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1976/04/13 HJR670 Thomas Jefferson Day
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1976/04/13 HJR670 Thomas Jefferson Day
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The original documents are located in Box 43, folder "4/13/76 HJR670 Thomas Jefferson
Day" of the White House Records Office: Legislation Case Files at the Gerald R. Ford
Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald R. Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Exact duplicates within this folder were not digitized.
Digitized from Box 43 of the White House Records Office Legislation Case Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
APPROVED
92/81/18
APR 13 1976 13
THE WHITE HOUSE
ACTION
coremony APR & remarks 12:30pm Memorial
WASHINGTON
Last Day: April 13
April 12, 1976
aN Juffer
MEMORANDUM FOR
THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
JIM CANNON
SUBJECT:
H.J. Res. 670
Thomas Jefferson Day
payments
Attached for your consideration is H.J. Res. 670, sponsored
by Representative McClory, which authorizes and requests
that you proclaim April 13, 1976 as Thomas Jefferson Day.
Additional information is provided in OMB's enrolled bill
report at Tab A.
OMB, Jack Marsh, Max Friedersdorf, Counsel's Office (Lazarus)
Ted Marrs and I recommend approval of the enrolled resolution
and the attached proclamation which has been cleared by
the White House Editorial Office (Smith). OMB has no
objection to the proposed proclamation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
That you sign H.J. Res. 670 at Tab B.
That you sign the proclamation at Tab C.
NOTE:
"
The Proclamation "was not signed at the Jefferson memorial.
Huco symed at the w hite House later in The day on
4/13/76. (Tom Junes)
GERALD
.3
FORD
WTR
PRESIDENT
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE
UNITED
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
PROUTIVE
STATES
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
APR 7 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
Subject: Enrolled Resolution H.J. Res. 670 - Thomas
Jefferson Day
Sponsor - Rep. McClory (R) Illinois
Last Day for Action
Date in the enrolled resolution requires immediate action.
Purpose
Authorizes and requests that you proclaim April 13, 1976,
as "Thomas Jefferson Day," in honor of the birthday of
the third President.
Agency Recommendation
Office of Management and Budget
Approval
Discussion
The enrolled resolution would designate April 13, 1976,
as "Thomas Jefferson Day," in honor of the 233rd anniver-
sary of his birth. It also requests that you issue a
proclamation to that effect, calling upon the Nation to
honor the memory of the third President with appropriate
ceremonies and activities.
House floor debate on H.J. Res. 670 indicates that because
of President Jefferson's illustrious career -- including
his roles as author of the Declaration of Independence,
member of the Virginia House of Delegates, founder of the
University of Virginia, Governor of the Commonwealth,
U.S. Ambassador to France, Secretary of State, Vice
President and President -- the Members believed that
enactment of this measure would be a fitting way to honor
President Jefferson during this Bicentennial year.
FORD
GERALD
LIBRARY
2
No Executive branch agencies were asked to comment on
this legislation.
A proposed proclamation is attached for your considera-
tion. Attorneys in the Justice Department, who review
draft proclamations as to form and legality, have
informally advised us that the Department has no objection
to its issuance.
James m. Director Trey for
Legislative Reference
Attachments
BERALE R. FORD LIBRARY
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
April 8, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR:
JIM CAVANAUGH
FROM:
MAX L. FRIEDERSDORF m.g.
SUBJECT:
Enrolled Res. H. J. Res. 670 - Thomas Jefferson Day
The Office of Legislative Affairs concurs with the agencies
that the subject bill be signed.
Attachments
But m clory wants to
be presms for This signing
SEAL R. FORD
THE WHITE HOUSE
ACTION MEMORANDUM
WASHINGTON
LOG NO.:
Date: April 7
Time:
615pm
Jack Marsh
FOR ACTION:
CC (for information):
Robert Hartmann
Jim Cavanaugh
Ken Lazarus
Ed Schmults
Max Friedersdorf
FROM THE STAFF SECRETARY
DUE: Date:
April 8
Time: 300pm
SUBJECT:
4/8 8:00 am
Enrolled Res. H.J. Res 670 - Thomas Jefferson Day
ACTION REQUESTED:
For Necessary Action
For Your Recommendations
Prepare Agenda and Brief
Draft Reply
X
For Your Comments
Draft Remarks
REMARKS:
Please return to Judy Johnston, Ground Floor West Wing
4/8 - sent In Seven for researching nm
Revised edited version is attached.
