Lankford joins historic reading of entire U.S. Constitution

Thursday, January 6 in the nation’s capitol, members of the House of Representatives read the Constitution aloud. In all, 140 members participated in the reading. It was the first time the fundamental document of American governance had been publicly recited in the House.

U.S. Rep. James Lankford from Oklahoma’s Fifth Congressional District was one of the readers.

In response to a question from CapitolBeatOK, Lankford’s office noted he read Amendment 25, section 3, which reads as follows:

“Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration of the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as the Acting President.”

In a statement sent this afternoon to CapitolBeatOK, Lankford reflected:

“All too often, we have forgotten the vision the Founding Fathers laid out for this country and that is why today was so important. We need to get back to the basics as a government and this refresher course should remind everyone of the principles of freedom, liberty and limited government our country was built upon.

“It was an honor to take part in today’s historic reading. This was a great way to begin the 112th Congress and it is my hope that this text will guide me and my fellow members as we begin working for the American people.”