| The text of Gov. Joe Manchin's declaration of Sunshine Week in West Virginia, which starts today, affirms the public's right to know what government is doing:
Proclamation by Governor Joe Manchin III
Whereas, the Declaration of Independence sets out that our inalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness can be secured only where governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed;" and,
Whereas, our founders so believed in the need for a free flow of information that guaranteeing it was the topic of the First Amendment, which proclaims among the First Freedoms that "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;" and,
Whereas, the constitution of the State of West Virginia similarly declares that all people are "by nature, equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity, namely: The enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety;" and,
Whereas, the West Virginia Code, as a matter of policy, declares "that all persons are, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and employees. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments of government they have created (WV Code 29B-1-1);" and,
Whereas, history has shown that freedom does not long survive when the public's "right to know" is compromised, eliminated or unduly regulated by governmental officials; and,
Whereas, beginning March 13, 2005, many West Virginia media organizations will join hundreds from across the nation in "Sunshine Week," a project to inform the public of the importance to its well-being of maintaining openness in government;
Now, Therefore, Be it Resolved that I, Joe Manchin III, Governor of the State of West Virginia, do hereby proclaim March 13 - 19, 2005, as:
Sunshine Week in the Mountain State and encourage all citizens to guard their right to know.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of West Virginia to be affixed.
Done at the Capitol, City of Charleston, State of West Virginia, this the Eleventh day of March, in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand Five, and in the One Hundred Forty-second year of the State.
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