“O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!” (applause)
Again, we’re thrilled to have you inside
the National Archives and this is of course the home of the Declaration of Independence.
It’s also the home of some extraordinary documents that really tell
the story of America.
The Declaration of Independence was safe until 2004, when the good treasure hunter
Nicholas Cage cleverly stole it during a party in this building. (laughing)
Please join me in welcoming Mr. Thomas Jefferson, Mr. John Adams, and if he can make it out here,
Dr. Ben Franklin, who is now three hundred and nine years old.
For suspending our own Legislatures
and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases…Boo!
Georgia! Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton - Huzzah!
(singing) America, America, America! (applause)
I’m here at the National Archives for the Fourth of July. It really is the jumping-off
point for the nation’s birthday. Where else would you want to be but right here?
The National Archives, the home of all the important documents for this country.
Happy Birthday America!
Well here, you indeed have those documents enshrined. So to actually be here to see the
spirit of independency being expressed here with everyone celebrating from the young and
the old, and to be near those actual documents is indeed perhaps the greatest honor of all.
The Declaration of Independence is a physical symbol of what holds us together, what it
means for us to be a country, as a nation, which you can tell absolutely out here on
the Fourth of July today. This is where it all started. Look around you, it’s incredible!
There are thousands of people, not all from the United States. You just walk down the street,
lots of different languages. But all around the world,
people know what the Fourth of July is.
Happy Birthday America from the National Archives and the Washford family reunion!!