Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, and prospective ranking Democrat on the new Constitution Subcommittee, issued the following statement:

“The new Republican majority has decided that the Constitution will be read aloud at the beginning of the new Congress.  I hope this is not simply political posturing, but signals a new Republican intent to be bound by the Constitution, and a departure from the persistent attacks on our constitutional rights and on the independent judiciary that were the hallmarks of Republican rule in the past.  Examples include Republican bills to strip courts of authority to consider constitutional challenges to specific congressional or executive actions, and attempts to undermine the rights of all Americans to be free from excessive government surveillance and intrusions into their private lives.

“This week, every Member of Congress has taken the oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic ... [and] bear true faith and allegiance to the same….’

“It is essential that Members not end their commitment to the Constitution with this reading, but fight for the Constitution each and every day.  We were not sent here to use the Constitution as a political prop or a partisan weapon, but instead as the tool by which we govern.  The American people will be rightly irate at any Member who fails to honor the language and spirit of our founding documents.

“The new rule that requires Members to specify the constitutional authority for their bills on introduction should be used for serious constitutional consideration, and not as a political stunt.

“We have always had an obligation to ensure that our legislation is constitutional.  The suggestion that this is a new duty is specious and offensive.

“Our Constitution exists, first and foremost, to protect our liberties.  It does so by limiting government power, and by erecting a system of checks and balances to enforce those limits.  In the past, Republicans have held to that constitutional framework when it suited their purposes, but aggressively attacked and undermined it when it got in their way.  I hope that, today, we can begin a new era of bipartisan reverence for the Constitution.”