Melvin Watt: “this is a copy of the Constitution of the United States. I want Members to know that in this body it is under siege.…”

“this is a copy of the Constitution of the United States. I want Members to know that in this body it is under siege. Every time our Speaker shows up here and punches a hole in his laminated Contract With America, we can be almost guaranteed that they are punching another hole in the Constitution of the United States. Last week, it was the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution that they punched a hole in systematically; before that, the fourth amendment, habeas corpus, and division of responsibility between the executive and legislative branch. I will be back here to tell Members every time they do it again. Do not be fooled when they punch that hole in the Contract With America. It is another notch, but it is another gap in the Constitution of the United States.”