Government’s Mission Statement:
The Constitution
by Senator Brent Hill
The American Constitution is, so far as I can see, the most wonderful word ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.
--William E. Gladstone
A few years ago we went through the process of trying to formulate a mission statement for our accounting firm. After all, everything and everybody is supposed to have a mission statement now. I see them on the walls of universities and in the recruiting brochures of every large company. Well, we completed our mission statement and taped it to the wall in the rest room. You can imagine the positive feedback we received in the form of graffiti and one-liners penned on our mission statement.
Since serving in the state legislature, I have become even more convinced that if ever there were an organization that needed a mission statement, it would be our government. What is the purpose and objective of government? What is its reason for being? What is its mission? The mission of our federal government is outlined in the document by which it was created: The Constitution of the United States:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
We the People
The first phrase of the Preamble states the source of the Constitution’s authority: The People. The Constitution is established and ordained by the people. The government derives its power and authority from the people, not the other way around. The Founding Fathers were adamant that sovereignty lies in the people themselves as they expressed in the Declaration of Independence: "To secure these rights, [life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness] governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Balance of Power
The Constitution consists of seven articles. The first three establish the three branches of government: The legislative, the executive, and the judicial. Each branch is independent of the other providing a means of checks and balances. All of this was by design to limit and control the power of any single individual or group of individuals over the people.
Article IV describes the relation of the states to each other and to the federal government. It outlines some of the rights of the states, particularly every state’s right to a republican form of government.
The fifth article defines the intentionally difficult process for amending the Constitution. Article VI mentions a number of issues, including the supremacy of federal law over state law when there is a conflict. Finally, Article VII explains the procedure for ratifying the Constitution.
What a mission statement! The Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard. It is a standard of liberty, of opportunity, of equality. It is the wonder and admiration of all the world. May freedom be cherished in each heart as we dedicate ourselves to defending the Constitution of this nation.