III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 525 

Designating September 2018 as National Democracy Month as a time to 

reflect on the contributions of the system of government of the United 

States to a more free and stable world. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2018 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. CASEY, 

Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. KAINE, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. ENZI, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Mr. BOOKER, Mr. NELSON, Mr. BENNET, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Mr. REED, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. UDALL, Mr. 

COONS, Ms. WARREN, Mr. HATCH, Mr. RUBIO, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. 

BARRASSO) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 

Committee discharged; considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Designating September 2018 as National Democracy Month 

as a time to reflect on the contributions of the system 

of government of the United States to a more free and 

stable world. 

Whereas, 2,000 years after the ancient Greeks laid the 

groundwork for democracy, the founders of the United 

States built an even greater system of government, a 

democratic republic, propelling the United States to become the most advanced nation in human history; 


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SRES 525 ATS 

Whereas the model of government of the United States has 

been reproduced around the world; 

Whereas, according to Freedom House, despite the expansion 

of democracy worldwide, today more than 1 in 3 people 

in the world do not live in states considered free; 

Whereas the Constitution of the United States and the Bill 

of Rights, with the addition of the Reconstruction Era 

amendments, including the 14th and 15th Amendments, 

and the 19th Amendment, enshrine the rights and civil 

liberties of citizens of the United States, including the 

right to vote in free and fair elections; 

Whereas the perpetuation of the ideals of democracy does not 

happen on its own, and can be stalled or reversed; 

Whereas surveys show that citizens of the United States are 

losing faith in the democratic system; 

Whereas, according to a study published in the Journal of 

Democracy— 

(1) 91 percent of young people in the United States 

in the 1930s thought it ‘‘essential’’ to live in a democracy; 

(2) only 30 percent of young people in the United 

States in 2018 think that it is ‘‘essential’’ to live in a democracy; and 

(3) 24 percent of young people in the United States 

in 2018 think that democracy is a ‘‘bad’’ or ‘‘very bad’’ 

way of running the country; 

Whereas Freedom House concluded that ‘‘Democracy as the 

world’s dominant form of government is under greater 

threat than at any point in the last 25 years’’; 

Whereas former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said ‘‘The practice of democracy is not passed down 


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SRES 525 ATS 

through the gene pool. It must be taught and learned 

anew by each generation of citizens’’; 

Whereas President John F. Kennedy said ‘‘Democracy is 

never a final achievement. It is a call to effort, to sacrifice, and a willingness to live and to die in its defense’’; 

Whereas President Ronald Reagan said ‘‘Democracy is worth 

dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of 

government ever devised by man’’; 

Whereas World War II demonstrated the fragility of democracy and its accompanying civilized life; 

Whereas British Prime Minister Winston Churchill observed 

that ‘‘Democracy is the worst form of government, except 

for all the others that have ever been tried’’; 

Whereas President George Washington said the United 

States must recognize the immense value of the national 

Union and work towards its preservation with ‘‘jealous 

anxiety’’ and wrote that the security of a free Constitution may be accomplished by ‘‘teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own rights’’; 

Whereas President Thomas Jefferson wrote ‘‘Educate and inform the whole mass of the people . . . . They are the 

only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty’’; 

and 

Whereas evidence of the diminution of strong support for 

democratic principles in recent years among citizens of 

the United States suggests the government of the United 

States must once more teach and educate the people by 

taking appropriate actions to highlight and emphasize the 

importance of democratic principles and their essential 

role in our freedoms and way of life: Now, therefore, be 

it 


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1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) designates September 2018 as ‘‘National 

3 Democracy Month’’; 

4 (2) encourages States and local governments to 

5 designate September 2018 as ‘‘National Democracy 

6 Month’’; 

7 (3) recognizes the celebration of ‘‘National De8 mocracy Month’’ as a time to reflect on the con9 tributions of the system of government of the United 

10 States to a more free and stable world; and 

11 (4) encourages the people of the United States 

12 to observe ‘‘National Democracy Month’’ with appro13 priate ceremonies and activities that— 

14 (A) provide appreciation for the system of 

15 government of the United States; and 

16 (B) demonstrate that the people of the 

17 United States shall never forget the sacrifices 

18 made by past generations of people of the 

19 United States to preserve the freedoms and 

20 principles of the United States. 

Æ 


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