4th of July

Ralph Waldo Emerson was inspired to write, "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."  I believe our Founding Fathers were living their lives by the same sentiment. 

On July 2, 1776, during the American Revolution, the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution declaring the United States independent from Great Britain.  The decision prompted John Adams to write to his wife Abigail, "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

John Adams was only off by 2 days on his prediction.  After much debate and revision over the wording explaining the reason for the decision to separate, the Declaration of Independence was completed and signed July 4, 1776.  Thus making July the 4th the day Americans celebrate this great country's independence.

National Write Your Congressman would like to wish you a blessed and happy 4th of July.

Edmund Randolph - Founding Father

On May 29, 1787, Edmund Randolph introduced the Virginia Plan he and Madison had written to the Constitutional Convention.  It was the first time the idea of a new form of government was formally presented to the delegates by outlining the fifteen resolves that called for a national executive, judiciary, and legislature.

Randolph was not pleased with some of the additions and revisions to the Virginia Plan the delegates introduced and refused to sign the final document.  He later shocked anti-Federalists when he changed his mind making Virginia the 9th and final state needed to ratify the Constitution.  Patrick Henry accused him of only doing this because of a promised postion with the new government.  Randolph denied the accusation, but was named the United States first Attorney General right after Washington was elected.

50 Year Anniversary of the Peace Corps

On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued an Executive Order #10924, establishing the Peace Corps as a new agency within the Department of State.  Thousands of young Americans answered the call to duty by volunteering.  The agency, which was headed by President Kennedy's brother-in-law, R. Sargent Shriver, chose 750 volunteers to serve in 13 nations.  The goal was to promote peace and friendship through 1) helping peoples of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women in development efforts; 2) to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served; and 3) to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Today more than 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers are serving in over 70 countries.  Since 1961, more than 180,000 American have joined the Peace Corps and served in 134 nations.

Earned Freedom

"Our forefathers put their lives on the line to earn our freedom and frame our Representative Democracy.  Our nation's brave soldiers and veterans have been fighting to defend this American way of life for over 225 years.  I hope that no one takes our freedoms for granted, and that everyone takes the time to contact their Representative." -Congressman Tim Ryan, 17th Dist. Ohio

Feb. 23, 1945 U.S. Flag Hoisted on Iwo Jima

In early 1945, U.S. military command sought to gain control of the island of Iwo Jima in advance of the projected aerial campaign against the Japanese home islands.  Iwo Jima, 700 miles from Japan, was to be a base for fighter aircraft and an emergency landing site for bombers.  On Feb. 19, 1945, after three days of heavy naval and aerial bombardment, the first wave of U.S. Marines stormed onto Iwo Jima's shores.

The Japanese garrison numbered 22,000 heavily entrenched men.  The island was covered in intricate and deadly systems of underground tunnels, fortifications, and artillery.  During the next few days, the Marines advanced inch by inch under heavy fire from Japanese artillery and suffered suicidal charges from the Japanese infantry.  While Japanese kamikaze flyers slammed into the Allied naval fleet around Iwo Jima, the Marines continued their bloody advance across the island with remarkable endurance.  On February 23, the crest of the 550 foot Mount Suribachi was taken.  Joe Rosenthal, a photographer with the Associated Press took the now famous photo of 5 Marines and one Navy corpsman struggling to hoist the American flag.

Two other photos were taken that day.  The 3rd photo had 18 soldiers smiling and waving for the cameras.  Many of these men, including three of the six soldiers seen raising the flag in Rosenthal's Pulitzer Prize winning photo were killed before the conclusion of the Battle for Iwo Jima in late March.

Thank You to NWYC

"I would like to stress the importance of constituents communicating their feelings to their elected officials on important issues.  We are elected to serve the interests of the people, and hearing from them on a regular basis allows us to keep the wide variety of interests in mind.

I would like to thank the National Write Your Congressman for the years of outstanding work in connecting people with their elected officials.  This fine organization is helping to keep democracy and accountabliity alive in the United States, and we are indebted to their service.

It is an honor to represent the people of the Eighteenth Congressional District of Florida." -Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 18th District, Florida

President's Day

Presidents Day is ostensibly a time to celebrate the great men who helped shape the nation.

