# Reading the constitution **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 7, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693 "2011-01-07T01:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/1 "2011-01-07T01:11:03Z")
What will/did the Republicans accomplish by reading the constitution aloud accomplish? Especially since two of their members weren’t yet sworn in; they missed the swearing in ceremony due to participating in a fund raiser in a location where fund raising is forbidden by the constitution, as I understand the reporters to be saying. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/2 "2011-01-07T01:16:25Z")
I’m sorry; fund raising in the Capitol is forbidden by the house ethics rules; the Constitution forbids voting on bills without having first taken the oath of office. The two folk in question watched the swearing in ceremony on TV and raised their hands as if they were physically present for that ceremony. I hope they are spanked and sent back home AFTER returning the money they raised in violation of the ethics rules. A great start for the reform party of just say no. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/3 "2011-01-07T02:35:21Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I’m sorry; fund raising in the Capitol is forbidden by the house ethics rules; the Constitution forbids voting on bills without having first taken the oath of office. The two folk in question watched the swearing in ceremony on TV and raised their hands as if they were physically present for that ceremony. I hope they are spanked and sent back home AFTER returning the money they raised in violation of the ethics rules. A great start for the reform party of just say no. Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick. > [@](#): > > There is no provision in the Constitution for a remote swearing-in by television. On Thursday, Fitzpatrick was one of the members who [read the Constitution](http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/clip.php?appid=599373934) from the dais. He would have been on hand to hear the section he violated read aloud: “Article VI, Paragraph 3: The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” > > [On Thursday,](http://www.rollcall.com/news/-202160-1.html) the Rules Committee adjourned because Sessions had made a motion to open proceedings to begin considering the GOP bill to repeal health care reform - an action that can only be taken by an official member of Congress. > > Emily Davis, a spokeswoman for Sessions, said that Sessions rectified the situation Thursday afternoon, after it came to his attention that he had not been properly sworn in. “During the swearing in of the 112th Congress, Congressman Sessions stated the oath publicly in the Capitol but was not on the House floor. To ensure that all constitutional and House requirements are fulfilled, Congressman Sessions officially took the oath of office this afternoon from the House floor. Public records and votes will be adjusted accordingly,” she said. [Two House Republicans Missed Swearing In While At A Fundraiser In The Capitol, Violating Constitution On Day It Was Read | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/06/two-house-republicans-vot_n_805423.html) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/4 "2011-01-07T03:50:24Z")
How does that affect their seniority? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/5 "2011-01-07T03:58:46Z")
I think it’s a good idea for Congress to read the Constitution out loud on the record prior to each session of Congress, much the same way I read the entire manual to my television out loud each time I turn it on. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/6 "2011-01-07T07:21:49Z")
I think it would be a good idea to read the whole constitution too. But not, as they are doing, by different people. Have one person with a good voice do it. It would be an even better idea to have all members of Congress take and pass a year long law school course in Constitutional Law taught by an ABA accredited law school that includes the mainstream views of the constitution of real constitutional law professors and then 10 minutes after each class in “alternative” views as taught by bogus law schools, like the ones Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell founded. The downside to my Con Law class proposal is that I do think Congress is greatly benefited by having many members that have not gone to law school. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/7 "2011-01-07T08:22:57Z")
As I understand it, the cost involved in reading the Constitution during a session of congress is $1.1 million. although I wonder about the accuracy of that figure and the means used to arrive at it. I realize that amount of money is a mere drop in the bucket of money we throw overboard every day but a political party who has sworn to reduce costs maybe should pay attention to what the consequences of their empty gesture are. I agree that a reading and discussion of the constitution would be a very good thing but I think it should be done on PBS; or maybe the VOA or some other public forum that could be agreed upon. Maybe a public civics class would be good for all of us. IF such a thing could be arranged, I promise I would watch it faithfully for an hour or maybe two every evening. I wouldn’t or couldn’t promise to read and comprehend six to eight hours at a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/8 "2011-01-07T08:28:54Z")
> [@](#): > > There is no provision in the Constitution for a remote swearing-in by television. On Thursday, Fitzpatrick was one of the members who read the Constitution from the dais. He would have been on hand to hear the section he violated read aloud: “Article VI, Paragraph 3: The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” > > On Thursday, the Rules Committee adjourned because Sessions had made a motion to open proceedings to begin considering the GOP bill to repeal health care reform - an action that can only be taken by an official member of Congress. > > Emily Davis, a spokeswoman for Sessions, said that Sessions rectified the situation Thursday afternoon, after it came to his attention that he had not been properly sworn in. “During the swearing in of the 112th Congress, Congressman Sessions stated the oath publicly in the Capitol but was not on the House floor. To ensure that all constitutional and House requirements are fulfilled, Congressman Sessions officially took the oath of office this afternoon from the House floor. Public records and votes will be adjusted accordingly,” she said. > [HuffPost - Breaking News, Politics, Entertainment & Opinion](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0)…\_n\_805423.html My understanding that the oath of office was constitutionally mandated came from a Huffington Post story; I will re-read that story in an attempt to better understand it. This forum is the IMHO forum and my HO concerning Republicans in not very high; I will admit of jumping on anything that will cast Republicans in a negative light. Even so, I don’t want to be guilty of posting inaccuracies. I’ll check it out. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/9 "2011-01-07T08:31:53Z")
