06 LC 37
0089
House
Resolution 1493
By:
Representatives Byrd of the
20th,
Franklin of the
43rd,
Johnson of the
37th,
Lindsey of the
54th,
Keown of the
173rd,
and others
A
RESOLUTION
Remembering
the Constitution of the United States of America and designating September 17,
2006, as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day in Georgia; and for other
purposes.
WHEREAS,
in May of 1787, 55 of America's brightest statesmen and ablest and wisest
thinkers, all leaders in their respective states, men who understood the
principles of freedom and representative government, assembled together, many
believe, by divine Providence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they, against
great odds, created, through open debate and compromise, a document of law that
would literally change the world; and
WHEREAS,
on September 17, 1787, 39 brave and courageous men completed, then signed this
newly created document, the Constitution of the United States, at a time when 99
percent of the world's population was living under tyranny; and
WHEREAS,
this Constitution, upon ratification by all 13 states, after often bitter and
divisive debate, became the "Law of the Land," a Constitution unlike any other
Constitution ever written, established a government where the people were
sovereign, and became the Constitution which the Georgia General Assembly takes
an oath to defend; and
WHEREAS,
the Constitution of the United States has been and continues to be a "Beacon of
Hope for Freedom" for people throughout the world, drawing them to America in
unprecedented numbers; and
WHEREAS,
the Congress of the United States, in its wisdom, did establish, via Public Law
108-447, Section 111, and signed into law on December 8, 2004, by President
George W. Bush, language that created an annual "Constitution Day and
Citizenship Day" to emphasize the importance of the Constitution of the United
States to all Americans by providing for educational material on the
Constitution for all new federal employees, and further provides that on
September 17 of each year each educational institution throughout the United
States receiving federal funds shall hold an educational program on the
Constitution for the students served by such educational institution;
and
WHEREAS,
the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution for the
200th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution in 1787 commissioned the
filming of a video entitled "A More Perfect Union," that was filmed in
Williamsburg, Virginia, in the replica of Constitution Hall, with said video
later becoming the source of a Public Broadcast System television documentary;
and
WHEREAS,
said video is now available for use by all Georgia school systems to comply with
the provisions of Public Law 108-447, Section 111, to help educate all Georgia
students on how the Constitution of the United States was created under
conditions few Georgians today can possibly comprehend.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA that the General
Assembly hereby declares September 17, 2006, as Constitution Day and Citizenship
Day in Georgia.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the General Assembly hereby encourages all Georgia
school boards to consider using the video, "A More Perfect Union," as a means to
partially comply with the provisions of Public Law 108-447, Section 111, and to
more effectively educate all Georgia students about the powerful principles of
freedom embodied in the Constitution of the United States and about the wise
men, American's founding fathers, who through four long, hot months debated,
argued, and finally compromised in order to bring forth a Constitution of law
making all mankind free and equal, subject to the "Laws of Nature and Nature's
God."
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the General Assembly establishes Constitution Day and
Citizenship Day as an annual event, encouraging every citizen of Georgia,
especially its students, to read the United States Constitution on September 17
of each year and then offer a "Toast to the Constitution of the United States"
in reverent remembrance of America's unique document of freedom. A proposed
toast to the Constitution of the United States is: "A toast to American's
founding fathers, to those wise men raised up by God to create American's
foundational document of law, the Constitution of the United States of America,
a document so profound that it baffles dictators, so strong that it binds
together warring factions, so timely that it protects individual rights, so weak
that it protects the privacy of individuals from unwarranted intrusion, so
enlightening that it has freed millions from tyrants, and given hope to the
hopeless worldwide, to the Constitution of the United States of America and the
just principles from which it is created."