By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Whereas whilst hostilities exist with various Indian tribes on the remote frontiers of the United States, and whilst in other respects the public peace is seriously threatened, Congress has adjourned without granting necessary supplies for the Army, depriving the Executive of the power to perform his duty in relation to the common defense and security, and an extraordinary occasion has thus arisen for assembling the two Houses of Congress, I do therefore by this my proclamation convene the said Houses to meet in the Capitol, at the city of Washington, on Thursday, the 21st day of August instant, hereby requiring the respective Senators and Representatives then and there to assemble to consult and determine on such measures as the state of the Union may seem to require.
In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed and signed the same with my hand.
Done at the city of Washington, the 18th day of August, A. D. 1856, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-first.
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
By order:
W. L. MARCY,
Secretary of State.
Franklin Pierce, Proclamation 71—Convening an Extra Session of Congress Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/203138