Beef sizzling on the grill, laughter and conversation with friends and family by a bonfire, and fireworks booming in the night sky. Americans all over our great country are celebrating our nation’s independence. Throughout our history, the Fourth of July has offered us a chance to reflect on the things that bring us together. It stands as a reminder that our shared values are why we live in an exceptional nation.

This year is no different.

The fireworks celebrations from Boston, Massachusetts to Seattle, Washington to Seward, Nebraska, America’s Fourth of July City, show how the fabric that binds our nation together is stronger than any distance or disagreement that may appear to be pulling us apart. Through good times and bad, the belief that we have God-given rights has guided our country. America has been called the city on a hill, and our Declaration of Independence is what fuels the beacon of hope in a world filled with challenges and uncertainty.

Our founding document brings us together. It reminds us that the United States is a force for good, and its words give us direction as we work to make the world better.

No state has illustrated this more than Nebraska. 150 years ago, our state celebrated the first Independence Day as a full member of the Union. Our statehood helped the country take one step closer to fulfilling the principles our founders set out in the Declaration.

Nebraska was the first state admitted to the Union by Congress after the Civil War, but our admission was contested. President Johnson vetoed our entry. He disagreed with a “fundamental condition” of Nebraska statehood: that African-American men be allowed to vote and hold the same standing as their white counterparts.

A legislative battle soon followed. Fortunately, the forces for equality prevailed. Congress overrode Johnson’s veto, and on March 1, 1867, Nebraska became a state with its “fundamental condition” intact.

Our state joining the Union served as a pivotal moment for our country. Nebraska gave America a chance to be better—to take one more step toward creating the “more perfect Union” mentioned in the Constitution’s preamble.

With Nebraska statehood, America reached for a future more closely aligned with ideals we declared to be universal. Although there was, and still is, more work to be done, Nebraska’s star on the American flag serves as a piece of evidence to the world that Americans really do “hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Happy Independence Day! Please remember that our shared values will hold our communities together and remind us how lucky we are to live in the best nation on Earth.

Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.