Constitution Week (2007)

Constitution Week

WHEREAS, on September 17, 1787, following seventeen weeks of vigorous debate and compromise, thirty-nine delegates from twelve states, including James Madison, George Washington and John Blair from Virginia, signed the United States Constitution, which ratified the form and function of our nation’s system of government; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution was written to uphold individual liberty and justice for all citizens of the United States, and these principles are reinforced in its first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights; and

WHEREAS, it is important that Americans understand the essential principles of the Constitution as a document resilient enough to survive for over 200 years, and for the role it has played in our nation’s beginnings and growth; and
  
WHEREAS, the 220th anniversary of this historic event allows us to reflect upon our rights and responsibilities as Americans and to celebrate the foresight demonstrated by the framers of the Constitution; and

WHEREAS, freedom of consciousness is a precious right, and instilled with the knowledge that vigilance is the eternal price of liberty, we commit ourselves to protecting the freedoms and principles of the United States Constitution for the sake of all Virginians and Americans, present and future;
             
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Timothy M. Kaine, do hereby recognize September 17-23, 2007 as CONSTITUTION WEEK in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.