Ted Poe: “I think it is wise from time to time that we in this House reflect upon our heritage, who we are and where we get our…”

“I think it is wise from time to time that we in this House reflect upon our heritage, who we are and where we get our dignity as individuals in this country. As a former judge in Texas for over 22 years, I like to spend time in our schools, our elementaries, junior highs, high schools and even our law schools, discussing all aspects of the United States and our history. And I would often ask this question to the groups that I was talking to: ``Where do we, as Americans, get our rights?'' Sometimes asking that question would cause people some concern that made them somewhat uncomfortable, especially the elites in our law schools. I would ask those questions to not only law professors but justices on our courts throughout the fruited plain. But the answers would vary from the students. Some would say we get our rights from our parents. Others would say, well, we get our rights from the President. Even one student last week told me we get our rights from Harry Potter. But most of the kids that I would talk to and most of the professors I would talk to say, well, we get our rights as Americans from government. All of those answers, I submit to you, Mr. Speaker, are wrong because we don't get our rights from any of those entities. We talk about our rights, we claim we have rights, but we never talk about where we get them.”