HJRES136-119

In Committee

Amending title 36, United States Code, to direct the President to issue an annual proclamation establishing Democracy Day.

119th Congress Introduced Jan 6, 2026

Summary

What This Bill Does

This joint resolution would add Democracy Day to title 36's commemorative-proclamation framework. The President would issue an annual proclamation designating a day as Democracy Day and calling on state and local governments and the people of the United States to observe it with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. The measure is symbolic but operational: it gives the White House a recurring proclamation duty and gives civic educators a named annual hook for democratic-government education.

Who Benefits and How

Civic education organizations benefit from an annual national observance focused on democracy. State and local governments benefit from a federal proclamation they can use for ceremonies and educational programming. Students benefit indirectly when schools and civic groups use Democracy Day for lessons on constitutional government. The public benefits from recurring reminders about democratic participation, voting, and constitutional institutions.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The President must issue an annual Democracy Day proclamation. White House proclamation staff must draft and coordinate the annual designation. State and local civic offices may face pressure to organize observances. Schools and public institutions still bear programming costs because the resolution creates no grant funding.

Key Provisions

  • Amends title 36 to add a Democracy Day proclamation provision.
  • Requires the President to issue an annual proclamation designating Democracy Day.
  • Calls on state and local governments and the public to observe Democracy Day.
  • Uses commemorative law to support civic education without creating a funded program.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Amends title 36 to direct the President to issue an annual proclamation designating Democracy Day and calling for observances by governments and the public.

Key Policy Areas

Civic Education, Commemoration, Government Operations

Primary Purpose

Amends title 36 to direct the President to issue an annual proclamation designating Democracy Day and calling for observances by governments and the public.

Policy Domains

Civic Education Commemoration Government Operations

Resolution provisions

Identified Gains
  • Civic education organizations
  • State governments
  • Local governments
  • Students
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Students:
Local governments:
State governments:
Civic education organizations:
Identified Costs
  • President of the United States
  • White House proclamation staff
  • State civic offices
  • Schools
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Schools:
State civic offices:
President of the United States:
White House proclamation staff:

Legislative Progress

In Committee
Introduced Committee Passed
Jan 6, 2026

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Jan 6, 2026

Introduced in House

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Government
4 mentions across 2 clauses
-2 negative ?2 uncertain

State civic offices, White House proclamation staff

Education
2 mentions across 2 clauses
?2 uncertain

Civic education organizations

2/2
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Civic Education Commemoration Government Operations
Actor Mappings
"president"
→ President of the United States

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology