What Is The Next Step For A Free People To Take?

[Floyd Martin Houdeshell Jr.]

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do."

American patriots, I am a husband and father of two boys. I’m an average American who loves our nation. I am proud of her history and the position she has risen to as the greatest nation in all the earth. I am, however, concerned that we are rapidly leaving behind the very ideals that have made our country great.

Although few outside the grass roots Tea Party movement are aware of the battle that rages, our Republic currently faces its most significant challenge ever -- to restore Constitutional Order and to reclaim the fundamental liberties which have been seized by those that would deprive us our freedom.

As our government continues to systematically plunder our People's wealth, ignore constitutional checks and balances and destroy the last vestiges of Freedom, our nation continues its dangerous descent into debt, decay and despotism.

The root cause is that the People, through ignorance, apathy and institutionalized tyranny, have allowed their servant government and those that benefit from its largesse to improperly seize power and to act without lawful authority in the violation of our founding documents, including our federal and state Constitutions.

The Right to Liberty and Freedom from unrestrained acts of Government has been recognized for a long period of time. Key historic milestones have been the Magna Carta, our Declaration of Independence and America's State and Federal Constitutions. However, there is one remaining milestone to be achieved before individuals can say, "We are Free": the ability of the individual to hold government officials accountable when they violate any of the provisions of the Constitution.

No matter the number and scope of individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution, they are meaningless unless, when violated, the individual is able to hold their government officials accountable. It is well settled in American jurisprudence that any right that is not enforceable is not a right.

It is self-evident then, that individual rights are eviscerated in the absence of the right of accountability. For that reason, constitutional scholars refer to the right to hold the government accountable as the "Capstone Right" -- the right that caps all the others.

While this is indeed a self-evident truth, the Founders also included a written guarantee of the Right of Accountability in the First Amendment, as an absolutely critical part of the overall balance of power between the People and government officials.

The Right of Accountability has been all but forgotten by the People, and before Americans can truly say, "The God who has given us Life has given us Liberty" - that is, before the enjoyment of Liberty can be said to be full and complete, one elusive milestone needs to be achieved: a clear and resounding demonstration of the individual's right to hold government officials accountable to the rest of the Constitution. The result will be an enormous shift of power from the Government back to the People where the ultimate power was meant to reside in the first place.

After the April Tea Parties and last weekend’s March on Washington D.C. in conjunction with events across our nation, many have asked, “What is the next step for a free people to take?” I have come here today to tell you about the Continental Congress which will convene in November of this year. This endeavor has been undertaken by individual American citizens who have come together and formed the We The People Organization. Our overall purpose is to expose, confront and correct our government’s operation outside the written, lawful authority and to promote a nationwide rekindling of civic vigilance to prevent future abuses and ensure the continuance of Liberty for our posterity.

The Continental Congress is an important formative event to the future of our nation's ability to maintain vigilance over our authorized government. The specified goal of the Continental Congress is to terminate and reverse the violations to The Constitution of The United States of America and to restore constitutional governance.

The members of We The People come from all walks of life, and our numbers are growing daily. We are truck drivers and active duty military personnel, we are welders and carpenters, doctors and attorneys, judges and police officers, schoolteachers and religious leaders. We are from every ethnic background, faith tradition, color and creed.

Simply stated – we are Americans.

And we share a Constitution and Bill of Rights that sets us apart as
one nation, under God.

The We The People organization includes two arms. The first is the Foundation for Constitutional Education and is educational in nature. The 2nd is the We The People Congress, the action arm, which can and does engage in direct political activity.

The We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education has been established to fulfill the need for popular education including awareness, and knowledge about the Declaration of Independence and every provision of the federal and state constitutions, about the sovereignty of the people whose will the constitutions are designed to express, and about the government they are meant to control through their constitutions.

The Foundation is designed to counteract the ignorance and apathy we see as hindering the development of citizen vigilance and the acceptance of popular sovereignty essential to the proper governance of our constitutional republic. The Foundation is an organization devoted to the expression of the Jeffersonian ideal of a way of life rooted in constitutionality and civic action.

The Foundation is a source of vital information and education, supportive funding and professional legal undertakings on behalf of situations and individuals suffering from non-constitutional governance, all aimed at the re-invigoration of constitutional constraints on government.

The We The People Congress has been established for the purpose of developing a constituency committed to a non-violent, mass-movement with the goal of achieving substantial reforms in the structure and process of government, through political activism.

The Congress is designed as an advocacy organization, to carry the message to the various legislative and administrative organizations of government, seeking to influence attitudes of the body politic and legislative actions. This is an organization separate from the Foundation, institutionally, but connected by a shared purpose.

The Congress will make it difficult for those currently wielding political and governmental power to continue in power with a "business as usual" approach and lead the people toward significant improvements in our system of governance. We recognize that the acknowledgment of popular sovereignty as a social and political force is a fundamental need.

The upcoming Continental Congress is being called for by The People, not to amend our Constitution, but to defend the one we now have. The Congress will convene on Wednesday morning, November 11th and continue through Saturday evening, November 21st

All proceedings will be broadcast live via the internet.

Fellow American patriots, I have come today to inform you that your government can not overpower you. You do not have to be continually force-fed. You as the sovereign American people hold your own fate in the palm of your hand. Within our nation patriots like these who have gathered today are waking up around you. Take courage from the fact that patriots from across America will stand shoulder to shoulder with you to uphold and defend the Constitution and to hold accountable those we elect who refuse to do the same. Let us never sacrifice our principals for anybody’s politics.

 

The grassroots resistance is massive, it is growing, it has momentum and it is changing the political landscape!

I began this speech with a quote by Edward Everett Hale. Indeed, I am only one, and truly, by the grace of God I will do what I can and should do.

But We are the People
and We are the rightful rulers of this nation
and We the People
are taking our country back!