Our Constitution Under Siege

President George Washington once said, “The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.”

Today, we are unable to say that all of our representatives hold the Constitution in such high regard. In fact, we are forced to accept the conclusion that many of them do not consider the Constitution whatsoever.

This is unfortunate—considering that both the President and members of Congress must take an oath to defend the Constitution.

Specifically, the oath of office taken by members of Congress states: “I, (Name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

Because of the importance placed on continual allegiance to the Constitution by the above quoted Title 5, Section 3331 of the U.S. Code, one would think that members of Congress actually consider the document when passing legislation. Tragically, this is not often the case.

It is possible that the most recent, if not the most outrageous example of dereliction of duty has been provided by Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL). After a meeting with some of his constituents, Hare was asked where in the Constitution he could find authority for Congress to make such sweeping changes to the nation’s health care system. Before the questioner could even finish, Congressman Hare shot back, “I don’t worry about the Constitution on this to be honest ... I care more about the people that are dying every day that don’t have health insurance.”

When pressed further, Hare asserted that the Constitution “says we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Not even mentioning his gross misrepresentation of Jefferson’s meaning, these words are not from the Constitution. When this fact was pointed out, all Hare had to say was that “it doesn’t matter to me.”

In an apparent attempt to save himself, Hare asked that the question be repeated. Once again, the questioner began to ask, “Where in the Constitution does it give you the authority...”

This time, Congressman Hare interrupted by emphatically stating, “I don’t know; I don’t know.”

It seems inconceivable that a member of Congress would blatantly dismiss questions concerning from where his authority to pass a particular piece of legislation is derived. The very oath of office taken by Congressman Hare demands that he be ready to “support and defend the Constitution.” That appears to be a very difficult task for one who seems to have such a limited grasp of the document.

To be fair, Congressman Hare is not the only politician to have lost touch with his oath of office. That said, he is an excellent example of a politician who is “rustier” on the Constitution than a classroom full of children. We can understand schoolchildren becoming a bit confused when discussing the Constitution.

However, we have much more trouble fathoming an elected representative who has taken his responsibilities so lightly that he does not even care that he cannot distinguish between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Our Constitution is under siege! May our representatives have the same devotion to the Constitution as did Samuel Adams when he said, “The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.”

--As Appeared in The Daily Mississippian on Tuesday, April 6, 2010