Back to Bill Details

HCON 117 IHRFS

April 18, 2007 May 9, 2007

Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia (for herself, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. WOLF, Mrs. DRAKE, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. FORBES,Received Mr. GOODE) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was and referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reformthe Judiciary

Commemorating the 400th Anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown.

Whereas the founding of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, the first permanent English colony in America, and the capital of Virginia for 92 years, has major significance in the history of the United States;

Whereas the Jamestown Settlement owed its survival in large measure to the compassion and aid of the Native people in its vicinity;

Whereas Native Virginia people substantially aided the Jamestown colonists with food and supplies at times that were crucial to their survival;

Whereas the Native people served as guides to geography and natural resources, crucial assistance in the Virginia colonists' exploration of the Chesapeake Region;

Whereas the Jamestown Settlement brought people from throughout the Atlantic Basin together to form a society that drew upon the strengths and characteristics of English, European, African, and Native American cultures;

Whereas the economic, political, religious, and social institutions that developed during the first 9 decades of the existence of Jamestown continue to have profound effects on the United States, particularly in English common law and language, cross cultural relationships, manufacturing, and economic structure and status;

Whereas the National Park Service, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation of the Commonwealth of Virginia collectively own and operate significant resources related to the early history of Jamestown;

Whereas, in 2000, Congress established the Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission to ensure a suitable national observance of the Jamestown 2007 anniversary, and Congress commends the Commission's hard work and dedication;

Whereas Congress reminds all Americans of the importance of their country's history and founding at Jamestown; and

Whereas the 2007 observance of the founding of Jamestown commemorates the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English colony in America: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress commemorates the 400th Anniversary of the founding of the colony Jamestown in 1607 and urges all Americans to honor this seminal event in our Nation's history.