 Here including several thousand school children and several hundred members of the print and broadcast press corps And we'd like to thank each one of you for being here in just a moment senior Representatives of each of the three branches of government will make their ceremonial entrances Article one section one of the Constitution all legislative powers Here in granted shall be vested in a Congress Reverend Richard C. Halverson and Reverend James David Ford Let us pray God of our father Ladies and gentlemen the president of the United States and girls This I'm Ted Carpal. Welcome to a celebration of citizenship Over the last ten years Americans have been doing a lot of celebrating We've had national parties for the Declaration of Independence and the Statue of Liberty As well as for the Olympic Games But today here in Washington. There are no tall ships on the Potomac. No massive displays of flags No spectacular fireworks and for a good reason The men and women and boys and girls gathered here and in homes factories Offices and classrooms across the nation have assembled not merely to celebrate the Constitution They've come to start something to begin a national effort that requires dedication as well as celebration On this day 200 years ago the ink on the Constitution was still wet and there was considerable doubt that the Constitution would ever be approved by the then imperfect union of states Every word every phrase every sentence of every paragraph was examined by the delegates as if their lives depended on it because their lives did depend on it and that's as true now as it was then But for 200 years it has worked so well That most of us now take it for granted and that's what this celebration of citizenship is all about We're here today not simply to honor the Constitution, but to renew our understanding and appreciation of it I am honored to introduce your mistress of ceremonies Dr. Floretta McKenzie Thank you, Ted and welcome again everybody This is a star-spangled celebration But this time the fireworks are not on the outside They are inside the Constitution The Constitution doesn't make a gift of liberty It assumes that we the people were meant to be free and are determined to remain free and That we accept the responsibilities That freedom demands Miss Allison Porter and the United States Army band Thank you, Dr. McKenzie mr. President senator bird mr. Speaker mr. Chief Justice 200 years ago today and for a good many years before that our 13 states were in turmoil There was almost no domestic tranquility There were conflicts between the states over commercial matters There were conflicts between the states over boundaries Virginia and Maryland right near where we are today Had a serious quarrel over boundaries and navigation on the Chesapeake Bay and on the Potomac River There had been a rebellion in Massachusetts that history knows as Shea's rebellion And it was put down by troops of the Massachusetts military What happened after we won the revolution is what has happened to every victorious alliance in world history The victorious allies began to fall out George Washington in retirement down at Mount Vernon Despaired over the idea of Americans in conflict with other Americans Washington Madison Hamilton Franklin and others We're sure that we could never prosper and that we could never have security real security Without a new form of government Without a new form of government That would be stronger than the government that was provided by the articles of confederation Here is what they did about it And I will read to you What they wrote in the preamble of the constitution and I am reading from the Official pocket-sized copy The bicentennial commission's official copy Here's what they said We the people We the people of the united states In order to form a more perfect union Establish justice Ensure domestic tranquility Provide for the common defense Promote the general welfare And secure the blessings of liberty To ourselves And our prosperity Do ordain and establish this constitution For the united states of america This fellow americans is what we celebrate today From our experience, we know that when one branch of the government gets too much power Usually america gets hurt as a result Even the congress is divided every state has two senators But big states have more members in the house of representatives Than do the states with smaller population It is a compromise that works And this is what we do in the congress We compromise We look for positive solutions that work for all americans Above all, the constitution is a document of political expansion and liberty An umbrella of rights protecting The judicial branch, the authority to interpret the constitution They wrote, the judicial power of the united states shall be vested in one supreme court Ladies and gentlemen, the chief justice of the united states Mr president, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls The framers of our constitution wanted to make sure that the government they established was very different from that which they as colonists had experienced under king george the third of england They hit upon the idea of separating the powers of government into legislative executive and judicial And assigning each of those powers to a separate branch of the newly created federal government Each of those branches is represented here today The congress has the power to make laws, the president has the power to carry out the laws And the supreme court and other courts have the power to decide cases arising under those laws The reason that the framers did this was their desire that these three separate branches would check and balance one another And thus prevent the government from becoming too powerful Under this kind of system it sometimes takes longer for the government to do something Because congress and the president may not agree with one another Or because the courts may decide that a law is unconstitutional But this very sort of friction is itself a guarantee against arbitrary or ill considered actions by the government Separation of powers is as important now as it was 200 years ago Thank you chief justice renquist the constitution As a the constitution doesn't work just because of the words It works because we believe it It works because we make it work We make it work by caring by voting And by proving over and over again the real power of the constitution is us We the people Since article two of the constitution was written there have been 40 presidents This is a privilege for me to introduce the 40th president of the united states When george washington was elected as the first president of the united states The total population of the country was nearly four million Today there are over five million federal employees Times have changed But the basic premise of the constitution hasn't changed It's still our blueprint for freedom One of our more able statesmen and constitutional lawyers Daniel webster once wrote We may be tossed upon an ocean where we can see no land nor perhaps the sun or stars But there is a chart and a compass for us to study To consult and obey The chart is the constitution 200 years ago the very notion of free self-government Was a new idea But james madison a man who many call the father of the constitution Urged his fellow citizens not to oppose the idea Simply because it was new He argued that it was the glory of the american people That they were not blindly bound to the past But were willing to rely on their own good sense and experience In charting the future It's interesting that madison and others had to defend the constitution Because it was new Times have changed For over 200 years we've lived with freedom under law And perhaps we've become complacent about it We should never forget how rare and precious freedom is Active and informed citizens are vital to the effective functioning of our constitutional system All of us have an obligation To study the constitution and participate actively in the system of self-government that it establishes This is an obligation we owe not only to ourselves But to our children and their children And there is no better time than right now During the next four years of the bicentennial To rededicate ourselves to the constitutions and values it contains Let us never forget that the signers of the declaration of independence Acted with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence 100 years ago on the occasion of the centennial of the constitution another president grover cleveland accepted the privilege that i have been given here today To honor the constitution And his words are as true now as they were then He said when we look down upon 100 years and see the origin of our constitution When we contemplate all its trials and triumphs When we realize how completely The principles upon which it is based have met every national need and national peril How devoutly should we say with franklin God governs in the affairs of men And now stefany Damian Brian taiz Would you join me and everybody here? And everybody watching and listening throughout the land As we recite the words that we all know by heart 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 As i said earlier the ceremony here today wasn't meant to be a birthday party It was meant to start something A national reaffirmation of the constitution that will go on for the next four years It's a far-reaching plan what former chief justice berger calls A national history and civics lesson for all of us But what it really is i think is an invitation to all of us to get involved As young damian atkins said earlier the constitution doesn't work because of the words It works Because we have made it work over and over today In one way or another We've been asked to get involved But how can we begin What can we do right now? You would think there would be an easy answer to those questions There isn't each of us Must find an answer Of course, we should read the constitution Of course, we should vote in every election But what else We the people Must ask ourselves How can we improve our homes our work our schools our communities And our neighborhoods And then do something about it In short get involved volunteer The people who wrote the constitution did And look what they accomplished Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome mr. Wayne Newton and join him and the 300 voice choir from 13 washington area choral groups In singing god bless america God bless america Love to the prairies