September 17th is designated as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day in order to commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787. It was on this date that the 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document.
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day were established by law when Senator Robert Byrd from West Virginia added an amendment to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 which was enacted on December 8, 2004. Constitution Day and Citizenship Day are now found under section 106 of title 36 of the United States Code (Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, 36 U.S.C. § 106 (2020)). In 2005, the Department of Education announced a statutory requirement which mandated that educational institutions receiving federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education implement educational program pertaining to the United States Constitution on Constitution Day.