Sen. Tom Coburn concluded his final speech in the U.S. Senate with a somewhat emotion-laden appeal to his fellow Senate members to please remember the Constitution — that strict adherence to its principles is the only way to save the republic.
Most republics have crumbled, he said, The Blaze reported.
“Can we cheat history? Can we do something better than has been done in the past? I honestly believe we can,” he said in a C-SPAN2 video of his Senate floor address. “But I don’t believe we can if we continue to ignore the wisdom of our founding documents.”
Among his caveats: Less concern about pork barrel projects and more concern about upholding the Constitution.
There is nothing in the oath of office that speaks about “pork” for home districts, he said.
“Every member of the Senate takes the same oath,” Mr. Coburn said, reading the actual oath with emotion.
He went on, addressing his colleagues directly: “Your state is not mentioned one time in that oath. Your whole goal is to protect the United States of America, its Constitution and its liberties. It’s not to provide benefits for your state. That’s where we differ. That’s where my conflict with my colleagues has come. It’s nice to be able to do things for our state. But that isn’t in our charge. Our charge is to protect the future of our country by upholding the Constitution and ensuring the liberty that’s guaranteed there is protected and preserved.”
Mr. Coburn, who’s retiring to return to a life “as a citizen,” The Blaze reported, has spent 20 years in Congress, growing his reputation as a budget hawk and pork barrel spending critic in the process.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.