Welcome Remarks Bill of Rights Day Naturalization Ceremony

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, and newest members of our American family, welcome to the National Archives.

I would like to thank the students from MacArthur High School who beautifully recited the Preamble to the Constitution, and Judge Boasberg [BO-z-berg] for administering the oath of citizenship.

25 of you took that oath - 25 of you from 25 different nationalities - all now proudly part of our American family.

233 years ago this Sunday, the first ten amendments to the new Constitution were ratified.

We can debate our system of government - certainly, it has both strengths and challenges. But we should come together on this day and commemorate the genius of those who drafted our Constitution and those amendments.

Never before had there been a large, diverse democratic republic like the United States of America. As a political scientist, I can tell you they faced an almost impossible task. 

They had to preserve the spirit of the American Revolution that had only ended four years earlier. That meant restricting the centralized authority of a national government and making sure that power continued to reside with the American people.

For that reason, the separation of powers was devised and created, which included checks and balances.

However, the Constitutional Convention delegates also had to construct a government that was energetic enough to act - to provide for the common defense, conduct foreign policy, and enforce the laws that were enacted.

And for that reason, the Framers created a strong executive, a legislature with numerous enumerated powers, an independent judiciary, and yes, a process to add amendments.

Many of those who signed the Constitution and supported those first ten amendments didn’t expect it would last more than a few generations. But they underestimated the flexibility and resilience inherent in the system they created.

Only seventy years after the Bill of Rights was ratified, Americans were tested with the Civil War. And yet, amidst such a turmoil, the Constitution prevailed! President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and set the path for a more free nation.

In January 2026, we will add that document, the Emancipation Proclamation, to permanent display here in the Rotunda. It will take its rightful place along that wall (point in direction) because it represents the continued refounding of our republic.

The expansion of rights to all Americans is possible because our Constitution empowers citizens to work together to form a more perfect union.  

We’ve just had a constitutionally prescribed democratic election to elect our 47th president.

In January, we will watch the peaceful transfer from one governing administration to another.

Although this is a normal, expected occurrence in the United States, a peaceful transfer of political power is an extraordinary occurrence in human history. We must not take it for granted as Americans.

As new citizens, you are now joining this ongoing democratic experiment.

Our Constitution and Bill of Rights rely on each of us to do our part. Please remember that as you pursue your happiness as an American.

As Pesident Roosevelt once said, “We Americans of today - all of us - we are characters in this living book of democracy. But we are also its author. It falls upon us now to say whether the chapters that are to come will tell a story of retreat or a story of continued advance.”

Let’s continue, together, to honor our Constitution, and our Bill of Rights, by making our contribution to that American story.

Now it’s my pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker, Lidia Bastianich [Bah-stE-ah-nitch].

Lidia is an Emmy Award-winning chef and TV host.

Born in 1947 in what is now Croatia, Lidia and her family were political refugees from communism.

After emigrating to the United States in 1958, Lidia began working in a bakery, and then a pizzeria, before opening her first restaurant in 1971.

Her culinary success and notoriety continued to expand and grow before she launched her own show on public television in 1998.

One show turned into many, for which she received an Emmy in 2013.

For decades, Lidia has been a central figure in America’s culinary landscape and the matriarch of a successful family operation with its roots in Italian cuisine.

This past June she was awarded a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for all she has done.

Please join me in welcoming Lidia Bastianich, and congratulations again to our new citizens!