1.8min 4/12/16
is
$
FORD
PLEASE ATTACH THIS COPY TO MATERIAL SUBMITTED.
LIBRARY
If you have any questions or if you anticipate a
James M. Cannon
delay in submitting the required material, please
For the President
telephone the Staff Secretary immediately.
THE WHITE HOUSE
ACTION MEMORANDUM
WASHINGTON
LOG NO.:
Date: April 7'
Time:
615pm
Jack Marsh
FOR ACTION:
CC (for information):
Robert Hartmann
Jim Cavanaugh
Ken Lazarus
Ed Schmults
Max Friedersdorf
Milt Milter
Ted Marrs
FROM THE STAFF SECRETARY
DUE: Date:
April 8
Time: 300pm
SUBJECT:
Enrolled Res. H.J. Res 670 - Thomas Jefferson Day
ACTION REQUESTED:
For Necessary Action
For Your Recommendations
Prepare Agenda and Brief
Draft Reply
X
For Your Comments
Draft Remarks
REMARKS:
Please return to Judy Johnston, Ground Floor West Wing
WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT JACK
MARCH AND TOD MARRS ARE. REWRITING,
I NUILL DEFER TO THOSE EXPERTS. Howover,
I AGREE THE PROCLAMATION SHOULD B2
REWRITTON.
was
PLEASE ATTACH THIS COPY TO MATERIAL SUBMITTED.
IS you have any questions or if you anticipate a
delay in submitting the required material, please
James M. Cannon
telephone the Staff Secretary immediately.
For the President
THE WHITE HOUSE
7
ACTION MEMORANDUM
WASHINGTON
LOG NO.:
Date: April 7
Time:
615pm
Jack Marsh
FOR ACTION:
cc (for information):
Robert Hartmann
Jim Cavanaugh
Ken Lazarus
Ed Schmults
Max Friedersdorf
FROM THE STAFF SECRETARY
DUE: Date:
April 8
Time: 300pm
SUBJECT:
Enrolled Res. H.J. Res 670 - Thomas Jefferson Day
ACTION REQUESTED:
For Necessary Action
For Your Recommendations
Prepare Agenda and Brief
Draft Reply
X
For Your Comments
Draft Remarks
REMARKS:
Please return to Judy Johnston, Ground Floor West Wing
No objection -- Ken Lazarus 4/8/76
PLEASE ATTACH THIS COPY TO MATERIAL SUBMITTED.
If you have any questions or if you anticipate a
James M. Cannon
delay in submitting the required material, please
For the President
telephone the Staff Secretary immediately.
THE WHITE HOUSE
ACTION MEMORANDUM
WASHINGTON
LOG NO.:
Date: April 7
Time:
615pm
Receiving
Jack Marsh
FOR ACTION:
cc (for information):
Robert Hartmann
Jim Cavanaugh
Ken Lazarus an
Ed Schmults
Max Friedersdorful
Milt Milter as as
FROM THE STAFF SECRETARY
Ted Marrs' rewriting
DUE: Date: April 8
Time: 300pm
SUBJECT:
Enrolled Res. H.J. Res 670 - Thomas Jefferson Day
ACTION REQUESTED:
For Necessary Action
For Your Recommendations
Prepare Agenda and Brief
Draft Reply
X
For Your Comments
Draft Remarks
REMARKS:
Please return to Judy Johnston, Ground Floor West Wing
Cannon 4/12 600 pm
is
FORD
PLEASE ATTACH THIS COPY TO MATERIAL SUBMITTED.
STATE
If you have any questions or if you anticipate a
delay in submitting the required material, please
James M. Cannon
telephone the Staff Secretary immediately.
For the President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 13, 1976
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
THE WHITE HOUSE
REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT
UPON SIGNING
S. 2920 AND H.J. RES 670
TWO BILLS HONORING THOMAS JEFFERSON
AND
COMMEMORATING THE BIRTH OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
THE THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL
12:20 P.M. EST
Secretary Kleppe, Captain Barnes, distinguished
guests -- including the fine choir from the College of
William and Mary, Thomas Jefferson's alma mater -- ladies
and gentlemen:
Today we pay tribute to Thomas Jefferson. Two
hundred years of American history have produced no man whose
achievements are better known. In his own epitaph he cited
just three -- author of the Declaration of American Indepen-
dence, author of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom
and father of the University of Virginia.
