AS ADOPTED BY SENATE, SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

senate resolution no.74

Senator Johnson, Bullock, Horn, Lucido, MacDonald, Moss, Polehanki and Santana offered the following resolution:

A resolution to commemorate September 11-17, 2019, as Michigan Patriot Week.

Whereas, The Michigan Legislature recognizes that understanding American history and our First Principles is indispensable to the survival of our republic as a free people. In great reverence to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Legislature also acknowledges that American citizens must take time to honor the First Principles, its founders, our founding documents, and the symbols of their history; and

Whereas, The events surrounding the Constitution of the United States of America by the delegates of the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787, not only have significance for every American, but are also honored in public schools across the nation on September 17th of each year, which is known as Constitution Day; and

Whereas, Revolution, the rule of law, social compact, equality, unalienable rights, and limited government are the First Principles upon which America was founded and flourishes; and

Whereas, Exceptional, visionary, and indispensable Americans such as Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, John Adams, John Marshall, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison founded and advanced the United States of America; and

Whereas, Key documents that embody America's First Principles and have advanced American liberty include the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the congressional resolution forwarding the Constitution to the states, Marbury v. Madison, the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the "I Have a Dream" speech; and

Whereas, The Bennington flag, the original Betsy Ross American flag, current American flag, Suffragist flag, Fort Sumter flag, Gadsden flag, United States Honor flag, and flag of the state of Michigan are fundamental physical symbols of American history and freedom that should be studied and remembered by every citizen; and

Whereas, We recognize that each generation needs to renew the spirit of America based on these First Principles, our historical figures, founding documents, and the symbols of America; and

Whereas, Citizens, schools, other educational institutions, government agencies, municipalities, as well as nonprofit, religious, labor, community, and business organizations are urged to recognize and participate in Patriot Week so that all may offer the reverence that is due to our free republic; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate, That we commemorate September 11-17, 2019, as Michigan Patriot Week which symbolically begins on September 11th and concludes on September 17th which is Constitution Day.