We once celebrated the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln separately, a honor befitting their  legacies. It’s universally accepted that their accomplishments merit unequal treatment in that regard. It was Richard Nixon who decided to replace Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays for the more generic "Presidents Day", which takes place on the third Monday in February.

George Washington, the father of our country, is best remembered for holding the militia together during the early years of the Revolutionary War. His time as president is sometimes considered an afterthought to his military escapades. But perhaps his most decisive triumph came in the summer of 1794, when as president he personally led the militia that put down the Whiskey Rebellion. Washington knew that failure to end the insurrection would render the Constitution — and the notion of Federal supremacy — impotent.  It was too important to delegate to others, so he donned his old uniform, saddled up, and marched through Western Pennsylvania, where he quickly scattered 7,000 disgruntled distillers.  How the course of history would have been different had he failed to squelch the uprising.

Abraham Lincoln called his decision to emancipate the slaves the defining act of his presidency and the 19th century.  He was wrong in one regard: it’s arguably the defining action in American history.  What’s often overlooked is how much Lincoln personally struggled with it.  While he found slavery morally contemptible, he didn’t believe the president had the constitutional power to abolish it. Moreover, he was concerned that emancipation would push the border-states into the Confederacy, a potentially lethal blow to the Union. But with the war going poorly, he came to realize that universal freedom and preserving the Union were inextricable; one not achievable without the other. Emancipation was a huge gamble, one that ultimately paid off.

One could argue that Ronald Reagan’s decision to call the Soviet Union an “Evil Empire” marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War.  In an instant, he had forever branded the longtime adversary as being on the wrong side of history, a fate that would reveal itself in the ensuing years. Many in the White House, including some of his closest aide, did not want Reagan to use the phrase.  They thought the term "impolitic and un-presidential", but Reagan felt otherwise. He was determined to end the notion of moral equivalency between the two systems, a concept that was gaining steam with the media elite.  With a few simple words he shattered that myth.

George Clymer - Founding Father

George Clymer was a man of wealth who literally risked his fortune on the revolution by exchanging his hard coin monies for the shaky Continental currency.  During the capture of Philadelphia his home was plundered and destroyed by the British

Clymer signed both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.  A man of unusual intellectual curiosity, he also served as an officer of the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Agricultural Society.  He was one of the first to advocate complete independence from Britain, and was called upon by the Continental Congress to serve as the first treasurer for the United Colonies.  He was given the almost impossible assignment of raising money to support the government's operations, chief of which was the new Continental Army.

In 1791, after a term in the First Congress, Clymer served as Federal Collector of the controversial tax on liquor which led to the Whiskey Rebellion.  He concluded his career by negotiating an equitable peace treaty between the United States and the Creek Tribe in Georgia.

Benjamin Rush - Founding Father

Benjamin Rush of Pennsylvania is one of the lesser known signers of the Declaration of Independence and Founding Fathers.  He was a crusader of political, social, and medical causes.  He was a prolific writer and founder in all three areas.  He signed the Declaration of Independence and supported the U.S. Constitution; he founded the first anti-slavery society and the first free medical clinic in America.  He wrote one of the first studies of mental illness and demonstrated his devotion to medicine by repeatedly risking his life caring for the sick during epidemics in Philadelphia.

Having studied on both sides of the Atlantic, Rush was on of the best educated physicians in America.  By the 1770s he had won a place in Philadelphia as a teacher and a patriot as well as a physician.  He was a friend of John Adams, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson, and like them, an ardent champion of independence.

James Wilson

"The best form of government which has ever been offered to the world," James Wilson called the U.S. Constitution, which he helped draft and later signed.  He also signed the Declaration of Independence and served as Associate Justice of the first U.S. Supreme Court.

Although born and educated in Scotland, Wilson became a leader of the patriots as a young Pennsylvania lawyer.  He studied law under John Dickinson in Philadelphia - and the two served in the Continental Congress together.  In 1774, before he was elected to Congress, Wilson wrote a carefully reasoned pamphlet, Considerations on ...the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament, which boldly concluded that Parliament had no authority over the Colonies.  In Congress he was one of three Pennsylvania members to vote for independence. -The Book of The Founding Fathers, Pg. 76,  By Vincent Wilson, Jr.

House of Representatives - "The Peoples' Body"

"When the Founding Fathers created the House of Representatives, they envisioned it as being the 'people's body.'  It was to be the chamber in the Congress where citizens could most directly influence the direction of their government.

