Declaration of Independence Reaffirmation Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4828 Engrossed in Senate (ES)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4828 _______________________________________________________________________ AN ACT To reaffirm the Declaration of Independence as an Organic Law of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Declaration of Independence Reaffirmation Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. (2) The Declaration of Independence announced that the United States of America were free and independent States. (3) The Declaration of Independence declares that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. (4) The Declaration of Independence is recognized among the Organic Laws of the United States. (5) The Northwest Ordinance was adopted by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787, and was thereafter reenacted by the First Congress in 1789, so that it could continue to have full effect under the Constitution of the United States. (6) Congress has authority to recognize, reaffirm, and carry forward the foundational laws and principles of the American political order. (7) The 250th anniversary of American independence calls upon Congress to reaffirm the Declaration of Independence as the charter of American sovereignty, natural rights, equal citizenship, and government by consent. (8) The Constitution of the United States gives lawful form and enduring structure to the principles of republican self- government announced in the Declaration of Independence. (9) The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States together establish a political ord