Transcripts For CSPAN3 Honoring The 116th Congress 20240714

This is an hour. My name is jane campbell, and i have the honor of being the ceo of the United States capitol Historical Society, a position that i took in february, and so it is new for me, and this is my first salute to congress, and im so glad that youre all here with me. And so the first thing is for us to all rise as the Capitol Police ceremonial unit will present our nations colors. Please rise. Forward march. And now please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Thank you very much, you may be seated. I am honored tonight as we gather to salute the 116th congress to present to you one of the most consequential political figures of our time, a woman who makes history every single day. Nancy pelosi is the 52nd speaker of the house of representatives. She made history in 2007 when she was elected the very first woman speaker to serve as the speaker of the house, and now in her third term as speaker, pelosi consistently reminds members and the rest of us of the importance of history. Speaker pelosi expertly guides the United States house of representatives to act on behalf of the people who elected them, while managing the diverse personalities and perspectives in her first term, Speaker Pelosi led the house passage of the american recovery and reinvestment act, was the architect of the Affordable Care act, oversaw passage of the Lily Ledbetter fair pay act, the establishment of the office of congressional ethics, the repeal of dont ask, dont tell, and those are just the highlights. Confronted with the loss of the majority in 2010, then minority leader pelosi didnt stop. She invested in the next generation of leaders, ultimately retaking the majority in 2018 with the election i might point out, of a historic number of women. Nancy pelosi made history again in january 2019 when she regained her position as speaker, second in line to the presidency, after the Vice President and the first person to do so to serve that second term in 60 years. Her leadership is strong, inclusive, and decisive. Thank you, Speaker Pelosi for being with us. [ applause ] thank you very much, jane. Thank you all very much for your warm welcome. Thank you. Thank you, jane, i accept your kind words on behalf of all of the members of congress who care so much about the history of this capitol and thank you as president of the u. S. Capitol Historical Society for your leadership, brilliant leadership, new leadership, and for safeguarding the Rich Heritage of the peoples house. A pleasure to gather in statuary hall in celebration of the 116th congress. I thank you and don carlson for his leadership as well as the chair. So im honored to be here with colleagues who will be coming and going as there have been some votes on the floor. 30 years ago, the great historian David Mccullough spoke to congress of the statue of cleo. Theres cleo, the news of history who looks down on all who serve here saying he said, not cleo, he said for almost two centuries cleo and her clock have reminded the people in these hallowed halls that we are part of history, that our works and actions will face the judgment of history, and that we are part of a long and honorable heritage of our democracy. That just recently probably within the last three years or so he was here and gave the keynote speech. Were very honored that dr. Freeman will be giving the keynote speech here today as well, and it is interesting how history comes alive through the arts. Dr. Freemans work on american various aspects of american history, David Mcculloughs works about the early times in our country are much more wellknown to people because theyve read the books and then sometimes the movies that were made. And i really do believe that every time we have this event there is a person, an artist, a creator whos in our midst, in cleos midst to talk about our history in a very artistic way. I do believe that the arts, dr. Freeman, are what will unify america. It is a time where we shed our differences. We are mused. We laugh, we cry. Were inspired. We learn, and it is as i say, unified. So thank you for honoring us with your presence today, and congratulations on your great work. Its an honor to serve as speaker of the house as president campbell referenced. This is a congress that is that we are celebrating as the most diverse in history. The House Democratic caucus alone is over 60 women, minorities, lgbtq. Its amazing, and in our freshman class, this freshman class, since this is history, some of you may recall but maybe the rest of you read it in history books, when the watergate class came, it was historic. It was a big deal, right john . It was a big deal when they came, and not one of them in this big large new class, not one of them in the first year became a committee, subcommittee chair. In this class, 18 freshmen are subcommittee chairs, and thats quite a remarkable thing. Its just how were bringing all of the new, young people up in the ranks, and in this congress where we have a Record Number of women, over 100 women in the house, more than that, much more house and senate and this congress will be observing the 100th anniversary of women having the right to vote, which is pretty pretty much an honor to be a woman speaker at that time with over 100 women in the congress. Our new members exemplify our founders creed. You know, our krcountry, its democracy, we have diversity of opinion, we have our debates. We have our disagreements, and thats okay. Thats okay. Our founders gave us so much with their courage to declare independence, to fight a war, to win a war, to write the sacred founding documents. Thank god they made them amendable so we could have more freedom, expanding freedom over time, but they also gave us this guidance. From many one. They couldnt imagine how many we would be or how different we would be from each other, but they knew that we had