HR 108
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 24, 2024
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
Blanca Pacheco, Chair
HR 108 (Schiavo) – As Introduced June 18, 2024
SUBJECT: The 4th of July.
SUMMARY: Recognizes and celebrates July 4, 2024, as the 248th anniversary of the birth of
our great nation, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Specifically, this
resolution makes the following legislative findings:
1) July 4, 2024, marks the 248th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence,
and by the adoption of that document formally titled, “The unanimous Declaration of the
thirteen United States of America”, the nation we today know as the United States of
America officially came into being, an occasion forever memorialized by President Abraham
Lincoln in the words of his Gettysburg Address as when “…our fathers brought forth upon
this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.”
2) On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee brought forth a resolution, which resolved that the
colonies should be “free and independent states...and that all political connection between
them and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved…." On June 8,
1776, Lee’s resolution was referred to a committee of the whole of the Continental Congress,
at which time they spent most of that day, as well as June 10, debating independence.
3) After several days of debate, a "Committee of Five," which included Thomas Jefferson of
Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R.
Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut, was charged with drafting a
declaration of independence for consideration by the Continental Congress.
4) On July 4, 1776, after further debate and changes to the committee document, the
Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence establishing the United States
of America; and, John Hancock that day affixed his signature, with 55 other delegates
representing the 13 colonies – now states of the newly created nation – signing the
declaration within the next several weeks.
5) Since its adoption and bold pronouncement more than two centuries ago, the Declaration of
Independence has inspired literally billions of persons around the world to pursue freedom in
their own nations, for themselves, and their loved ones. Americans must rededicate
themselves just as the drafters and signers of the Declaration of Independence did more than
two centuries ago.
6) On each July Fourth, it is both proper and fitting that the institutions of California
government, and all Californians, express heartfelt gratitude and indebtedness to those who
have served in the Armed Forces of the United States, and in particular, to those who have
suffered the injuries of battle and who have made the ultimate sacrifice in protecting freedom
and liberty around the world.
FISCAL EFFECT: This resolution is keyed non-fiscal by Legislative Counsel.
 HR 108
Page 2
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: Michael Erke / RLS. / (916) 319-2800