SENATE BILL NO. 1074
A bill to designate the period beginning on September
11 through September 17 of each year as Patriot Week in this state.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 1. (1) The
legislature recognizes that understanding American history and America's First
Principles are 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
acknowledges that American citizens must take time to honor the First
Principles, founders, documents, and symbols of their history. The events that
led to the signing of the Constitution of the United States of America by the
delegates of the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787, have
significance for every American and are honored in public schools across the
nation on September 17 of each year as Constitution Day. Revolution, the rule
of law, the social compact, equality, unalienable rights, and limited
government are the First Principles upon which America was founded and
flourishes. 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. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the
Congressional resolution forwarding the Constitution to the states, Marbury v
Madison, Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, the Gettysburg
Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the I Have A Dream speech are key
documents that embody America's First Principles and have advanced American
liberty. The Bennington flag, the original Betsy Ross American flag, the
current American flag, the Suffragist flag, the Fort Sumter flag, the Gadsden
flag, and the flag of the state of Michigan are key physical symbols of
American history and freedom that should be studied and remembered by each
American. Recognizing that each generation needs to renew the spirit of America
based on America's First Principles, key historical figures, founding
documents, and symbols, the legislature declares that the period beginning on
September 11 through September 17 of each year shall be known as "Patriot
Week" that symbolically begins on September 11 and concludes on September
17, Constitution Day.
(2) The legislature encourages citizens, schools and
other educational institutions, government agencies, municipalities, and
nonprofit, religious, labor, community, and business organizations to recognize
and participate in Patriot Week by honoring and celebrating the First
Principles, key historical figures, founding documents, and symbols of America
to renew the spirit of America.