to always remember that we are one. So when we have our differences of opinion and our debates, always remember that we are one, and thats what america is all about. Our founders were very brilliant in that right, and our constitution, our founders read the beautiful preamble, we the people, still consistent, and they established a congress as the first branch of government that we celebrate. Article one, the legislative branch. I keep telling that to the other branches. Article one. [ laughter ] so for over two centuries we have exercised sweeping constitutional powers and responsibilities, and thats part of what we celebrate tonight. But let us always remember that it is it is our responsibility to debate and to legislate and get results for the American People. In the house, we call ourselves the peoples house and we take that responsibility very seriously. So now under cleos gaze and inspired by our proud history, we move forward with purpose to do the peoples work and advance progress for all americans. So for you, to all of you, madame president , mr. Chair, we thank you. Thank you to the u. S. Capitol Historical Society for keeping the flame glowing. I see that ive been joined now by my colleague, congresswoman debbie dengle. Welcome, debbie. I know youll have an Interesting Program tonight and be inspired by the arts by dr. Freeman. Thank you for allowing me the moment to share some thoughts with you, and again, thank you for your ongoing support of this magnificent institution. Thank you so much. [ applause ] thank you, Speaker Pelosi. We know that demands on your time are overwhelming, and the fact that you honored us with your presence is really something very special, and it speaks to your commitment to telling the story of the article one, the legislative branch. One of the things that the Historical Society is dedicated to is that we are always bicameral and bipartisan, and so as we tell the story of the legislative branch, we do recognize that the house thinks theyre the most important, and the senate thinks theyre the most important body, and we are smart enough to have both of them come, and so our next speaker comes from the other side of the legislative chamber, comes to us with a distinguished career of service to our country. After graduating from the United States naval academy, todd young served in the United States marine corps. While serving in the marines, he earned a masters degree and a law degree. He was first elected to the house in 2010 and then to the senate in 2016. He comes as a bicameral individual himself, and senator youngs legislative priorities include providing quality care for veterans, particularly disabled veterans as well as care for the great lakes, and supporting Business Opportunities and growth. Please join me in welcoming senator todd young. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you. Its great to be back in the house. Its really this is such a nice occasion. I want to thank the u. S. Capitol Historical Society, of course, for hosting this event and for all of the leaders who helped make this happen. I also want to thank everyone who came here. I know your time is valuable, but recognizing congresss historical work is very important, and its important that we remember our history and all that weve accomplished working together as a country. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of apollo 11. Yeah, yeah, you can applause for that. Thanks. [ applause ] nearly 600 Million People were able to watch Neil Armstrong take that first step on the moon, created one of the most iconic moments in world history, and if the past 50 years have taught us anything, anything, its that society is moving at an awe inspiring pace. No man can truly grasp how far human kind has come and how fast we have developed. It really is truly incredible that humans over the span of just 50 years could develop Organ Transplants and Satellite Communications and the internet and think of all the other discoveries weve had, and the changes to our economy and to our culture and our society over just a 50year period. Weve come quite far. 50 years ago, of course, the world could barely dream of reaching the moon, and few thought the risk was worth the price originally, but the adventure and its success was a true demonstration of american ingenuity, american leadership, and american courage. As the great Neil Armstrong said before a joint meeting of congress 50 years ago, it was here in these halls that our venture really began, a true testament to the space program, which would not have taken off without congress. As we follow the footprints of historys major endeavors, there are countless tracks leading back to congress. In 1958, congress created nasa, passing the national aerognaw tick sps space act. Historically congress has tackled hundreds of major issues from child care to retirement to disease ere eradication, thousands has drafted thousands of bimlls, with hundreds of law rumming t running the gamut from new constitutional amendments, government agencies, i dont know that weve eliminated many of those, but to ratifying foreign treaties. In 1964 Congress Passed the Civil Rights Act and subsequently the age discrimination act in 1967. Further more, in an effort to end Workplace Discrimination Congress Passed the americans with disabilities act in 1990. History unfolds. Trade is another area thats been so important to human flourishment, certainly the flourishing of the American People, and Congress Passed the trade expansion act, later the trade and tariff act in 1984, nafta came in 1993. Usmca may come soon. In the end, its important to remember that those who came before us made certain that the United States would take the lead. Theyd take the lead on every venture and fix every issue from a righteous position. Each member of congress, including myself has vowed to move this great nation forward, to protect the