[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 119 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

103d CONGRESS

  1st Session

                             S. J. RES. 119

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION

   To designate the month of March 1994 as ``Irish-American Heritage 
                                Month''.
103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. J. RES. 119


_______________________________________________________________________


                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
   To designate the month of March 1994 as ``Irish-American Heritage 
                                Month''.

Whereas the first Irish emigrants arrived in America as early as 1621;
Whereas 9 of the generals who served in the Continental Army during the American 
        Revolution were Irish born;
Whereas Commodore John Barry of County Wexford, Ireland, served brilliantly in 
        the Continental Navy and is widely regarded as the father of the 
        American Navy;
Whereas James Smith, George Taylor, Matthew Thornton, and Charles Thomson, 4 of 
        the individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence, were Irish 
        born and 9 other signers were of Irish ancestry;
Whereas the contributions of the Irish to America's victory in the American 
        Revolution led Lord Mountjoy to exclaim in the British Parliament that 
        ``America was lost by the Irish emigrants'';
Whereas beginning at the time of the potato blight and famine in Ireland in 
        1845, over 700,000 Irish immigrants came to the United States during the 
        1840's, 900,000 during the 1850's, and over 300,000 in each decade 
        through 1910;
Whereas Irish Americans participated heavily in the industrial and economic 
        development of America during the nineteenth century, building our 
        cities and canals and the railroads that expanded the Nation to the 
        West;
Whereas even today, it is said that under every railroad tie an Irishman is 
        buried;
Whereas the Irish contributed greatly to the development of the labor movement 
        in the United States, including the establishment of the American Miners 
        Association in 1861;
Whereas nearly 150,000 natives of Ireland served in the Union forces during the 
        Civil War;
Whereas more than 500 members of the Irish Brigade were killed while fighting 
        for the Union in the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, a date 
        that has been called the bloodiest day in American history;
Whereas the Irish Brigade fought courageously in several other Civil War battles 
        including Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Gaines 
        Mill, Allen's Farm, Savage Station, White Oak Bridge, Glendale, Malvern 
        Hill, Gettysburg, and Bristow Station;
Whereas in 1892, Annie Moore from County Cork, Ireland, at age 15 became the 
        first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island;
Whereas Irish Americans have made numerous contributions to the arts and to 
        sports, as exemplified by the achievements F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eugene 
        O'Neill, Helen Hayes, Georgia O'Keefe, John L. Sullivan, and Connie 
        Mack;
Whereas the first woman to serve as the organizer of the American Federation of 
        Labor was Mary Kennedy O'Sullivan;
Whereas at the beginning of the twentieth century, many of the school teachers 
        in America's largest cities were Irish American women;
Whereas President John F. Kennedy was the first American President to visit 
        Ireland during his term in office;
Whereas Irish Americans, including Kathryn Sullivan, the first American woman to 
        walk in space, and Christa Corrigan McAuliffe, America's first school 
        teacher in space who perished on the Challenger mission, have bravely 
        served as America's pioneers in space;
Whereas more than 200 Irish Americans have been awarded the Congressional Medal 
        of Honor;
Whereas President William Jefferson Clinton is the nineteenth American President 
        of Irish ancestry;
Whereas 37 United States governors and mayors designated March 1993 as ``Irish-
        American Heritage Month''; and
Whereas 44 million Americans are of Irish ancestry: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the month of March 1994 
is designated as ``Irish-American Heritage Month''. The President is 
authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the 
people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate 
ceremonies and activities.

            Passed the Senate October 28 (legislative day, October 13), 
      1993.

            Attest:






                                                             Secretary.