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The purpose of government as instituted is to
secure the rights of the people; their right to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If you look at that,
that is a guaranty for the right to life, the
right to liberty, the right to the pursuit of happiness.
It does not guarantee life or the pursuit of happiness.
I call your attention to the suggested preamble
or amendment. It says that the chief function and
purpose of government -- I am wondering what other purposes
there are — is to facilitate the enjoyment by all people
! of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It sounds
like a Roman hiliday. It sounds like it makes it very,
very easy.
There is another fundamental concept which I
think is important. We have kept as much of the graceful
language of the present preamble as we thought was
appropriate, and one of those phrases is the expressing of
our gratitude, our gratitude to God for our civil and re-
ligious liberties; not a pursuit or request or asking a
blessing, but an acknowledgement of our gratitude.
I therefore respectfully ask that you defeat