constitution, to live up to the expectations of our constituents, to fulfill their needs. As the next generation comes of age, america will need leaders who have the desire and the capacity to serve their country. Im not worried. I have great optimism in the future, that those who come next will continue to make the u. S. Congress the leading legislative body in the world. Thank you all, again, for your time tonight. Thanks for having me. [ applause ] thank you, senator young. We so appreciate you coming here and sharing with us and sharing your time and your perspective. With one more distinguished member of congress and congresswoman Debbie Dingell is very special to the Historical Society. We knew her first as a congressional spouse, and as a member of the advocacy community, and she was always a great supporter of ours and of the congress in whole, and certainly a great supporter of her community. We were fortunate not long ago when we honored the house energy and Commerce Committee to hear from the great john dingell tell stories about those times when he chaired that committee that he maintained anything that moved was under the jurisdiction of his committee. But now Debbie Dingell is a congresswoman all her own. She comes with a distinguished resume having served as the president of the General Motors foundation, chair of the Manufacturing Initiative at the American Automotive policy conference, and a lifelong advocate for issues important to women and children, founder of the National Womens Health Resource center, and she has brought all of that experience and all of that dedication, and so her district is fortunate to have congresswoman Debbie Dingell serving not just her own district but as a leader in congress, and were honored to have you today. [ applause ] you know, its really i want to thank the capitol Historical Society for doing this and for all being here to support them. The last time john was in the capitol was last year when he came to support the capitol Historical Society. It was his last trip to washington, but he loved this institution, and he loved this capitol, and he just wanted to be here to share that story, those stories. I was thinking about it, what i was going to say to you tonight, and its the story i seen norm orenstein running through. I dont usually talk about this because i am Debbie Dingell my own person, i get elected every two years, and im accountable t to the people of that district, but i have a lot of history, and im very proud of my last name, and johns father was elected to the United States congress in 1933. There were six women in the congress in 1933, and ive heard i never got to know johns father. I was never lucky enough. He was a new dealer, one of the authors of social security, first author of medicare for all or health care for all, he introduced it after they had done social security, but he too loved this institution, and he knew what it meant to be american. John was on the house floor when they declared when fdr declared war and gave his famous speech. He was a page. I didnt know this. John baynard told me this. The only reason we have a recording of what happened on the floor when president roosevelt declared war was because john didnt listen to the head of pages and knew that it was history and allowed him to continue or to tape what was happening on that floor. He was elected in you know, he was telling me a story, john wanted to deny it, but of when some young boys ran all the way to the top of the dome, put water balloons, ran down the stairs, and the vibration had water balloons fall on people below them. That was in the 40s. Thats when this was i wish now that for this place to continue to be the peoples house, that people we didnt have to worry about security. People felt like they could come in, and it was easy, and they felt and they still do feel pride, but you sort of the capitol Historical Society is making sure that its possible that its still that way. I look at johns history and how he was his first speech, again, i didnt know this, a reporter told me this, his first speech in the house in 1955 was on civil rights. He was one of the first authors of the civil rights legislation. You cant imagine it in this day and age, but when i was cleaning his office, he got denounced across the country for wanting to do the clean water act, but republicans and democrats, democrats and republicans, i meant it that way, joe. But the world has changed, and he always believed that you worked across the aisle, that we were all americans, and he never forgot that. He believed you started in the middle, and you brought people in and that compromise was not a dirty word. So and now im you know, i look back to when i married john a necessity. The world is changing. When i married john im not old, but i am seasoned. People moved here. I mean, they went home, but their families got to know each other. The kids went to school here. There were relationships. Republican and democratic kids da dated. Parents chaperoned the prom together. You spent saturday night in somebodys backyard. Relationships matter. Thats part of whats missing today, although we do make good bets on college games. I lost, im looking at joe. I lost a game, university of michigan lost to his team. But you know, thats what thats what really matters, and so tonight im really happy. I thank the capitol Historical Society for preserving the history of this capitol, and at a time of more strife than i would like to see, and it sounds like blood is going to tell the story of other times in the history of our country, we have to always remember what a great democracy we have, how sacred our constitution is and that free speech and the ability to disagree is something thats fundamental that people can express, what and what we need to do is to listen to each other more because the fact of the matter is none of us are ever totally right. We each have