On the recordApril 4, 2017
our founders knew that ``while history does not repeat, it does rhyme.'' That is why they mined the politics of ancient Greece and Rome for lessons about the promise and the perils of self-government. In their wisdom, they placed those lessons at the heart of the American political experiment. Two hundred thirty years later, that experiment has exceeded their wildest hopes, in no small part because generation after generation of Americans--including elected officials, including Members of this body--understood that our government is far more than the sum of our laws or the letter of our Constitution. Our system is also held together by rules, written and unwritten, that help elected officials resolve their differences without unleashing a downward spiral of recrimination that could endanger the Republic itself. They understood, for example, that while civility, compromise, and cooperation are not required by law, laws cannot pass without them. They recognized that while the majority may have the power to rule on its own, it should not trample over the minority. They understood that, at some point, partisanship should give way to patriotism. Throughout history, including moments far more difficult than our own, these principles were the quiet guardrails of our politics, keeping dysfunction at bay. But in recent years, we have begun tearing these guardrails down, and in doing so, we risk the revenge of history by ignoring it.…
