WATCH: Arizona Reps. Trent Franks and Paul Gosar's Parts In Constitution Reading

Yesterday, we posted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' (D-CD7) part in the reading of the U.S. Constitution on the floor of the House of Representatives, and noted that we did not know if anyone else from Arizona's delegation had participated; we had searched Google, Reps' Twitter feeds, and other sites.  (Giffords' office notified us of the clip.)

Today, we searched the C-Span site for the rest of the speakers and found that Trent Franks (R-CD2) and Paul Gosar (R-CD1) were the only other members from Arizona to participate.  Here are their clips:

Franks helped set up the reading:


Transcript of Franks' comment:

"Mr. Speaker, in a few moments, the United States Constitution will be read for the first time in a long time in this Chamber. And I, for one, Mr. Speaker, am glad to see this welcomed day come.

I know there are those that will dismiss it as symbolic. But I remember the words of Daniel Webster when he said, ``Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6,000 years may never happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.'' Mr. Speaker, I hope, as we go forward in this new Congress, that we will all hold Mr. Webster's words in our hearts."

Rep. Gosar had the honor of reading the last sentence of the 14th Amendment, and then was asked to also read the first sentence of the 15th Amendment - the one that forbids discrimination based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" with regards to the right to vote.




(Rep. Giffords read the 1st Amenment.)



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