Thursday, Jan 18, 2007
The Historic Jamestowne unit of Colonial National Historical Park hosted both Vice President Dick Cheney and the Virginia General Assembly on January 10th at the historic site’s Jamestown Memorial Church. The Virginia General Assembly is the nation’s oldest continuously meeting legislative body, their first meeting occurring at Jamestown in July 1619. As part of the yearlong schedule of events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Jamestown’s founding, the general assembly opened its 2007 session by returning to its legislative roots and meeting on the very spot where their predecessors had first convened 388 years earlier.
In his brief, ten minute remarks, the vice president paid tribute to the upcoming 400th anniversary and Jamestown’s role as the birthplace of America, declaring emphatically that “the history of our country did not begin on Cape Cod in 1620,” a comment that drew enthusiastic applause from the legislators.
Beyond representative government, the vice president noted that “English liberty and law, private property, the spirit of free enterprise, and commerce – all of these are part of the Jamestown legacy.”
Beyond the English settlers, however, the vice president also recognized the contributions of other cultures in the settlement of Jamestown: Africans, who came “in bondage, their life’s labor stolen from them,” and the Virginia Indians “who were here first, and who would suffer great loss – the passing of familiar things and the ending of a way of life.”
At Jamestown, the vice president, noted we find “the beginnings of the cultural diversity that continues to shape our nation's character.”
The full text of the vice president’s remarks can be found online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070110-2.html
For security and logistical reasons, Historic Jamestowne was closed on the day of the event until after the vice president’s departure. Due to extremely limited space in the church, only members of the general assembly and a few invited guests attended the speech (Virginia director Sandy Rives was invited on behalf of the National Park Service). Guests of the assembly members and the media watched on closed circuit television in the Historic Jamestowne Visitor Center.
Security for the event was coordinated by the National Park Service, United States Secret Service, Virginia State Police, and Virginia Capitol Police. NPS resources were supplemented by rangers from Richmond NBP, Petersburg NB and Fredericksburg NMP. Media interest was high, with more than 100 credentials issued.
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