Had those been only his basic accomplishment, he
would have earned his place in history, and our unyielding
gratitude, but we know Jefferson in other ways as well. We know
the character of the man who embodied our national heritage
by encompassing the spirit of pioneer. and aristocrat, American
and world citizen, the values of nature and the values of
civilization.
In politics, we know him as a lawyer and as a legis-
lator, as a member of the Continental Congress, Ambassador
to France, our nation's third President, and its first
Secretary of State. In our national life, we know him as a
scientist and agronomist, as an artist, architect and
inventor.
Thomas Jefferson's achievements range from our
decimal system of coinage to the great area of our nation
itself, which he doubled through the Louisiana Purchase.
But, Thomas Jefferson' contributions to our nation's history
is far, far more than the sum of these diverse accomplish-
ments. The very range of his interests has heightened
his impact on later generations.
MORE
is
&
FORD
Page 2
It is a quirk of history that Thomas Jefferson
and John Adams, both signers of the Declaration of Independence,
died on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day of its adoption.
John Adams last words were "Jefferson still lives." History
shows Adams was wrong because Jefferson had died a mere five
hours earlier, but history also has confirmed Adams words
because Thomas Jefferson lives in each of us.
We are all his successors, and it is up to us, not
history, to see that Jefferson's faith survives. Great
citizens and their great thoughts are not just for their
own time, but forever. Jefferson's true importance lies in
the fact that he continues to speak of the American exper-
ience.
In every generation, Americans have turned to
Jefferson for comfort and inspiration. They have found new
meanings, often conflicting meanings, in his words. In
their search for Jefferson's spirit, Americans have sought
themselves. To Abraham Lincoln, the principles of Jefferson
were the definitions and axioms of free society, a society
he was struggling to preserve, and Lincoln, the Great
Emancipator, gave those principles new significance.
Three generations later, another great American
leader, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, locked in another war
for freedom, dedicated this memorial as a shrine to freedom.
On the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth, he called for
a commitment to Jefferson's cause not by words alone, but
by sacrifice. In this 200th year of the nation Jefferson
helped to found, it seems our America has changed so much
that when we compare it with Jefferson's America, the
differences are more striking than the similarities.
We are no longer a young, isolated, agricultural
nation but an industrial giant in a nuclear age. Thomas
Jefferson would have been the first to recognize that
different times demands different policies. He stressed
that the earth belongs always to the living generation. In
our Bicentennial year, we turn once again to Jefferson's
words and find them surprisingly modern.
Jefferson's principle of limited Government,
his concern about excessive centralization of Governmental
power at the expense of State and local responsibility,
and individual freedom are as much a part of the debate of
1976 as they were in 1776.
I believe that in this debate the wisdom and the
philosophy of Jefferson will prevail. We find he believed
that not every difference of opinion is a difference of
principle and that he tolerated error in the confidence that
truth would triumph.
MORE
Page 3
Jefferson was a fervent believer in freedom of
the press. Although harshly attacked and often vilified,
he maintained an unfettered press was essential to American
freedom. We find the meaning of democracy in his immortal
words, that "Though the will of the majority is in all
cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reason-
able, that the minority possess their equal rights, which
equal laws must protect."
We find he put his trust in the people whom he
believed to be basically moderate, patriotic and freedom-
loving, and we find above all else his love for freedom
and independence. Today, we recognize this in two
symbolic gestures.
Jefferson's belief in the freedom and independence
of the human mind we honor today by an Act of Congress
which names one building of the Library of Congress after
him, and Jefferson's belief in the freedom and independence
of the American people we honor today by an Act of Congres
which designates today as Thomas Jefferson Day.
I believe as we move into our third century of
independence there will be an even greater emphasis by our
people to find ways and means to meet our needs while
limiting the role of Government in the classical Jefferson
sense. I see the third century of American independence
as a century of individualism.
I see it as a century of personal achievement
and fulfillment for all Americans. Let us honor Thomas
Jefferson this year and throughout the the next century
of our independence by weaving into our national life the
qualities, the talents and the ideals which were the warp
and woof of his.
Let us practice the responsible individualism
and thereby pay tribute to the man we commemorate here.
