Date: 2014-11-17
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to join my colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus to speak to the issues that members of the 113th Congress must address. I thank my colleagues Representatives STEVEN HORSFORD and HAKEEM JEFFRIES for leading this evenings Congressional Black Caucus Special Order on "The March toward a More Perfect Union: Where Do We Go from Here?" We the People of the United States. in Order to form a more perfect Union. establish Justice. insure domestic Tranquility. provide for the common defense. promote the general Welfare. and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our a Posterity. do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. These words are powerful and unforgettablethey are the preamble of the Constitution of the United States of America. What is most striking about these words are the first 3. "We the People." They remind us that we are here in the "Peoples House" to do the peoples business. The Supreme Courts over the centuries looked to these words for guidance or evidence of what the founding fathers intended for the Constitutions meaning and its ultimate purpose. This places the preamble in a unique role as time has separated us from the words and thoughts of those who drafted the document. which governs our form of government today. The Supreme Court. in its decision in Ellis v. City of Grand Rapids. looked to the preamble in reaching its decision in this eminent domain case. The Court decided that the use of land to provide additional land for the expansion of a hospital would be in the interest of the people and should be allowed under the constitution. We the People. two years ago reelected President Obama to the Presidency of the United States with 57.5 of all eligible voters voting for him to serve a second term in 2012. He ran on the issues of retaining the Affordable Health Care Act. infrastructure investments. and rebuilding the middle class. His reelection was no fluke. it was an affirmation by the people of the United States of a decision they made nearly 4 years earlier when he defeated his Republican opponent and become President. In 2008. President Obama won 53% of the votes in the election that saw voter turnout at 62.3 percent of eligible citizens voting. During the hard fought campaign then Democratic Presidential Candidate Obama said that he would focus on health care reform. repairing the economy. which was in shambles. and ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring our troops home. Once President Obama entered office in January 2009. he was given the full picture of how bad the economy really was and how much work would be needed to repair the damage and restore economic vitality. Since 2008. the economy has made tremendous progress. but more work needs to be done and I invite my colleague to commit in earnest to doing the work held to help the people of this nation. On March 23. 2010. with the stroke of President Obamas pen. the American people received this part of the "Fair Deal." This bill did not become law in the dead of night. but in the full process this body affords serious consideration of legislation. There were committee hearings. staff and member meetings. amendments and a final vote in both the House and the Senate before it was sent to the Presidents desk. The Affordable Care Act has been affirmed to be law by every means provided by our nations constitution: On June 28. 2012. the United States Supreme Court upheld the ACA. affirming the constitutionality of the lawleaving intact the majority of the incentives to expand healthcare coverage to millions of Americans. The Affordable Care Act was a central issue in the Presidential election of 2012. President Obama who signed the Affordable Care Act into law won the election by 51.1 percent of the popular vote and 62 percent of the electoral vote.