LEADER JEFFRIES IN PHILADELPHIA: “WE ARE A COUNTRY OF CITIZENS, NOT SUBJECTS”

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, alongside Members of Congress and other leaders, delivered remarks at Independence National Historical Park to mark the birth of the United States as part of America250, the bipartisan national celebration of our nation's Semiquincentennial.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Governor Shapiro, Members of Congress, all those assembled.

It is a high honor and a distinct privilege to be marked present today at the birthplace of our democracy, where 250 years ago, the Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence, decreeing that all men are created equally and entitled to certain unalienable rights, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The Declaration of Independence formally severed us from the tyrannical reign of King George III, who the signatories accuse of obstructing the administration of justice, cutting off trade with the rest of the world, sending officers to harass the people, obstructing efforts to naturalize citizens and trying to render the military superior to civilian authority.

Independence Hall, right across the way, is the birthplace of the Constitution, where the Framers decided that the Congress would be separate and coequal, never subservient or coopted. So let us never forget that we don't work for any other branch of government. There are no kings in the United States of America. We work exclusively for the American people.

Indeed, the House was set up to be the institution that the Framers envisioned to be the closest to the people-to reflect the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations, the fears, the concerns, the anxieties, the life experiences and the passions of the people. James Madison once observed that the House should be in intimate sympathy with the people that we are privileged to represent. Intimate sympathy.

Let us use this moment to reflect on these principles and recommit to bringing them to life not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans. We're not a perfect nation, and America has indeed struggled at times, beginning with the horrors of chattel slavery and the oppression of Native Americans, to live up to our highest ideals, but the high-minded principles upon which this great country was born have served as an eternal lamppost for us to continue to strive and march toward a more perfect union.

America is an exceptional nation, and to this day, as President Lincoln once observed, we remain the last best hope on Earth. We are a country of citizens, not subjects. A nation of patriots, not patsies. And a republic whose fate will be determined by voters, not victims.

We must never abandon the principles that have brought us this far-liberty and justice for all, equal protection under the law, free and fair elections, government of the people by the people and for the people, the land of the free and the home of the brave. These are the values that define the best of who we are as a nation. Let us all recommit to them today so we can ensure that the next 250 years are even better than the first.

God bless all of you, God bless the Congress and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

Full event can be watched here.

###