Speaker John Boehner pays tribute to Independence Day

Speaking from the floor of the Capitol Rotunda, Speaker of the House John Boehner gives testimony to the singularity of the American experience as he commemorates Independence Day. Said the Republican leader, “Though hard to imagine now, America was once the little guy.  We had no grand Capitol, no booming commerce, no one flag or currency of our own.  Our army, if you could call it that, was a rag-tag bunch of farmers and shopkeepers who wore homemade uniforms.  We were nothing more than the subjects of a ruler an ocean away."

“But percolating in the hearts and minds of our forefathers was a radical idea, never before tried… that individuals could, given freedom and liberty, govern themselves and live out their God-given potential.  These principles, once put to parchment, landed with seismic force and changed the course of human events."