Constitution Day at the Byrd Center

Distinguished scholar of the American Congress Norman J. Ornstein presented the 18th Annual Tom E. Moses Memorial Lecture on the United States Constitution. The lecture, entitled "Threats to American Democracy and the Constitution," was delivered at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. View the lecture below:

​Norman J. Ornstein is a senior fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he has been studying politics, elections, and the US Congress for more than four decades. Along with Thomas Mann and Michael Malbin, he created “Vital Statistics on Congress” in 1980, a go-to-reference guide that provides impartial data for congressional watchers, and is updated every two years. He is also a longtime participant of AEI’s Election Watch series and an adviser to the Continuity of Government Commission.

About the Moses Memorial Lecture

The Moses Memorial Lecture is named for the late Tom E. Moses, a longtime civil libertarian, activist, and founder of the Eastern Panhandle branch of the ACLU-WV.  The inaugural Moses Lecture was given by Senator Robert C. Byrd in 2005. You can view videos of some of our past Moses Memorial Lecture on the Byrd Center YouTube Channel >>

Past Constitution Day Speakers:

2005: Senator Robert C. Byrd
2006: Joseph Onek
2007: Anthony Williams
2008: Dr. Donald A. Ritchie
2009: David Cole
​2010: Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia and Bob Edgar
​2011: Richard Dreyfuss
2012: Dr. Michael Austin
2013: Dr. Raymond Smock
2014: Clay Risen
2015: Dr. Ralph Young
2016: Dr. Elizabeth Hinton
​2017: Ganesh Sitaraman
2018: Senator Tom Harkin
2019: Dr. Sophia Rosenfeld
​2020: Dr. Sabina Dent
​2021: Dr. Ray Smock
​2022: Dr. Norman J. Ornstein