With 100 days to go until the nation’s 250th birthday, a commission set up by Congress to organize the celebrations is reasserting itself after several months in the shadows of a separate White House planning group.
The commission, known as America250, this week unveiled plans for a series of nationwide events intended to bring together 350 million Americans to commemorate the 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 — “350 for 250” as Chair Rosie Rios put it.
“What really inspired this commission were three words that we used as we developed this programming: educate, engage and unite,” said Rios, the former U.S. treasurer in the Obama administration who has led the organization for the past four years of its 10-year existence.
