[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 198 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 198

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that James Francis 
   Thorpe should be designated ``America's Athlete of the Century''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 27, 1999

  Mr. Kanjorski (for himself and Mr. Watkins) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that James Francis 
   Thorpe should be designated ``America's Athlete of the Century''.

Whereas James Francis Thorpe, known as ``Jim Thorpe'' Wathahuck-Brightpath, of 
        the Thunder Clan of the Sac and Fox Tribe, was born May 22, 1887, on the 
        Sac and Fox Indian Reservation, Prague, Oklahoma, and died March 28, 
        1953, in Lomita, California;
Whereas Jim Thorpe began his amateur football career as a student at the 
        Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, where he was named All American 
        Half-Back in 1911 and 1912;
Whereas Jim Thorpe represented the United States at the 1912 Olympic Games held 
        in Stockholm, Sweden, though he did not become a citizen of the United 
        States until 1917;
Whereas King Gustav V of Sweden said, ``You, Sir, are the greatest athlete in 
        the world,'' when he awarded 2 gold medals to Jim Thorpe for winning the 
        pentathlon and the decathlon;
Whereas Jim Thorpe founded professional football, played professional football 
        for, and later was the first elected president of, the American Football 
        Association (now the National Football League);
Whereas Jim Thorpe played major league baseball for 20 years with the New York 
        Giants, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Boston Braves;
Whereas Jim Thorpe is the only American athlete to excel at the amateur level 
        and at the professional level in 3 major sports--track and field, 
        football, and baseball;
Whereas Jim Thorpe was named America's Greatest All-Around Athlete in 1950 by 
        the Associated Press and in 1977 by Sport Magazine; and
Whereas Jim Thorpe has been enshrined in the Helms Professional Football Hall of 
        Fame and the Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives 
designates James Francis Thorpe ``America's Athlete of the Century''.
                                 <all>