DAR, mayor recognize Constitution Week
Examiner photo by Ana Cosino: Joining Navasota mayor Bert Miller as he signs the Constitution Week Proclamation are Marilyn Bettes (left) and Connie Clements. Back row (L-R): DAR Friends Cynthia Todd and Gilbert Moore, DAR members Carol Gessner, Genie Smith, Gerald Purcell, spouse of Laura Purcell who has been a member of the DAR since she was 18 years old.
The Constitution of the United States will turn 232 years old Sept. 17, 2019, and its signing is recognized by presidential proclamation each year. Sept. 17-23 is designated as Constitution Week and the Robert Raines Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NS-DAR) recognize it annually with a proclamation signed by Navasota mayor, Bert Miller.
Wednesday, Sept. 4, DAR members and friends joined Miller at City Hall as he signed a Constitution Week Proclamation recognizing the United States Constitution as “the guardian of our liberties” and as the document that “embodies the principles of limited government in a Republic dedicated to the rule by law.”
The proclamation invites all citizens to “reaffirm the ideals the Framers of the Constitution had in 1787 by vigilantly protecting the freedoms guaranteed to us through this guardian of our liberties.”
Teaching Constitution a congressional mandate
Constitution Day began in 1940 with congressional efforts to recognize attainment of citizenship through designations such as “I Am An American Day,” or “Citizenship Day.”
According to the National Constitution Center (NCC)…” Constitution Day became a national observance in 2004, when Senator Robert Byrd lobbied for a bill designating Sept. 17 as the day for citizens to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution and learn more about our founding document. He added the Constitution Day clause to his 2004 federal spending bill because he believed that all citizens should know about their rights as outlined in the Constitution. This clause mandates the teaching of the Constitution in schools that receive federal funds, as well as federal agencies.”
In response to Byrd’s legislation, the U.S. Department of Education gave notice in 2005 that schools receiving federal funding would be required to provide an educational program pertaining to the Constitution on Sept. 17.