different perspectives and when we listen to each others perspectives we learn. So i think the capitank the cap Historical Society for teaching us history. We need to remember there have been other times like this. You know, i was reading johns book and trying to say what i was going to say tonight, and i do think you know, now im serving in a congress. I was i dont know that this is anything to whatever, but i was the first spouse that was elected while her husband was alive, and you know, it was hard, by the way. It was really hard because he was looking over my shoulder every minute, and i now talk to him a lot and say, where are you giving me that advice that i may not have quite appreciated as much as i wish you were here now . And weve got more women than weve ever had in all the new members, republicans and democrats are breathing new vigor and energy, which is a good thing. I wish we werent fighting quite so much, but its a good thing. But johns last words, this is i dont i encourage you all to read what was in the Washington Post the day after he died. He had lost the ability to write, but he was very, very focused, and he had a message. The post called it his last words to america, and he even kicked me out of the room on thursday morning and was i said john, christines got to go home, and he goes woman, leave me alone, ive got and he was dictating it to her, and ill tell you something else, bill clinton called to check on john the wednesday before the thursday that he died, and john talked to bill clinton, and george bush called john dingell, well, called me to check on me. Neither of them thought that john would be okay. John dingell was focused. President bush could not stop laughing. John was so, this is what youve got to do and this, this, this and this and theres something about in the last 24 hours of his life, he did talk it a democratic president and the last one one of the last people he spoke to was a republican president , and he respected both of them and never forgot that. So in his last words to america, he reminded us all that in our government we hold power entrusted to the officials from the people who elect them. We will all serve our constituents with the greatest responsibility they have granted us for a period of time. So we all get caught up in the news of the day and the strife on the floor, but its really important to remember this nations history, that we live in the greatest nation in the world and we can never take our democracy, our freedom for granted. Thank you very much. [ applause ] what a powerful message, congresswoman dingell, you have a way with words, and you bring us history, and you bring us the future as well because you stand there as a member of congress now in your own right but understanding the history that you come with. It is indeed the work of the Historical Society to keep the history of congress and the history of our democracy alive, and one of the ways we do that is to bring distinguished scholars to this body to tell the story so that when somebody throws their hands up and says it has never been this bad, we have never had this kind of divisiveness, we found someone to speak to you today who can convince you that lo and behold it has been worse, and our government has survived. Our nation has survived. Our keynote speaker this evening is joann freeman, a professor of history and american studies at Yale University who specializes in early american politics and political culture. Her interest is in Political Violence and Political Polarization as she calls it, dirty, nasty politics, something we know nothing about, and that interest has made her work particularly popular in recent years. Dr. Freemans Award Winning first book, affairs of honor, National Politics in the new republic, explored political combat on the National Stage in the founding era. Her most recent book, the one that you saw us give to each of the members of congress, the field of blood, violence in congress on the road to civil war focused on the physically violent clashes in the house and senate chambers, and this is the former house chamber, the very place where that violence took place. And how they shaped and savaged our nation. Dr. Freeman has been committed to public minded history for some time. You may not know that the popular musical hamilton was partly based on her research, and Linmanuel Miranda who was the winner of our pree dfreedom not many years back relied on her research and engaged her in his studies as he tried to prepare that incredible musical. She is the cohost of a Popular American history podcast called back story, and we could go on and on, but mercifully, i shall not do that, but instead will present to you joann freeman. [ applause ] thank you so much for that introducti introduction, and good evening. I want to start by saying that particularly given that im here speaking at an event thats honoring a congress that does include so many women, im very happy to stand before you as a woman historian. So its only appropriate, thank you. [ applause ] thank you very much. Now, i want to start by saying something that was just referenced. Im very, very honored to be speaking before you this evening in this particular space before this particular audience speaking in honor of this particular congress. Ive spent much of the past 17 years focusing my scholarship on the institution of congress and the decades leading up to the civil war. Congress, the capitol building, and this hall for a time the house of representatives, have been at the center of my thoughts for much of those 17 years. A lot of what i wrote about happened in this room, the people, the politics, the passions, the politicians, particularly lesser known ones who were fascinating to study. All of that transpired in the space where you now sit. So speaking to the Congressional Community tonight in this space is kind of a bucket list moment for