[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 126 (Friday, September 13, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S10556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 291--TO DESIGNATE NOVEMBER 18, 1996, AS ``AMERICAN 
                         FREE ENTERPRISE DAY''

  Mr. BROWN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 291

       Whereas American prosperity is founded on the free 
     enterprise system of individual opportunity and economic 
     freedom;
       Whereas the roots of American free enterprise can be found 
     in the experiences of the people of Jamestown and Plymouth, 
     the earliest American colonies;
       Whereas the basis of free enterprise is the right to 
     ownership of private property, which ensures to individuals 
     the fruits of their own labor and encourages the virtues of 
     self-reliance, thrift, and industriousness;
       Whereas the settlers at Jamestown and Plymouth were 
     initially deprived of the fruits of their own labor and 
     therefore lacked the incentive for private initiative and 
     hard work;
       Whereas William Bradford, Governor of the Plymouth 
     Plantation, wrote that in response to the misery and want 
     experienced by the people of Plymouth he decided ``that they 
     should set corn every man for his own particular; and that 
     regard trust to themselves . . . This had very good success, 
     for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn 
     was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the 
     Governor or any other could use.'';
       Whereas on November 18, 1618, ``The Great Charter'' endowed 
     the colonists of Virginia with the right to profit from 
     property under their individual control for the first time; 
     and
       Whereas the result of the Great Charter was a blossoming of 
     individual initiative and self-sufficiency that laid the 
     foundations for the American tradition of economic freedom, 
     propserity, and self-government: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends the men and women of our first colonies who 
     began the American tradition of hard work and individual 
     initiative;
       (2) honors all those who have defended the right of 
     individuals to own property, pursue their own initiative, and 
     to reap the fruits of their own labor; and
       (3) designates November 18, 1996, as ``American Free 
     Enterprise Day''.

     The President is authorized and requested to issue a 
     proclamation calling upon the people of the United States and 
     Federal, State, and local administrators to observe the day 
     with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

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