like a great idea! This historic event
was officially scheduled to take place at the opening of the 112th
Congress on January 6, 2011. Goodlatte, however, later qualified
this pronouncement to state that those parts of the Constitution
which were considered to have been superseded by one or more
amendments would NOT be read, after all.
I have never seen a printed "full text" copy of the Constitution
which did NOT include those portions that were affected by
subsequent amendments. It is truly astounding that Congress just
arbitrarily assumed the authority to "revise" and read their own
version of the Supreme Law of the Land!
It is very interesting to note that one of the most crucial sections
in the Constitution, which is completely unaffected by ANY
amendment, was deleted in its entirety:
Article IV, Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to
every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on
Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when
the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic
Violence.
Why did Congress refuse to read this section? Could it be that the
political establishment (the leadership of both the Republican and
Democratic parties) would like to ignore the fact that, not only is
the United States of America a Republican Form of Government,
but so is every State in this Union? In addition, the second phrase
suggests that the United States Government is prohibited from
invoking martial law in any State, since this would essentially be
an invasion BY the United States Government into the jurisdiction
of that State.
I am curious if all of our "public servants" are allowed to modify
whatever portions of the Constitution they find objectionable when
they take their oaths of office. I seriously doubt that any of our
military personnel are permitted this liberty when they take their
oaths.
Reference Video Source (reading of Article IV, Section 1 begins at
about 12:10 into the video) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_740062&v=wg5aPOFJ8X4&feature=iv
Copyright (c) 2006-2012. All Rights Reserved.
When Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) suggested that the "full
text" of the Constitution be read on the House floor for the first
time in history, it sounded like a great idea! This historic event
was officially scheduled to take place at the opening of the 112th
Congress on January 6, 2011. Goodlatte, however, later qualified
this pronouncement to state that those parts of the Constitution
which were considered to have been superseded by one or more
amendments would NOT be read, after all.
I have never seen a printed "full text" copy of the Constitution
which did NOT include those portions that were affected by
subsequent amendments. It is truly astounding that Congress just
arbitrarily assumed the authority to "revise" and read their own
version of the Supreme Law of the Land!
It is very interesting to note that one of the most crucial sections
in the Constitution, which is completely unaffected by ANY
amendment, was deleted in its entirety:
Article IV, Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to
every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on
Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when
the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic
Violence.
Why did Congress refuse to read this section? Could it be that the
political establishment (the leadership of both the Republican and
Democratic parties) would like to ignore the fact that, not only is
the United States of America a Republican Form of Government,
but so is every State in this Union? In addition, the second phrase
suggests that the United States Government is prohibited from
invoking martial law in any State, since this would essentially be
an invasion BY the United States Government into the jurisdiction
of that State.
I am curious if all of our "public servants" are allowed to modify
whatever portions of the Constitution they find objectionable when
they take their oaths of office. I seriously doubt that any of our
military personnel are permitted this liberty when they take their
oaths.
Reference Video Source (reading of Article IV, Section 1 begins at
about 12:10 into the video) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_740062&v=wg5aPOFJ8X4&feature=iv
Copyright (c) 2006-2012. All Rights Reserved.