Speech for Clinton Bell Ringing Ceremony
Good afternoon, everyone.
Thank you to the Walter Leake Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution for inviting me to be here today, and more importantly, for continuing this tradition here in Clinton.
I think sometimes the simplest traditions can be the most meaningful. In just a few minutes, we are going to ring a bell. At the same time, people in communities all across America will be doing the same thing, remembering what happened on September 17, 1787, when the United States Constitution was signed in Philadelphia. 239 years ago.
Think about everything our country has been through since then. Wars. Economic hardship. Tremendous growth. Political disagreements. Good times and difficult times. Generations of Americans have come and gone.
And through all of that, the Constitution has remained the foundation of our system of
government.
I spend a lot of time at our State Capitol. We debate bills, budgets and policies, and we certainly don't always agree. But days like today are a good reminder that our form of government was built to handle disagreement.
The men who gathered in Philadelphia didn't agree on everything either. They debated and wrestled with some very difficult questions. What they ultimately produced established the framework for our national government and a system that has endured for more than two centuries.
The Constitution isn't just something we should think about in a history class. It still affects our lives every single day. It establishes the branches of government, divides authority, provides a process for making and changing laws, and, together with its amendments, protects important individual rights and liberties.
And I think there is another important part of Constitution Week: understanding it.
We hear people talk about the Constitution all the time. But there is real value in actually reading it, teaching it to our children and understanding both what it says and how our system of government is supposed to work.
That is one reason I appreciate what the DAR has done for so many years. In 1955, the Daughters of the American Revolution petitioned Congress to establish an annual Constitution Week. Congress approved it, and President Dwight Eisenhower signed the observance into law in 1956. Since then, this week has been set aside each year to encourage Americans to learn about and reflect on the Constitution.
And I think this year is particularly meaningful as we celebrate America's 250th anniversary. We have spent much of this year looking back at where our country began. Today is also an opportunity to think about what has allowed this country to continue.
Our government isn't perfect. It never has been. We will always have disagreements about policies, personalities and politics.
But the principles behind our constitutional system are bigger than any one elected official, any one political party or any one generation.
Those of us who hold public office are temporary. The institutions we are entrusted with are meant to endure.
So when this bell rings today, I hope it does more than remind us of something that happened in Philadelphia 239 years ago.
I hope it reminds us that each generation has a responsibility to understand our Constitution, respect it, teach it to the next generation and do our part to preserve the system of government it created.
Thank you again to the Walter Leake DAR Chapter for keeping this tradition alive in Clinton, and thank all of you for taking the time to be here today.
God bless Clinton, God bless Mississippi, and God bless the United States of America.
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