James Madison once said, "public opinion sets bounds to every government and is the real sovereign in every free one."  Keeping that in mind, I will continue to keep close ear to my constituents' concerns." -Congressman Trent Franks, 2nd District, Arizona

Exercise Your Voice

"We live in a democracy, which functions best when there is free expression and exchange of ideas.  From free discussion and exchange, the best ideas or course of action will eventually be adopted." -Former Congressman, James T. Walsh, 25th Dist. New York.

What Does "Founding Father" Mean?

Does the term "founding father" apply to any person or group in American history who had some type of influence on the writing of the Constitution? What about those people like George Mason, Edmund Randolph and Elbridge Gerry who helped tremendously in the writing of the Constitution, but then refused to sign it because of philosophical differences? There were 70 individuals chosen to go to Philadelphia to attend the Constitutional Convention, 55 who attended most of the meetings and 39 who actually signed the Constitution. Of this last group, only 15 to 20 actually played an instrumental role in either the founding philosophy or the fight for ratification.

The Constitution was a consequence of several documents and the work of several men either directly or indirectly. Those who made significant intellectual contributions to the Constitution are considered to be the "founding fathers" of our country.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams are considered two of our founding fathers even though they were not at the Constitutional Convention. They were both serving in diplomatic positions at the time. Jefferson kept abreast of the proceedings in Philadelphia while ambassador to France by carrying on correspondence with James Madison. John Adams, as ambassador to Great Britain, wrote "Defense of the Constitution of the Government of the United States of America." He became the new country's first vice president. Other founding fathers include Thomas Paine, who was in England at the time of the meeting in Philadelphia, but the impact of "Common Sense" on the philosophy behind the writing of the Declaration of Independence is immeasurable. Patrick Henry was opposed to the idea of changing the Articles of Confederation, but once the agreement was made to add a bill of rights to the Constitution he fought hard for ratification in Virginia.

The term "framers" could be used to specify those who helped "craft" the Constitution, and "founding fathers" could be used in a broader sense to characterize those individuals who contributed to the development of independence and nationhood. However, the notion of a framer or a founding father is not something to be narrowly defined in a technical or legal sense, but may be a large mythic and philosophical idea. It sustains our vision of ourselves, inspiring our ongoing inquiries into our national self-identity. -"America's Legacy, The Foundation of Freedom" pg. 11

Founding Fathers Creation...by the people and for the people.

"The importance of constituent feedback is a top priority for my staff and I. All too often, Members of Congress and their staff become insulated from what is going on across the nation. I pride myself on being able to read and respond to a large amount of constituent requests, and although we may not always agree, it is important that my constituents know their opinion matters, and their concerns are not being properly considered.

Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. believe they have all the answers, but in reality it's their constituents back home who frequently have some of the best ideas. The reason is simple. The people of the United States, and my constituents, are the ones who work in the industries, teach in the schools, and protect our loved ones from harm, and more often than not they have unique insight of how proposed legislation will affect their jobs and families.

Our founding fathers created a government founded by the people and for the people, and with our government citizens participation is not only inherent, it is vitally important, and I am always happy to entertain the thoughts and suggestions of the American people."
-Congressman John Campbell (R) 48th Dist. California

Power from the people...

Would you agree that our precious freedoms are taken for granted by most citizens? Many people complain about what is wrong with our government but will not, or don't know how, to take constructive action to do anything about it. It has been said that if the United States ceases to be a world power, its demise will come from within. To keep that from happening, and to preserve our freedoms, we must fight for and insist upon maintaining the vision of our Founding Fathers.

We are living under a system of government that derives its powers from the people...from the bottom up rather than from the top down. It was first introduced in its basic form by a young delegate from Virginia by the name of James Madison. Madison is often called the "Father of the Constitution," and was the fourth President of the United States.

The Constitution and our Founding Fathers made it clear that the government must derive its power from the people. Unfortunately, this message is lost in our age of apathy, lobbies and special interest groups. That is why our work is so important. We fight to keep the power with the people as our Founding Fathers envisioned.
-Bill Witcher

"We must encourage..."

"We must encourage all Americans to write, call, fax and email their representatives in Congress to ensure that their voice is heard on Capitol Hill and across the nation and the world." - Representative Mike Rogers, (R) MI