Today is 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.  While tributes are going on around the country, we thought we would highlight the tribute done by the U.S. House. Rep. Virginia Foxx led the US House in its tribute to the Magna Carta on Friday.  Her entire speech is here.  Let me highlight a few paragraphs.  After reading portions of the Magna Carta, Rep. Foxx said the following:

Let me repeat those last few words, Mr. Speaker, "the law of the land.'' In those words, we see the idea that the law does not come from any individual person or government. To quote Daniel Hannan, who wrote a wonderful essay on the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta for The Wall Street Journal last month:  "It is immanent in the land itself, the common inheritance of the people living there.'' 

Mr. Speaker, the language may sound a little stilted, and folks may think, goodness, that doesn't sound like something we would say today, but it is so important for us to understand the direct link between  Magna Carta and the Revolution that occurred in this country in 1776.

Rep. Foxx points out that it is not just a history lesson though.  We must always be “attentive to the freedom we inherited."  

Today, I would like to acknowledge the debt of gratitude we owe to those rebel barons with grievances against their King, and I am reminded that we must always be attentive to the freedom we have  inherited.

Ronald Reagan said famously:

Freedom is not in our genes. It is only a generation away from being lost. It is something we have to cherish.

And that is a good reason to celebrate and remember the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.