House Republicans Usher in 112th Congress with Reading of U.S. Constitution: What Does it Mean?

The 112^th congressional session officially began on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011. For the first time in the history of the congressional commencement, included in it was the reading of the Constitution in its entirety-articles and amendments alike. The reading was kicked off by the Speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, and over 130 members of the house, both Democrats and Republicans, took their turns to finish it, which took almost an hour and a half. It was not without incident, though, as a controversy broke out over which version was to be read just before the reading began at 11 a.m. EST.

Controversy Over Version Read

The buzz is already increasing in volume as analysts seek to shoulder in with their spin on what the reading of the Constitution means. Coupled with the shake up in the White House staff, it is not surprising that the political soothsayers are burning up ink.

The solemn event was marred by an objection raised by Rep. Jesse Jackson regarding the version being read. Apparently, the GOP decided to read a version that is much shorter than the actual full Constitution. Rep. Jackson was disturbed that many amendments where skipped, such as the one that declares slaves to be three-fifths of a person. The version read also eliminated much of the archaic language that exists in the full version.

Meaning of the Reading?

The meaning of all of this, pundits and spin masters aside, should be obvious. Never before in the history of the United States has Congress felt the need to commence a session with such a seemingly historic moment. The implied meaning, keeping in mind the strong presence of the Tea Party, is that we will now return to the constitutional roots of our great nation and get back to where we should be.

This is in contrast, however, to accusations that the GOP is breaking its own rules by exempting over $1 trillion from the federal debt limitations. Additionally, the GOP has announced that all new legislation will go through a full committee process to "let any lawmaker, Democrat or Republican offer amendments," except for the repeal of the health care law, which will not go through a committee and not be open to the amendment process-already breaking their own rules.

Broken Promises

If a man walks into a bank and announces over the loud speaker that he is not there to rob the bank, what is the first thing a person would think? The liberal contention is roughly akin to this analogy. In spite of promises of bipartisanship and the "Pledge to America," the GOP seems to be sending a message that a return to our national roots may not be what you expect. With a major and argumentative spat starting off the new session and the GOP pushing for its agenda sans committee process (the health care repeal), the message could be seen as a little mixed at best.

Could it be that the GOP's version of bipartisanship only includes Democrats who agree fully with the GOP agenda? Could the reading of the Constitution, something not even done during the Civil War, portent a Congress that will bend and shape the Constitution to fit their purposes? Will the GOP place limitations on the federal debt, not including killing health care and major tax cuts for corporate America? It is not hard to imagine that this could be the case. Will the GOP, having been given all the rope, hang themselves with it? Or will they hang us?