Providing for a joint session of the Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, July 2, 2026, in honor of the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence.

Providing for a joint session of the Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, July 2, 2026, in honor of the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence.

Whereas the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1682;

Whereas Philadelphia has become known as the Nation’s birthplace for the critical role it played in the founding of the United States of America;

Whereas Philadelphia was the meeting place for the first Continental Congress, the second Continental Congress, and the Constitutional Convention;

Whereas Philadelphia served as the capital of the United States from 1790 through 1800;

Whereas, on July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, at the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall;

Whereas the Declaration of Independence officially severed the 13 colonies’ ties to the British Crown;

Whereas Independence Hall is 1 of only 26 cultural World Heritage sites in the United States of America;

Whereas Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became the first World Heritage City in the United States of America;

Whereas, shortly after the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin proclaimed of the Rising Sun Armchair at Independence Hall, “I have often looked at that picture behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun”;

Whereas across from Independence Hall stands the Liberty Bell, displaying the phrase “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof”;

Whereas only on 2 occasions since the United States Capitol moved to Washington, District of Columbia, in 1800 has Congress convened outside of the District of Columbia;

Whereas, on July 16, 1987, Congress met at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to “honor the bicentennial of the Constitution” and commemorate “the 200th anniversary of the Great Compromise of the Constitutional Convention”;

Whereas, on September 6, 2002, Congress met at Federal Hall in New York, New York, “in remembrance of the victims and heroes of September 11, 2001, and in recognition of the courage and spirit of the City of New York”; and

Whereas July 4, 2026, will serve as the semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary, of the founding of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That, in honor of the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence, the two Houses of the Congress shall assemble in a joint session at the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, July 2, 2026, for the purpose of commemorating the Declaration of Independence.