me, truly. Ive been relishing it from the moment that i was invited to come here, and i want to thank you and the congressional sponsors of this program and the wonderful folks at the capitol Historical Society for giving me the opportunity to be here and to address you tonight. Now, i have to say given the amount of time that ive been immersed in studying the doings of the antibell up congress, looking around this space, i see a lot of historical shadows. So, for example, i can almost see John Quincy Adams. He would have been sitting over there. He came to the house notably after he was president of the United States, and i can almost hear him literally bringing the house down around him with his aggressive stance against slavery. Looking at what used to be the space before the speakers platform, which would have been roughly over there, i can almost see the mass brawl that took place between armed northerners and southerners in 1858, largely having to do with the institution of slavery that ended only when one congressman yanked the toupee off of the head of another congressman reducing the room to laughter, which really only goes to show you that slapstick is eternal. [ laughter ] now, to get a real sense of the space in action, i want to offer you the words of a congressional clerk named Benjamin Brown french, who described a typical evening session in this hall in 1836, including as youre about to hear, both its highs and lows. So french wrote and this is actually from his diary when fully lit at night, the light in this hall is equal to that of at least a thousand candles. The beautifully painted roof, the vast pillars, the red drapery about the speakers chair, and between the columns all appear richer if possible by artificial light than by the light of day. The galleries are usually crowded during an evening session with all the gentility of washington. If a house happens to be in a good humor and some interesting subject is under debate, i know of no more imposing spectacle than an evening session. But french continues, when 11 or 12 00 at night arrives, the spectators begin to thin off, and the members drop away one after another. Those who remain become tired and sleepy. One by one the debaters grow angry. Motions are made to adjourn and noise and confusion frequently occurs. The speaker calls order, order at the top of his voice. Members may be seen sleeping in their seats or stretched upon the sew ifs aofas and chairs or upon the carpet in back of the speakers chair. By 2 00 in the morning someone usually moves a call of the house. By 5 00 in the morning, the sergeant in arms has arrested missing congressmen and dragged them back to the house, and they arrive not quite in working order, hair uncombed, clothing rumpled looking, according to french, as little like the first gentlemen in america as possible. So obviously some of the highs and lows of the Antebellum Congress indeed. Ive offered that selection partly to honor Benjamin Brown french, an amazing figure who left behind an 11volume diary filled with material that really allowed me to delve into this institution and get a sense, not only of how it worked, but what it felt like to be in it. So i offered his account partly to set the stage and pull us back into the precivil war congress but ive also quoted it to note something that is central to understanding the u. S. Congress, what it is, how it works, and what it does. Now, this is an obvious statement, but its a statement thats worth making. Congress is a Human Institution with the emphasis on human. It is the ongoing interplay of people with each other, the dynamics of Human Interaction that make it go, so to speak. Throughout our nations history, those human dynamics have been shifting, sometimes unpredictable, sometimes problematic, sometimes highly problematic. My most recent book the field of blood notes what happened during some of those highly problematic moments. When researching the book i uncovered roughly 70 physically violent incidents in the house and senate between the 1830s and the 1850s, and by physically violent i mean chainings, shoving, fistfights, people pulling knives and guns on each other, duals and dual negotiations though obviously the duals didnt take place in this room, wild melee with bunches of men rolling in the aisles throwing punches and a handful of street fights with fists, bricks, and the occasional umbrella. Now, its a really dramatic story, and its little known outside of scholarly circles for good reason because a lot of it was censored out of the periods equivalent of the congressional record. Now there are in the record, now and again youll see when youre reading through the record. I spent a whole year just reading the congressional record, which i will say is dedication. There are clues that i discovered once i knew the violence was there. For example, now and again the record will Say Something like quote, the debate became unpleasantly personal at one point. [ laughter ] in one case that meant that was describing a moment when one congressman pulled a gun on another congressman. That is indeed unpleasantly personal, or the record will Say Something like there was a sudden sensation in the corner. In one case, what that meant was two congressmen got in a fight, started punching each other and flipped over a desk. Enormous brawls sometimes get mentioned in the record but often in the very barest detail, as in the case of one huge fight in 1849 that a clerk writing it down recording it described with this kind of wonderful poetic language. He wrote in brackets in the record, the house is like a heaving billow, he tries to capture exactly what he saw. Some of this violence was a product of the times. The United States during those decades was an exceedingly violent place. There were riots, mob actions, electoral violence that sometimes led to deaths, and of course there was the violence centered objen the