Sorry, the quote given in my post #8 above was provided by **Duckster**. I neglected to give him his due credit. My apologies. (I refuse to say “my bad.” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/10 "2011-01-07T14:26:06Z")
The Constitution merely says that members must be “shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation” to support the Constitution. It does not specify where the oath must be given. It’s true that in an excess of caution, Sessions retook his oath, first taken elsewhere in the Capitol, on the House floor. It’s unlikely in the extreme that his first oath was defective, but this kind of overabundance of caution is similar to President [Obama’s do-over](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28780417/ns/politics-white_house/) of his oath of office. Unlike the Congress, the president’s oath is spelled out, word for word, in the Constitution, and yet no one seriously believed Obama’s first day as president was legally ineffective because of the flub. At least, I assumed at the time no one did. I guess I missed **LouisB** ’s outraged commentary on Obama’s arrogance in assuming the duties of the President before taking the correct oath. Or perhaps **LousiB** applies this exacting standard in only one direction. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/11 "2011-01-07T14:32:54Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > What will/did the Republicans accomplish by reading the constitution aloud accomplish? They like to pretend that they are more patriotic than the Democrats (instead of being borderline traitorous as they actually are). By making a big show of how patriotic they are they are trying to imply that the Democrats are not patriotic. Although as is being discussed up in GD they didn’t _actually_ read the whole thing, they left out the embarrassing, inconvenient parts about slavery and so on. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/12 "2011-01-07T14:45:00Z")
Democrats read it, too. Both sides believe in upholding the constitution – but they disagree on what weight to give some of the provisions. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/13 "2011-01-07T14:55:01Z")
I thought politicians liked to read it aloud so it would sink in less. That, and its more professional than sticking your fingers in your ears & yelling ‘La-La-La-La-La…!’ for 2 years. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/14 "2011-01-07T14:58:24Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > As I understand it, the cost involved in reading the Constitution during a session of congress is $1.1 million. although I wonder about the accuracy of that figure and the means used to arrive at it. I find it hard to believe there was any measurable cost with the possible exception of making extra copies of the constitution for the members to read from. It’s not like Representatives or staffers or anyone else would not have been paid if they weren’t there reading the Constitution aloud. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/15 "2011-01-07T15:19:40Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Democrats read it, too. Only because the Republicans were. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Both sides believe in upholding the constitution – but they disagree on what weight to give some of the provisions. The only part of the Constitution the Republicans care about is the Second Amendment, and the only reason they care about _that_ is because it serves as a means of undermining all the others. Both because it serves to distract people from the amendments that actually do some good, and because it give them ready access to a great many armed thugs. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/16 "2011-01-07T16:06:41Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > My understanding that the oath of office was constitutionally mandated came from a Huffington Post story; I will re-read that story in an attempt to better understand it. > > This forum is the IMHO forum and my HO concerning Republicans in not very high; I will admit of jumping on anything that will cast Republicans in a negative light. Even so, I don’t want to be guilty of posting inaccuracies. I’ll check it out. > [@LouisB](#): > > Sorry, the quote given in my post #8 above was provided by **Duckster**. I neglected to give him his due credit. My apologies. (I refuse to say “my bad.” > [@Bricker](#): > > I guess I missed **LouisB** ’s outraged commentary on Obama’s arrogance in assuming the duties of the President before taking the correct oath. > > Or perhaps **LousiB** applies this exacting standard in only one direction. Perhaps it’s because Tea Party candidates as well as other Republican candidates made such a big stink about the Constitution during the campaign. If you’re going to place yourself on such a high constitutional pedestal during the campaign, expect anyone and everyone to scrutinize you once you take office. Something about hypocrisy. ---
**Author:** ![Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diver)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/17 "2011-01-07T18:00:22Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > They like to pretend that they are more patriotic than the Democrats (instead of being borderline traitorous as they actually are). By making a big show of how patriotic they are they are trying to imply that the Democrats are not patriotic. Although as is being discussed up in GD they didn’t _actually_ read the whole thing, they left out the embarrassing, inconvenient parts about slavery and so on. Didn’t the Republicans pass the 13th amendment abolishing slavery over the objections of many Democrats? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/18 "2011-01-07T18:04:43Z")
> [@Diver](#): > > Didn’t the Republicans pass the 13th amendment abolishing slavery over the objections of many Democrats? And? How many of those eminent gentlemen are members of Congress today? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/19 "2011-01-07T18:11:51Z")
John McCain was a member then, but of the Senate. He is also the last man to have been a Senator in Rome. (Props to Jon Stewart) The cost of running the chamber of the House may be $1.1 million per day, but that doesn’t mean the cost of reading the constitution is $1.1 million. Having the classroom stand up and read may mean that the cannot conduct other business, but sometimes the chamber stands empty during session and any activity that keeps them from using that time to gut social security is time well wasted. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693/20 "2011-01-07T18:15:46Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > What will/did the Republicans accomplish by reading the constitution aloud accomplish? Cheap pandering to the base, especially to the angry and uninformed. Yeah, it cost money, so-to-speak, but still a lot cheaper than other forms of pandering might be. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-the-constitution/566693.md?page=2)