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Edmon Low Library

2008: Mickey Edwards

Rule of Law

Each September, colleges and universities across the nation provide programming to promote awareness of the history of our Constitution and the laws by which we live. At OSU, the Library and political science department partner to feature a notable speaker for the university's Constitution Day celebration.

In 2008, OSU hosted Mickey Edwards, former Oklahoma Congressman and foreign affairs expert, for a talk titled "National Security and the Rule of Law."

Edwards discussed the compromise of providing adequate national security against those foreign and domestic while citizens retain their personal freedoms. He noted the special care that is required to protect legal rights, which are most important during times of emergency.

"It is when the risk of the people is greatest that they must retain the right to be heard," Edwards said. "Freedoms, once lost, are not easily regained."

Edwards, who held his position in Congress for Oklahoma's 5th district for 16 years, currently lectures at Princeton, writes weekly columns in the Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, and Los Angeles Times, and is a host of a weekly political commentary broadcast on National Public Radio.

While a member of Congress from 1977 to 1993, he was chairman of the Republican Policy Committee and a ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Foreign Operations.

Now, Edwards is director of several public policy and foreign affairs organizations. This background in foreign affairs and operations gives him particular insight into the "War on Terror" and how the Constitution and the citizens of the United States have been affected by new legislation like the "Patriot Act."