Institution Slavery and the nations brutal treatment of native americans. The United States has a long history of violence and a lot of it has been racebased. But some of the violence in congress was strategic. Some of it consisted of southerners or southernborn westerners, and these are men who were most likely to be armed, some of the congressional violence was strategic, and it involved these men intimidating or threatening their political opponents into silence or compliance, particularly on the issue of slavery. So take, for example, john dawson of louisiana. When someone insisted that John Quincy Adams had every right to discuss an antislavery petition, dawson, who happened to generally arm himself with both a pistol and a buoy knife which he wore strapped to his back, strutted over to the fellow who said that adams had a right to discuss an antislavery petition, and essentially said to him, do that again and im going to cut your throat from ear to ear. Message received. In essence, southern slave holders attempted to silence debate on slavery and for a time this strategy worked quite well for the south. For a time, southerners wielded an outsized influence on the floor of congress and selected their slave regime in the process. In the late 1850s, however, the dynamic changed and the violence peaked for two reasons. First and foremost, the issue of slavery was undeniably and ever more aggressively at the center of National Debate due to the nations expansion westward. Second, and to me, particularly intriguingly, the technology of communication changed. At the same time as the nations growth was keeping the problem of slavery front and center, a new form of technology, the telegraph made matters worse by transmitting news around the nation with breakneck speed before politicians could spin the news as they saw fit. So just as the nations sectional conflict began to fester, a new technology spread news of it nationally faster than ever before and without much congressional spin. It would be hard to exaggerate the degree to which the technological innovation of the telegraph changed the nature of politics. One small example of that, in 1850 in the senate, one congressman pulled a gun on another congressman, and there was what someone at the time called a stampede and some confusion and in the end nothing happened, and everyone sat back down, and after the episode was over, a senator from New Hampshire stood up and said, i feel the need to tell people that within 45 minutes, the nation is going to be reading that were slaughtering each other in the senate. And you can feel in that account that the room was kind of realizing that theyve lost control of the story. Theres little that they can do to change that narrative. Think about how were grappling today with the reach and power and implications of social media and you begin to get an idea of what im talking about when im talking about the telegraph. Democracy is an ongoing conversation between officeholders and constituents, so in a sense, it should come as no surprise that dramatic changes in the modes of conversation cause dramatic changes in democracies themselves. So when northerners discovered partly through these technological changes the degree to which their representative rights were being stifled, the ways in which their representatives voices were being silenced, they urged their representatives to stand up and fight back, and they tended to vote more combative men into office. And many northern congressmen did indeed fight back with words and sometimes with fists until the fighting overwhelmed the potential for good faith argument and mutual trust that lies at the heart of the doings of congress. The distrust, the bitterness, the sense on each side that their opponents were degrading them to use their word for it, felt by north and south alike, eroded the functioning of the institution of congress. Fighting overwhelmed the working of congress. Now, theres a lot to be learned from the narrative ive just laid out. I will say that i seem very savvy for having written a book about congressional conflict and violence that came out at just this time, but it took 17 years to write it, and i never could have predicted that here we would be where we are, and i would finish the book at just this moment, but there is much to be learned. I think the story does have much to tell us, and im just going to mention a few key points in a few minutes that i have left. First, our political system has become so complex over the centuries that i think its easy to forget the ground level power of the core essence of congress and what it does. The powerful emotions and the equally powerful symbolism that structures and complicates what happens in congress and how people feel about what their representatives do and who their representatives are. For people looking on in the nation at large, congress is kind of a national soundingboard. For some, i think its even a personification of the state of the nation with all of the emotion that that implies. Its something of a cliche that americans generally like their members of congress more than they like the institution of congress, but even so, the workings of this institution and its mood and its temper and its dynamics send americans at large a strong message about the state of affairs in their country. And in fact, what first drew my interest to congress in the first place was its unique status as an institution that brings people together physically from all over the nation and puts them into two chambers and forces them to hash things out. Having that kind of space for that kind of conversation, however contentious or fraught or problematic or caustic that conversation may be, having that kind of Space Matters. And of course, having a National Audience witness in some form what happens in that Space Matters as well. Accountability to the American Public is the ultimate