Chuck Grassley

Mr. President, Claims · 16 wordstoday is Constitution Day.¹ On September 17, 1787, 39 delegates signed the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia.² Positioning · 9 wordsThey set forth an experiment rooted in American exceptionalism: PositioningClaims · 56 wordsGovernment authority comes from ``We the People,’’ the first words of the preamble to the Constitution.³ The U.S. Constitution is the only founding document of any country in the history of humankind that is meant to protect the people from the government.Unearned certainty Other constitutions throughout history were written to give the government power over the people. Positioning · 26 wordsThat is why the United States is unique, and that is why we continue to say that the United States is an exceptional system of government.Positioning Claims · 82 wordsThere are some in this country who want to fundamentally change the U.S. Constitution. In recent months, there is an organization within the Democrat Party that call themselves the Democratic Socialists of America.⁴ Their document wants to abolish the Senate.⁵ That document would uproot our system of checks and balances. That system would rip up our Constitution and draft a new one--particularly when some of them are saying they want a parliamentary system of government like other countries, particularly in Europe, have. Positioning · 20 wordsDemocratic socialism of America is antithetical to America’s promise of prosperity and the founding principles enshrined in our great Constitution.Positioning Claims · 11 wordsThe U.S. Constitution is now 239 years old this very day, ⁶Positioning · 8 wordsand the principles that it embodies are timeless.Positioning Procedure · 41 wordsOn this Constitution Day, September 17, it is my hope that Americans of all ages will reflect upon the blessings of freedom handed down from one generation to the next. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.Procedure