Let us dedicate ourselves to achievement so that we may
make this country what it has the potential to be. Let
us maintain for America its rightful place of leadership
in the councils of nations of the world.
Let us extend the boundaries of human freedom
here at home and beyond our shores. Let us accept and
discharge the responsibilities as a people upon whom
providence has bestowed so much. Let us be enlightened
as a nation with appreciation for learning, for reason
and for justice for all our people.
In this way, my fellow Americans, we shall pay
honor to the man from Monticello.
MORE
Page 4
It is now my honor to sign two pieces of legis-
lation relating to Thomas Jefferson. I would like to ask
the Members of Congress present to join me at the signing
table.
It is now my pleasure to sign House Joint Reso-
lution 670, designating April 13 as Thomas Jefferson
Day. Representative Bob McClory was the principal sponsor,
and so as I sign this, I will give him this pen and we will
distribute the others.
Now it is my honor to sign S. 2920, the legis-
lation which officially designates the Library of Congress
Annex as the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building.
I think on this occasion it would be appropriate to give
this pen to the senior Senator from Virginia, the Honorable
Harry Byrd.
Thank you.
END
(AT 12:32 P.M. EST)
94TH CONGRESS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
REPORT
2d Session
No. 94-979
THOMAS JEFFERSON DAY
MARCH 30, 1976.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed
Mrs. SCHROEDER, from the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service,
submitted the following
REPORT
[To accompany H.J. Res 670]
The Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, to whom was re-
ferred the joint resoution (H.J. Res. 670) to designate April 13, 1976,
as "Thomas Jefferson Day," having considered the same, report favor-
ably thereon without amendment and recommend that the joint resolu-
tion do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of House Joint Resolution 670 is to designate April 13,
1976, as "Thomas Jefferson Day."
COMMITTEE ACTION
The Post Office and Civil Service Committee, by unanimous voice
vote, ordered House Joint Resolution 670 reported on March 18, 1976.
Pursuant to the committee policy on commemorative legislation the
sponsor of the resolution obtained the support of a majority of the
Members of the House for this bill.
JUSTIFICATION
The justification for the enactment of this joint resolution proclaim-
ing April 13, 1976, as "Thomas Jefferson Day," needs no explanation.
He was, in his own words:
Author of the Declaration of Independence;
Author of the Virginia Statutes of Religious Freedom;
Founder of the University of Virginia.
April 13, 1976, will be the 233d anniversary of his birth.
COST
No cost would be incurred by the enactment of this legislation.
57-006
2
COMPLIANCE WITH CLAUSE 2(1) (3) OF RULE XI
With respect to the requirement of clause 2(1) (3) of rule XI of the
Rules of the House of Representatives-
(A) The Subcommittee on Census and Population is vested
under the Committee Rules with legislative and oversight juris-
diction and responsibility over the subject matter of House Joint
Resolution 670 and made no specific findings and recommenda-
tions in connection with its oversight responsibilities on this
resolution;
(B) The measure does not provide new budget authority or new
increased tax expenditures within the meaning of section 3 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and thus a statement required
by section 308 (a) of that act is not necessary;
(C) No estimate or comparison of costs has been received by
the committee from the Director of the Congressional Budget Of-
fice, pursuant to section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974: and
(D) The committee has received no report from the Committee
on Government Operations of oversight findings and recommenda-
tions arrived at pursuant to clause 2(b) (2) of rule XI.
INFLATIONARY IMPACT STATEMENT
Pursuant to clause 2(1) (4) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the committee has concluded that since no costs will be
incurred under House Joint Resolution 670, no inflationary impact on
prices and costs in the operation of the national economy will occur.
H.R. 979
H. J. Res. 670
Rinety-fourth Congress of the United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the nineteenth day of January,
one thousand nine hundred and seventy-six
Joint Resolution
To designate April 13, 1976, as "Thomas Jefferson Day".
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That April 13, 1976, the
birthday of Thomas Jefferson, is designated as "Thomas Jefferson
Day", and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proc-
lamation calling for the observance of such day with appropriate
ceremonies and activities.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.
April 6, 1976
Dear Mr. Director:
The following bill was received at the White
House on April 6th:
H.J. Res. 670
Please let the President have reports and
recommendations as to the approval of this
bill as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Robert D. Linder
Chief Executive Clerk
The Honorable James T. Lynn
Director
Office of Management and Budget
Washington, D. C.