WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says the same arguments the Founding Fathers fought over during the creation of the United States are still raging today.

The comments came Wednesday night at the National Archives in Washington, which is celebrating the 225th anniversary of the Constitution this month.

Thomas says America’s founders argued over the limitations of the federal government’s reach and power.

The justice says that debate, in his words, “is embedded in the formation of this country.”

Thomas says that while the Constitution is not perfect, it belongs to all Americans and that he grew up believing that it was “perfectable.”

The Supreme Court begins its new term on the first Monday of October.