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On Monday, March 18, 2013 we held our Senate Session in the Old Senate Chambers to celebrate the anniversary
of the joint federal and state effort to return North Carolina's copy of the Bill of Rights. We commend the efforts of those
involved in the pursuit and recovery of this document.



George Washington commissioned fourteen copies, one to be given to each of the thirteen colonies and one to the federal government.
North Carolina’s copy was taken from the State Capitol during the Civil War and the stolen document was purchased by
Connecticut antiques dealer Wayne E. Pratt in 2000. Pratt relinquished his claims to the document in federal court
in September of 2003 and North Carolina’s copy of the Bill of Rights was returned to the state in August of 2005.

The Senate honors the memory of the early founders of this country for their role in helping to guarantee
the citizens the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights.