National Tartan Day

The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama,

We the undersigned on the enclosed petition, respectfully request the President of the United States to sign a National Tartan Day Presidential Proclamation recognizing April 6th of each year, in perpetuity, as a National Holiday Observance, thus placing National Tartan Day on the official United States of America calendar.

On April 7, 1997, the United States Senate passed Senate Resolution 155 and on March 9, 2005, the House of Representatives passed House Resolution 41. These two Congressional Resolutions officially designate April 6 of each year as National Tartan Day recognizing the outstanding achievements and contributions made by Scottish Americans to the founding and development of our great Nation. Today, more than six million Americans of Scottish descent reside within our borders and continue their contributions to our economy, our culture, and our communities, making them the eighth largest ethnic community in the United States.

April 6th has a special significance for all Americans, and especially those Americans of Scottish descent, because the Declaration of Arbroath, the Scottish Declaration of Independence, was signed on April 6th, 1320, and the American Declaration of Independence was modeled on that inspirational document, and embodies the shared cultures of liberty, freedom and independence.

Scottish Americans played a major role in the founding this Nation: almost half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Governors in 9 of the original 13 States were either Scots or of Scottish descent. All the members of the First American Cabinet, 18 US Presidents and 35 Supreme Court Justices have had Scottish ancestry.

National Tartan Day is our opportunity to celebrate all Americans who claim Scottish ancestry, and we are especially grateful for the service in our Armed Forces of the Scottish Americans who have, with inherent pride and unwavering patriotism, answered the call to protect our Nation.

More than 200 organizations throughout the United States honor Scottish heritage, tradition and culture, residing in every State, who have already made the observance of Tartan Day on April 6th a success.

"Every line of strength in American history is a line colored with Scottish blood." (President Woodrow Wilson, praising the contribution of the Scottish Nation to the history of the USA)