As America approaches its 250th birthday, I’ve spent some time thinking about the extraordinary endurance of our democracy. When the Founders met in Philadelphia for the constitutional convention, there was no guarantee that their experiment would succeed.

What the founder’s drafted was not a finished or perfect system. In fact, the American experiment has always assumed we will not agree on everything. The real expectation was that, even when we disagree, we would still work through our differences. As Americans, we all share a responsibility to keep this great experiment going.

The ideas that sparked it — freedom and opportunity — transcend far beyond our founding documents and are embedded in the sacrifice of each generation. As the son of a WWII Purple Heart Veteran, I learned early on that freedom is never free. My father instilled in me that the liberties we enjoy come at a cost and that preserving them is our responsibility to future generations of Americans.

The fabric of our founding remains evident today, especially when I travel across Northeast Ohio. You don’t have to look very hard to find what brings people together. Regardless of how they vote, people here care about many of the same basic things: safe neighborhoods, opportunities for their kids, and being there for one another.

In conversations across the district, I’m reminded that most people are not focused on politics the way it is often portrayed in Washington. While the headlines tend to emphasize division, day-to-day life in Northeast Ohio is defined more by common purpose than by conflict. Neighbors look out for one another. Local communities come together in times of need. And homes and businesses still fly the American flag.

While Ohio was not one of the original 13 colonies, the land and people of present-day Ohio have been part of the American experiment since the nation’s founding. From the American victory on Lake Erie during the War of 1812, to the brave conductors of the Underground Railroad and Station Hope, to President James Garfield’s front porch campaign in Mentor, Northeast Ohio has played a defining role in our country’s history. This history reminds us that our nation’s story has always been shaped by citizens who believed our democracy was worth serving, improving, and passing on.

As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, it is my hope that we can continue to foster positive, productive, and respectful dialogue as we as we carry the American experiment forward. One of my priorities in every session of Congress has been to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle because lasting solutions are built through cooperation, not division. As I said before, I believe there is far more uniting us than dividing us.

As we celebrate Independence Day and begin our nation’s 250th year, I hope we remember that the American experiment has never depended on perfect agreement, but that its preservation demands thoughtful engagement centered around our founding principles. So, this Fourth of July, put aside your red jerseys and your blue jerseys and put on the red, white, and blue.

A lifelong Ohioan, Dave Joyce has dedicated his life to family and public service. Dave has consistently been recognized as one of the most effective and bipartisan lawmakers in Washington by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. Elected to represent Ohio’s 14th Congressional District in 2012, he is currently serving his seventh term.