Delegation to Announce Deal they Negotiated to Display Delaware’s Original Copy of the Bill of Rights

WASHINGTON, DC – Senators Joseph Biden and Tom Carper and Congressman Mike Castle tomorrow will be joined by Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner, State Archivist Tim Slavin and State Majority Leader Wayne Smith to announce the deal they have brokered with the National Archives to display Delaware’s original Ratification of the Bill of Rights in Delaware. The First Congress sent 12 proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution to each of the 13 states in 1789, 10 of which later were ratified as the U.S. Bill of Rights. Each of the states returned certificates of ratification and kept their copy of the proposed amendments, EXCEPT Delaware, which agreed to 11 of the proposed 12 amendments and inscribed their ratification directly on its copy of the proposed Bill of Rights. National Archivist John Carlin made an offer to the Delegation last September which would have allowed display in Delaware of the ratification one week every five years for 25 years. The Delegation turned down the offer and has since been negotiating a deal to be announced tomorrow. WHO: Senator Joe Biden National Archivist John Carlin Senator Tom Carper Delaware Archivist Tim Slavin Congressman Mike Castle State Majority Leader Wayne Smith Governor Ruth Ann Minner Secretary of State Harriet Windsor Smith WHEN: Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 23 4:00 p.m. WHERE: 203 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. MEDIA DETAILS: ** Any members of the Delaware Media wishing to attend this announcement please contact the Delegation. CONFERENCE CALL: Any members of the media wishing to participate in this press conference via telephone may call Chip Unruh at (202) 224-0132 by 6 p.m. TODAY. TELEVISION SATELLITE FEED: A Satellite Feed of the Delegation’s announcement will be available at 5:45 p.m. COORDINATES: Galaxy 3 R Transponder 21 Horizontal Downlink Frequency 4120