Members of the U.S. House of Representatives found one, rare point of agreement during today's reading of the Constitution: the amendment that banned slavery.
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a leader of the civil rights movement, was given the task of reading the 13th Amendment on the House floor. The amendment bans “slavery [and] involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime.”
Lewis slowly read aloud the text of the amendment’s first and second sections. When he finished, his colleagues on both sides of the aisle began clapping and then rose to their feet in a standing ovation. As he walked back to a seat, Lewis bowed his head several times in acknowledgment of the applause.
Other parts of the reading were not as bipartisan. Only congressmen on the Republican side appeared to clap after the reading of the 10th Amendment, which reserves powers for the states. Only those on the Democratic side appeared to clap after the reading of the 14th Amendment’s privileges or immunities clause, which protects citizenship rights.
The reading lasted about an hour and a half. It was the first of its kind in Congress, and it was organized by House Republicans over objections from some liberal members who called it a stunt.
A member of the public briefly interrupted the reading when a congressman came to Article II, Section 1, which requires that the president be a “natural born Citizen.” “Except Obama! Except Obama! Help us, Jesus!” a woman yelled from the gallery, referring to the belief that Obama was not born in the United States. She was escorted out, and the reading continued.
Immediately before the reading, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) protested that members were not using the Constitution’s original text. That text included, for example, the three-fifths compromise regarding how slaves would be counted. Jackson called the text that would be read a “redacted version” that glossed over later struggles for equality.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who led the reading, dismissed the criticism. “It is an amended document. We’re going to read the document as amended,” he said.
Almost two years ago, the liberal advocacy group People for the American Way hosted another reading of the Constitution at the Newseum, featuring a cast that included politicians, actors, veterans, folk singers and “Obama Girl.” In a statement today, the group’s president, Michael Keegan, said he supports reading the Constitution in the House. But like Jackson, he said members of Congress should read “the entire Constitution,” including later-deleted provisions referencing slavery.
By the end of the event today, the text prepared by Goodlatte still meant the reading of several references to slavery and civil rights, including the 13th Amendment, the initial 25-year protection for the importation of slaves and the 24th Amendment protecting voters from poll taxes.
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) got perhaps the most enviable assignment for any politician: reciting the very end of Article II, Section 1, which is the presidential oath of office.
Updated at 2:35 p.m. with Keegan's statement.
"Perhaps if Mr. Obama had been vetted even a third as much as Governor Sarah Palin he wouldn't have nearly half the people in this country thinking he is unqualified for the office he currently holds. I'm thinking she can prove her status as a natural born citizen.
Posted by: Alan Srout | January 06, 2011 at 02:30 PM "
You're probably thinking that because she has a strong accent and is white. Obviously if a person is anything but white they to justify everything, work harder and be better.
Posted by: m | January 07, 2011 at 12:23 AM
Folks here sure do operate on all different facts!
I personally don't believe that nobody has felt motivated to vet Obama yet. Nor that Rep. Goodlatte (who decided "We're going to read the document as amended") would have included moot text such as the prohibition of income taxes or the election of Senators by state legislatures. Nor that the parties (whether Federalist, Democratic or Republican) stand for the same things now that they did 150 or 200+ years ago.
Why even argue about any of these points if nobody is going to accept anyone else's facts?
I've gotta say, here in New York I share a bit of the same frustration as Hawaii officials do about birth certificates. The original certificate filled in and signed by the doctors is a confidential health record that even the person who was born can never get a duplicate of; the State just issues certifications with its raised seal that the original data is on file and is correct. I have to try to convince my clients and even my family that it's true, when they want a duplicate of their original document. It's not easy, no matter how much you explain the law. I think anyone who hopes to try to explain it to a birther, let alone to convince them, ought to just give up and save their breath.
Posted by: Avon | January 06, 2011 at 08:19 PM
Do any of you Constitutional scholars remember that leader of the Federalist party was a "loose constructionist" who convinced President Washington, that though not mentioned a National Bank was needed. And that it was another Federalist, John Marshall, the father of the Supreme Court, who helped to solidify the power of the central government.
Posted by: Larry Morris | January 06, 2011 at 06:42 PM
Rep. John Lewis may be a leader of the civil rights movement, but neither he nor other Democrats had anything to do with the 13th Amendment. Democrats should have risen to their feet en masse and applauded Republicans. http://tinyurl.com/y8qm5kg
Posted by: TheStilettoBlog | January 06, 2011 at 05:55 PM
Not reading the original text is simply historical revisionism. I take it that some hapless Representative read the long-spent words allocating Congressional seats until the first census, or prohibiting the income tax, or requiring Senators to be elected by State legislators? So why not other obsolete text even if it is embarrassing to the modern ear?
Posted by: Andrew | January 06, 2011 at 05:15 PM
Perhaps if Mr. Obama had been vetted even a third as much as Governor Sarah Palin he wouldn't have nearly half the people in this country thinking he is unqualified for the office he currently holds. I'm thinking she can prove her status as a natural born citizen.
Posted by: Alan Srout | January 06, 2011 at 02:30 PM