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2005 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 821
Directing the Joint Rules Committee to develop the plans for the 2006 Inaugural Ceremonies to be held at the Reconstructed Capitol in Williamsburg.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 4, 2005
Agreed to by the Senate, February 24, 2005

 

WHEREAS, for 81 formative years, from 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was the political, cultural, and educational center of what was then the largest, most populous, and most influential of the American colonies; and

WHEREAS, it was in Williamsburg that the fundamental concepts of our republic—responsible leadership, a sense of public service, self-government, and individual liberty—were nurtured under the leadership of patriots such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Mason, Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, Andrew Lewis, John Marshall, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Nelson, Jr.; and

WHEREAS, more than 100 million visitors have come to Williamsburg since 1932, among them have been world leaders including United States presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, James E. Carter, Jr., Ronald W. Reagan, William J. Clinton, and George W. Bush, during his tenure as Governor of Texas; and

WHEREAS, more than 100 heads of state and government have toured the site on their way to visit the White House, and various other officials, ministers, and celebrities have also visited; and

WHEREAS, the legislature first met at Williamsburg on April 21, 1704, when the Capitol on Duke of Gloucester Street was still under construction and the building was last used as a capitol on December 24, 1779, when the General Assembly adjourned to reconvene May 1, 1780 at the new capitol in Richmond; and

WHEREAS, when Virginia's General Assembly created Williamsburg in 1699, it ordered that its main street "in honor of his Highness William Duke of Gloucester shall for ever hereafter be called and known by the Name of Duke of Gloucester Street" and when President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited 275 years later to dedicate Duke of Gloucester Street's reconstruction, he said it "rightly can be called the most historic avenue in all America"; and

WHEREAS, the House of Delegates and the Senate are guests of Williamsburg every four years to commemorate the Colonial Capitol, and a special commemorative session of the House of Delegates and Senate is held in the Reconstructed Capitol in Williamsburg; and

WHEREAS, the inauguration of the Governor of Virginia is traditionally conducted during the Joint Assembly of the General Assembly, where the Speaker of the House of Delegates serves as President and the Clerk of the House of Delegates serves as the Clerk of the Joint Assembly assisted by the Clerk of the Senate of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, the current Capitol grounds in Richmond are under construction which may present unforeseen problems in holding a large public ceremony; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Rules Committee be directed to develop the plans for the 2006 Inaugural Ceremonies to be held at the Reconstructed Capitol in Williamsburg; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the General Assembly urge the citizens of the Commonwealth to recognize and become familiar with the storied history of Williamsburg.