Speech #910321161

Speaker. we too are assembled today. representing the people of this Nation. and by the terms of the resolution which I have offered and have communicated to the Members. shall have occasion to assert the undoubted rights and liberties of Members of this House. and to vindicate those ancient rights and privileges of the House which have indeed been incorporated into the fundamental law of this free Nation. The parliamentary privileges with respect to speech and debate. asserted by the Parliament of England. obtained the force of law when enacted into the statutes of England in 1689. and passed into the common law of the United States. It is generally agreed that the common law of the United States has derived from the laws of England. and embraces applicable statutes of England enacted before the emigration of our ancestors. See. for example. Commonwealth v.