LAT: Mission to Mandate Teaching of Constitution Inserted Into Bill [View All]

[mountebank]

WASHINGTON — Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), promoting his lifelong passion for the U.S. Constitution, has inserted into a massive federal spending bill a requirement that schools devote at least part of a day each year to teaching about the document.

The provision would apply to all schools, elementary through college, that receive federal aid. Education groups worry that the provision could be the opening wedge in a campaign by Washington to influence what schools teach.

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Mary Kusler, senior legislative specialist for the American Assn. of School Administrators, said: "We think it's great that Congress really wants to make sure that every child understands the Constitution. But we hope that members of Congress will remember the Constitution itself when they make policy. And the 10th Amendment clearly states that education is a state's right."

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"The flag is a potent symbol of our nation, but this Constitution which I hold in my hand is the soul of the nation," he said. "Practically everything you do is made possible by or is guaranteed or is protected by this Constitution. It is the prism through which each act of our government should be examined and judged."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-constitution4dec04,1,7023145.story

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Why do measures like this bother me, even from beloved Sen. Byrd? I guess it's the notion that "everything I do is made possible by the Constitution." I prefer to believe that as a human I am endowed with certain inalienable rights, not just rights specifically granted to me by the Constitution and Bill of Rights, although those documents list some of the rights that are usually in danger of being taken away.