guardrail of democratic governance. Because of that intense link between the American People and their representatives, what happens here and what is said here sometimes has exceedingly broad and profoundly symbolic meanings that reach far beyond the specifying impact of a piece of legislation. Thus, congresss extraordinary potential to create what i like to call a national we, symbolically, structurally, politically, emotionally, rhetorically, visibly congress is, in fact, the American People in assembly. It both shapes and reflects public sentiment. In essence, in a lot of ways, congress is the nations beating heart, and its workings as a representative institution, its fundamental role in checking the governments balance of power, giving voice to the popular will, and allowing the churning of Difficult Conversations to happen within this institution, all of those things are the life blood of democratic governance. Someone said as much as early as 1805, and im about to do something thats really counterintuitive, and wherever Alexander Hamilton is up in heaven, i hope he will forgive me because im a hamilton scholar, but im about to discuss the man who killed him, aaron burr. Youll see why. Burr obviously was a controversial figure during his lifetime and forever after, although hes having something of a moment now because of that play. His politics were sometimes e kw equivocal, he was something of an adventurer, he killed hamilton, he was tried for treezen and acquitted sending himself into exile for many years. He was fair minded. He was attentive to procedure in presiding over the senate, and he understood the profound significance of the institution of congress in the making or breaking of the american nation. Along those lines towards the end of his vice presidency, he said the following during his formal farewell to the senate, and i think its so profoundly captures the significance of congress that i want to close with the words of aaron burr. Burr said, this house is a sanctuary, a citadel of law and of liberty. Here, if anywhere, will be resistance made to the storms of political frenzy and the silent arts of corruption, and if the constitution be destined ever to perish by the sacrilegious hand of the demagogue or the usurper which god avert, its aspiring agonies will be witnessed on this floor. Thank you very much. [ applause ] please. So, one of the things that the society is privileged to do come here, mr. Chairman. I need you. This is don carlson. The chairman of the board. [ applause ] one of the things were honored is that we have some of the marble from the renovation of the capitol, and we use that to create all kinds of products so when someone honors us with their speech, especially a scholar, we provide to you bookends made from the marble of the capitol. Wow. [ applause ] yes. Oh. And my boss, the chairman, says make sure to tell people that we now have the lego set that you can buy from us and build the capitol yourselves. So we are almost to the eating and drinking time. So you can stand or you can sit. All i want to do is take a minute to acknowledge the board of the capitol Historical Society. If those of you on the board would please stand and be recognized. We appreciate your [ applause ] we are a Nonprofit Organization that exists by the investment of time, talent, and treasure, of the people on the board and the people who care about the history of congress. And one of the groups that was especially helpful today is the National Association of realtors, and we thank you very much, shannon, for the contribution to allow this event to happen. And i dont know if Sheryl Johnson is here with us, the clerk of the house. I talked to her earlier today and suggested that she might want to join us because of the story being written by the clerk. Congresswoman virginia foxx, i see you. One of our very best Board Members and members of congress. We appreciate you being here. And there are a few other members of congress who may have slipped in and out. Please stand. Come on. Wave. Thank you. Congressman wilson. Yes, thank you. Thank you so much. And, you know, i get the privilege to stand here, but i dont stand here having pulled this event off by myself. There is a really dedicated group of staff who work for the society and a dedicated group of volunteers. And so id like all the Staff Members to please wave. Including the interns. Grace. Come on. Thank you very much. Thank you. And so it is time to eat, drink, and be merry. Thank you very much. Thank you for being with us. [ applause ] watch book tv for live coverage of the National Book festival saturday august 31st starting at 10 00 a. M. Eastern. Our coverage includes author interviews with Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg on her book, my own words. David troyer. His book is the heartbeat of wounded knee. Sharon robinson talks about her book, child of the dream. Rick atkinson, author of the british are coming. And Thomas Malone discusses his book, superminds. The National Book festival Live Saturday august 31st at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on book tv on cspan2. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hosted a reception to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the house of representatives passing the 19th amendment to the constitution which guaranteed women the right to vote. The event from the u. S. Capitol included remarks by House Minority leader kevin mccarthy, representatives Brenda Lawrence and debby lesko. Journalist poky roberts. And former senator barbara mikulski. The respective chair and vice chair of the womens Suffrage Centennial commission. Ladies and jgentlemen, the honorable nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house of representatives, accompanied by the honorable kevin mccarthy. Miss kay coaljames. The honorable barbara mikulski. The honorable Brenda Lawrence. The honorable debby