A history lesson was re-taught on the floor of the House of Representatives this past Wednesday on who exactly signed the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland took to the floor to correct Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina for his incorrectness of who signed the historic document during our nation’s founding times. It is known that many of America’s founding fathers signed the Constitution such as Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and William Livingston, to name a few.
During a House floor debate on Wednesday over a bill that would alter criminal sentencing codes in Washington D.C., which was proposed by Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, Rep. Bishop made his error while wittingly trying to counter Rep. Raskin’s argument. In his counterstatement, Bishop quoted that the Constitution which “Thomas Jefferson” signed, will have the power to execute exclusive legislation in all cases, no matter the district. This error prompted Raskin to counter Bishop by delivering an impromptu history lesson in front of other representatives.
Raskin himself was a professor of constitutional law at Washington College of Law before his congressional election, which prompted him to respond to Bishop’s error, stating that Jefferson did not sign the Constitution whatsoever. Raskin further corrected Bishop by stating that Jefferson did however write the historical Declaration Of Independence. Raskin then argued that the GOP bill presented had contradicted a crucial factor of Jefferson’s document by “dictating” to the higher-ups in Washington how they should arrange their affairs concerning criminal law in America.
Rep. Donald argued that his proposed bill required that the government treat “adult criminals” as adults, as he quoted in which “like the rest of the country does”. Donalds’ bill was first introduced to the House in March after the council passed a public safety package that allowed for harsher consequences for crimes. The bill would change the eligibility of youth offenders from age 25 to 18.
