SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 10

(By Senators Trump, Kessler, Unger, Nohe, D. Hall and Prezioso)

Designating the month of September every year as U. S. Constitution Month and encouraging the people of West Virginia to remember and study the extraordinary events of 1787, which culminated in the drafting of the U. S. Constitution at the convention in Philadelphia.

            Whereas, The U. S. Constitution established America’s national government and fundamental laws and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and presided over by George Washington. Under America’s first governing document, the Articles of Confederation, the national government was weak and states operated like independent countries. At the 1787 convention, delegates devised a plan for a stronger federal government with three branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial, together with a system of checks and balances to ensure no single branch would have too much power. The Bill of Rights, which are the first ten amendments to the Constitution guaranteeing basic individual protections such as freedom of speech and religion, became part of the Constitution in 1791. There have been a total of 27 constitutional amendments; and

            Whereas, As Benjamin Franklin said on the closing day of the convention in 1787, “I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a central government is necessary for us… I doubt too whether any other convention we can obtain may be able to make a better Constitution”. It is still the most remarkable document of its kind in the political history of mankind; therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

             That the Legislature hereby designates the month of September every year as U. S. Constitution Month and encourages the people of West Virginia to remember and study the extraordinary events of 1787, which culminated in the drafting of the U. S. Constitution at the convention in Philadelphia.