Congratulations to all New Hampshire college graduates. Well done! The world is yours to decide what you want to do with your life.
Congratulations to all those High School students who will be graduating in June. The rest of your life and what you do with it is your choice. As for work, always remember that you will never work a day in your life if you love what you are doing.
One of the perks of being a House Representative is going to the State House and taking the tour with students from my district. A few weeks ago students from Salisbury and Webster Elementary completed a tour, and on another day Danbury students took the tour. These students are great and are very knowledgeable. Thank you for allowing me to take the tour with you.
The current Legislative sessions will come to an end in June. Bills may be passed and may be signed by the governor, or the governor may allow a bill to become law without signature, or the governor may veto the bill. If the bill is vetoed, it will then at some point in time go before the Legislature and must have a two-thirds vote to override the veto. During the Legislative process, bills will either be passed by a committee, or inexpedient to legislate, or tabled, or indefinitely postponed or may be sent to interim study to name a few things that occur with bills.
On another subject, quite often I hear the word “democracy” used in conversations. What is a “democracy”? What is a “republic”? Is the United States of America a democracy or a republic? Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address described democracy in terms of government “Of the people, by the people, for the people.”
I found the following very interesting that describes the two types of democracy: “A liberal democracy is a representative democracy with rule of law, protection for individual liberties and rights, and limitations on the power of the elected representatives. An illiberal democracy is a representative democracy with weak or no limits on the power of the elected representatives to rule as they please.”
The simple definition of a republic is a form of government in which a state is ruled by representatives of the citizen body. Am I correct in assuming that we are really a republic rather than a democracy? If the answer is yes, why don’t we call our country a “republic”?
Another area that is very important is the New Hampshire Constitution. When an oath of office is administered, part of that oath is to uphold the New Hampshire Constitution, yet there are some in the New Hampshire House, and how they vote on a bill indicates that the vote was against the Constitution.
For example, HB 1204 relative to government agent entries into secured premises was OTPA. This bill enforced the Constitution Article 19 against search and seizure without a warrant as the Article states:
[Searches and Seizures Regulated.] “Every subject hath a right to be secure from all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his houses, his papers, and all his possessions. Therefore, all warrants to search suspected places, or arrest a person for examination or trial in prosecutions for criminal matters, are contrary to this right, if the cause or foundation of them be not previously supported by oath or affirmation; and if the order, in a warrant to a civil officer, to make search in suspected places, or to arrest one or more suspected persons or to seize their property, be not accompanied with a special designation of the persons or objects of search, arrest, or seizure; and no warrant ought to be issued; but in cases and with the formalities, prescribed by law. June 2, 1784. Amended 1792 to change the order of words.”
Yet the vote on HB 1204 was OTPA — yea 228 and nay 139. That means to me that 139 House members voted against the bill and therefore voted against the oath of office they swore to uphold the NH Constitution. We need to do better to support candidates of office that uphold the Constitution.
Have a great June. Representative Louise Andrus, 406 Raccoon Hill Road, Salisbury. 603 648-2510, l.a.andrus21@nullgmail.com.