Constitution Frames Controversies in Congress

by Jennifer Mesko, CitizenLink: The U.S. House of Representatives launched the 112th session of Congress today with a recitation of the U.S. Constitution. It was the first time the document has been read in its entirety on the House floor.

“This historic and symbolic reading is long overdue and shows that the new majority in the House truly is dedicated to our Constitution and the principles for which it stands,” said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who proposed the idea.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the reading of the Constitution “demonstrates a renewed commitment to following our nation’s charter text.”

“That guiding document is founded upon the transcendent truth that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are rights endowed by our Creator. It defines the roles, duties and limits of federal governance. As such, the Constitution ensures that if followed with integrity and diligence, our Republic and the ordered liberty we enjoy within it will remain strong and vibrant.”

Not everyone, however, was pleased with the reading.

“They are reading it like a sacred text,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., told The Washington Post. He called the “ritualistic reading” on the floor “total nonsense” and “propaganda” intended to claim the document for Republicans.

And the controversy over the Constitution didn’t end there.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is being criticized for accepting an invitation from Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., to speak to Congress about the Constitution on Jan. 24.

The meeting “suggests an alliance between the conservative members of the court and the conservative members of Congress,” Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, told the Los Angeles Times. He said Scalia had shown “exceedingly poor judgment.”

Ezra Klein, a liberal blogger for The Washington Post, went so far as to call the founding document “impossible to understand because it’s over 100 years old.”

Edward Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a former clerk to Scalia, disputed the criticism.

“(Is it) improper for any justice ever to speak to any group of members of Congress who might be perceived as sharing the same general political disposition?” he asked.

“My guess is that, schedule permitting, Scalia would be happy to speak on the same topic to any similar group of members of Congress who invited him,” Whelan told the Times.

Even the editorial board at the Los Angeles Times came to Scalia’s defense.

“We find it hard to share the outrage,” they wrote. “We disagree with many of Scalia’s views. … Still, he is a learned and provocative legal thinker. If Congress is going to conduct an adult education course on the Supreme Court, his views belong in the curriculum.”

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