Trent Lott: “Today marks the 105th time since 1789 that newly elected Senators have stood before this body's Presiding Officer at the…”

“Today marks the 105th time since 1789 that newly elected Senators have stood before this body's Presiding Officer at the start of a new Congress to pledge their support for the Constitution of the United States. I would like to take advantage of this special event in the life of each new Congress to comment briefly about the origins of the oath we take. There is a good deal of confusion about the oath and its origin. Some believe that the Constitution prescribes its specific text and that all Senators since 1789 have taken and signed the oath in the form that we know today. Neither is true. While the Constitution specifies a separate oath for the President, it leaves to Congress the responsibility of preparing an oath for its Members and all other Federal officeholders. The Oath Act of June 1, 1789, was the first legislation passed by the Senate and the first law signed by President George Washington. It prescribed the following simple oath: 'I _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States.' On June 4, 1789, Senate President John Adams administered that new oath to all Senators, setting a pattern that future Presiding Officers followed, without controversy, for the next 74 years.”