Happy Fourth of July, folks! 

On the last day of the constitutional convention of 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked by a woman, "Mr. Franklin, what do we have, a republic or a monarchy?” Benjamin Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Many of you may have heard this story before. But what you may not know is who was the woman who asked the question. As Paul Harvey, who I use to listen to as child when I was with my Dad, would say, “and here's the rest of the story.”

The woman who asked the question was no ordinary woman by any means. In fact, she is one of the founders of our democracy - one of many women who are our Founders. Her name was Elizabeth Powell, a wealthy socialite in Philadelphia whose elegant townhouse became a place where the men and women who founded our democracy could talk about politics.

Together these men and women created the oldest constitution in the world [and shortest, a mere 4543 words], with a unified commitment to build a “More Perfect Union.” Today we are still striving to build a more perfect union. And we are making progress. Just this year, we now celebrate Juneteenth as a national holiday, the day in which we celebrate the end of slavery and the start of freedom for Black Americans across the country, because for so many Black Americans, the Fourth of July did not signify independence. Independence wouldn't come for almost another century.

Yet in spite of our progress, we must remember how much more we need to do and how fragile our democracy is. As President Ronald Reagan once said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” And we unfortunately saw firsthand on January 6th just how right he was. We watched as people fought to get inside the Capitol building to overturn our democracy, led by Donald Trump and his Big Lie that fueled the attack, and elected officials who have turned a blind eye to the actions of these traitors and insurrectionists.

Let’s be clear, after nearly 250 years of democracy and working to become "a more perfect Union,” all of us must fight to save our democracy from insurrectionists and traitors who are trying to overturn the will of the people. All of us must fight on to protect our fragile democracy. As Congressman John Lewis often said, “If not us, whom? If not now, when?”

This is our time to be patriots on the side of freedom. I hope you're with me.

Let us never forget what the Fourth of July truly means.

-- Harley

Harley Rouda served California's 48th district in Congress. In 2018, Harley defeated the 30-year incumbent Dana Rohrabacher in the very first political campaign of Harley's life. During his time in Congress, he's embraced common sense and values to tackle climate change, address deteriorating infrastructure, confront homelessness, and protect Social Security and Medicare. In 2022, Harley will be facing one of the toughest fights in the entire country, so he's depending on the support of grassroots individuals. If you want to support Harley's re-election, you can donate here. If you'd like to no longer receive emails from his campaign, you can  unsubscribe.

Harley Rouda for Congress
120 Newport Center Drive
Office 28
Newport Beach, CA 92660
United States

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