Designating the Week of Thanksgiving as “National Family Week” (S. Res. 335)

What is S. Res. 335?

(Updated January 14, 2019)

This resolution would designate Thanksgiving week — November 19 through November 25, 2017 — as “National Family Week”. It would also encourage state and local governments to designate the week as National Family Week, and encourage the American people to observe it with appropriate ceremonies and activities. Each year since it was first proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, the week of Thanksgiving has been designated as National Family Week -- President Donald Trump made the declaration on November 17.

As a simple resolution, this legislation wouldn’t advance to the House if passed or become law.

Argument in favor

Designating Thanksgiving week as National Family Week is a great tradition that should be continued to encourage Americans to appreciate and spend time with their families.

Argument opposed

Gestures like designating Thanksgiving week as “National Family Week” are a waste of time and don’t really encourage Americans to do whatever it is they’re intended to accomplish.

Impact

Americans and their families; and state and local governments.

Cost of S. Res. 335

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: This bill was introduced by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and has the support of one cosponsor, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

In his proclamation designating the first National Family Week, President Ronald Reagan wrote the following in 1987:

“The family is a source of well-being, a place to give and receive love and to learn and live our traditions and the virtues and the values of responsibility, selflessness and self-reliance, loyalty, mutual respect, fairness, and the power of faith. In families we also come to know our inherent dignity and worth as individuals and to enjoy the Godgiven rights that are the basis of freedom.

We must remember during National Family Week, and especially during the Bicentennial of the Constitution, that freedom, the family, and the individual have everything to do with each other. That is a truth that the Founders of our country knew well. The more the integrity of the family is fostered—the more social and public policy influences that weaken the family are eliminated—the stronger is freedom and the healthier is society. Let us forever remember this personally and as a people, for the good of our families and the good of our country.”

Media:

• The American Presidency Project - UCSB (Context)