WHEREAS, the General Assembly established the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission in 2020 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Revolutionary War, and the formation of the United States as an independent nation; and

WHEREAS, following the dissolution of the House of Burgesses by the royal governor of the Virginia colony, Lord Dunmore, a group of citizens from Fairfax County, led by George Washington, met in Alexandria on July 5, 1774, to appoint a drafting committee for a statement that would "define our Constitutional Rights" and serve as formal instructions to Fairfax County's delegates to the upcoming First Virginia Convention; and

WHEREAS, the committee wrote a draft that was, in all likelihood, primarily the work of George Mason, who met with George Washington on July 17, 1774, at his Mount Vernon estate, where they may have revised the draft together; and

WHEREAS, the Fairfax Resolves, which were adopted on July 18, 1774, definitively rejected British Parliament's claim of supreme authority over the American colonies, and while more than 30 counties in Virginia passed similar resolutions in 1774, the Fairfax Resolves were the most detailed, the most influential, and the most radical; and

WHEREAS, the Fairfax Resolves Chapter of the Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution established its 1774 Society to honor the history and legacy of the Fairfax Resolves; and

WHEREAS, on July 18, 2024, at a special ceremony in Alexandria, the Fairfax Resolves Chapter of the Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution will commemorate the signing of the Fairfax Resolves by the 25 brave and prescient residents and leaders of Fairfax County, who affirmed their commitment to government by the consent of the governed and the natural laws of personal and collective freedom that formed the basis for the eventual Bill of Rights, enshrined in the Constitution of the United States; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That the Fairfax Resolves Chapter of the Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution hereby be commended for its commitment to upholding the legacy of the signers of the Fairfax Resolves and promoting education about American history and the enduring promise of democracy in America; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Fairfax Resolves Chapter of the Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for the chapter's efforts to raise awareness of the Fairfax Resolves, the organization's namesake, and one of the most significant documents in the foundation of the United States.