SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 12
(By Senators Unger, Hunter, White, Jenkins, Love, Rowe, Kessler,
Bowman, Boley, Sharpe, Ross, Caldwell, Fanning, McCabe, Prezioso,
Edgell, Snyder, Plymale, Minear and Weeks)
Designating the month of December, 2004, as Legislators Back to
School Month.
Whereas, West Virginia was created as a representative
democracy in which all governmental power is inherent in the people
who exercise that power through the legislative, executive and
judicial branches; and
Whereas, In recent years, citizen interest in government and
knowledge of the political system has declined in part due to a
weakening belief in, and a lack of understanding of, the virtues
and knowledge needed for a successful republican form of
government; and
Whereas, Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of
Independence, stated, "There is but one method of rendering a
republican form of government durable and that is by disseminating
the seeds of virtue and knowledge through every part of the state
by means of proper places and modes of education and this can be
done effectively only by the aid of the legislature"; and
Whereas, The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
has passed a resolution which states that the operation of the state legislatures and the roles of individual legislators are
often little understood by citizens and that public understanding
of the institutions and processes of the government is critical to
building public trust and confidence; and
Whereas, The NCSL resolution also states that state
legislatures need to bring about better understanding of the
concept of representative democracy and should emphasize the
importance of compromise and the difficulty of resolving competing
interests in a diverse society; and
Whereas, Civic education is a vital tool to promote greater
understanding of the legislative institution and the role of
legislators in representative democracy; and
Whereas, NCSL urges state legislatures to promote civic
education about representative democracy; and
Whereas, NCSL has established the America's Legislators Back
to School program, a national event in which state legislators
across the nation visit schools and classrooms to talk about the
legislature and to observe activities in the schools; therefore, be
it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature hereby designates the month of December,
2004, as America's Legislators Back to School Month; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature supports civic
education to promote greater understanding of the legislative institution and the role of legislators in a representative
democracy; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby
directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the National
Conference of State Legislatures.