CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

House Resolution
No. 88

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk-Silva

February 25, 2026

Relative to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


HR 88, as introduced, Quirk-Silva.
WHEREAS, On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming to the world that all people are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, and that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; those words have ignited the imaginations of people and nations across the centuries; and
WHEREAS, On July 4, 2026, the United States will celebrate its 250th anniversary of independence, commemorating a quarter of a millennium of self-governance, democratic ideals, and the enduring promise of a more perfect Union; and
WHEREAS, The State of California, admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850, as the 31st state, has for more than 175 years embodied the great promise of American possibility, serving as a beacon of innovation, diversity, cultural vitality, and the indomitable spirit that defines American character; and
WHEREAS, California is home to over 39,000,000 people, representing virtually every nation, culture, language, and tradition on earth, making it one of the most extraordinary expressions of the American experiment in pluralistic democracy; and
WHEREAS, The prosperity and strength of the United States was built upon the labor, genius, and sacrifice of those whose names were long absent from its history books, including the dispossessed, the immigrant, and the worker, and from the fields of California to the factories of the industrial age, people from all over the world gave their sweat, their creativity, and often their lives to build and defend a country that did not always extend to them the full measure of its promise; and
WHEREAS, The story of the United States is not merely the story of its founding documents, but the living and unfinished story of each generation’s struggle to close the distance between this nation’s ideals and its reality by those who dared hold it to its highest promise, including suffragists and civil right marchers, labor organizers, and veterans; and
WHEREAS, The 250th anniversary of United States independence presents a singular opportunity for every community to participate in civic celebrations, service initiatives, educational programs, and cultural events that honor the United States’ shared heritage and the full breadth of its diverse stories; and
WHEREAS, History teaches with unmistakable clarity that liberty is never permanently secured and that the democratic inheritance of the American people demands active and vigilant stewardship in the face of those both at home and abroad who would trade the common good for private gain, exchange the rule of law for the rule of power, or subordinate the rights of the many to the ambitions of the few; and
WHEREAS, The freedoms Americans cherish today were won not by the complacent but by the courageous, and the generations yet to come will likewise be called upon, as every generation has, to defend the republic against the forces of greed and authoritarianism and the unjust concentration of power; the truest honor we can pay to those who sacrificed before us is to meet that call with equal resolve; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly hereby recognizes the 250th anniversary of the United States as a moment for celebration and honest reflection, as an occasion to reckon with both the brilliance and the failures of the American story, as an opportunity to honor the contributions of all who have built and defended this nation regardless of recognition or reward, and as a time to recommit ourselves to the work of forming a more just, more inclusive, and more perfect Union; and be it further
Resolved, That the Assembly proudly joins the people of California and the people of the United States in celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence, affirming that the democratic ideals proclaimed on July 4, 1776, remain the North Star of our civic life and our collective aspiration; and be it further
Resolved, That the Assembly honors the men and women of every generation, race, background, faith, and belief, especially those long unrecognized, who served, sacrificed, labored, created, and fought to uphold and expand the promise of American democracy, and acknowledges that their contributions form the living legacy we celebrate in 2026; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.