The great great granddaughter of a slave knew exactly what section of the U.S. Constitution she wanted to read Wednesday: The 13th Amendment.
“Slavery prohibited,” read Rep. Angela Williams, D-Denver. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude … shall exist within the United States … .”
The Colorado House on Wednesday borrowed a page from the U.S. House of Representatives, with Colorado lawmakers reading the Constitution aloud. Of its 65 members, about 42 Colorado lawmakers signed up to read a section.
Some asked to read the Second Amendment, on the right to bear arms, others he 10th Amendment, on states’ rights. Rep. B.J. Nikkel, R-Loveland, asked for and got to recite the preamble, “We, the people of the United States, … .”
Williams, one of two black lawmakers in the General Assembly, wanted the 13th Amendment.
“That was very important to me,” she said.
Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, announced prior to the session that he wanted the Colorado House to read the U.S. Constituition.
He chose Liberty Day, celebrated every year on March 16, James Madison’s birthday. Liberty Day was founded by Andy McKean of Jefferson County, who was surprised that school kids had no idea why July 4 was a holiday. His effort to educate children about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence now is a national movement.
This year, for the first time in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congress read the full Constitution. The New York Times reported that was because of the influence of the Tea Party, “which helped send scores of new members to the chamber, and the new condition set by Republicans that each bill must cite the part of the Constitution that justifies its existence.”
A number of politicans, from Attorney General John Suthers to Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, joked that the legislature couldn’t possibly have read aloud Colorado’s oft-amended and lengthy constitution as there wouldn’t have been time.
Some lawmakers scoffed at the idea of reading the entire U.S. Constitution, but Williams wasn’t one of them. She said she had a copy of the Constitution at her desk and read along as her colleagues took turns reading different sections.
“I was very touched by it,” she said.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
