A MEMORIAL

PROCLAIMING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2005, AS "LIBERTY DAY" IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

     WHEREAS, Wednesday, March 16, 2005, marks the two hundred fifty-fourth anniversary of the birth of the nation's fourth president, James Madison, the "father of the constitution"; and

     WHEREAS, the rights and liberties that Americans enjoy are guaranteed by the documents that the nation's founding fathers created: the declaration of independence and the United States constitution and the bill of rights; and

     WHEREAS, James Madison's written records of the debates in the federal convention of 1787, which were co-written by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, became known as the federalist papers and have endured as some of the best arguments for the nation's form of government; and

     WHEREAS, during his service in the United States house of representatives from 1789 to 1797, James Madison introduced the bill of rights to congress; and

     WHEREAS, it is altogether fitting that March 16, the birthday of the distinguished founding father, James Madison, serve as a reminder of Liberty Day, a celebration of the declaration of independence and the United States constitution, where the inalienable rights and liberties of Americans are enumerated; and

     WHEREAS, congress has passed a concurrent resolution requesting that Liberty Day be celebrated each year throughout the United States as a remembrance of both the freedom that Americans are given in the declaration of independence and the extraordinary rights and liberties that Americans are given in their constitution; and

     WHEREAS, the lion's clubs of New Mexico have printed booklets containing the declaration of independence and the United States constitution for distribution to students throughout the state;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that March 16, 2005 be proclaimed "Liberty Day".