[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 159 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  1st Session

                            H. CON. RES. 159

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Declaring Emporia, Kansas, to be the founding city of the Veterans Day 
    holiday and recognizing the contributions of Alvin J. King and 
 Representative Ed Rees to the enactment into law of the observance of 
                             Veterans Day.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 159

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas in 1953, Alvin J. King of Emporia, Kansas, proposed that Armistice Day 
        be changed to Veterans Day to recognize and honor all veterans from all 
        wars and conflicts;
Whereas in 1953, Veterans Day was first organized and celebrated in Emporia, 
        Kansas;
Whereas although Alvin King was only 15 years old when the United States went to 
        war in 1917 and never served in the Armed Forces, he had a deep respect 
        for veterans;
Whereas Alvin King's stepson, John Cooper, whom he had raised, was killed in 
        action in Belgium during World War II while serving with Rifle Company 
        B, 137th Infantry Regiment;
Whereas after World War II, Alvin King developed friendships with the surviving 
        members of Rifle Company B, 137th Infantry Regiment;
Whereas in the early 1950s, Alvin King suggested either creating a special day 
        to honor all veterans or adapting Armistice Day so that it was dedicated 
        to all veterans since, at that time, Armistice Day honored the veterans 
        of World War I;
Whereas by 1953, the community of Emporia, Kansas, had raised enough money to 
        send Alvin King and his wife, Gertrude, to Washington, D.C. to garner 
        support for an official veterans day;
Whereas Alvin King had a friend and supporter in Representative Ed Rees of 
        Emporia, Kansas, who was strongly in favor of King's idea and said ``it 
        would give the holiday a new meaning and more widespread patriotic 
        observance'';
Whereas on June 1, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was raised in 
        Kansas, signed into law the Act proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day 
        (Public Law 380 of the 83rd Congress);
Whereas on October 8, 1954, President Eisenhower issued a presidential 
        proclamation concerning Veterans Day in 1954 in which he stated, ``On 
        that day let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought 
        so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to 
        preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to 
        the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not 
        have been in vain''; and
Whereas the first nationwide observance of Veterans Day was on November 11, 
        1954: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress hereby--
            (1) encourages Americans to demonstrate their support for 
        veterans on Veterans Day by treating that day as a special day 
        of remembrance;
            (2) declares Emporia, Kansas, to be the founding city of 
        Veterans Day;
            (3) recognizes Alvin J. King, of Emporia, Kansas, as the 
        founder of Veterans Day; and
            (4) recognizes that Representative Ed Rees, of Emporia, 
        Kansas, was instrumental in the efforts to enact into law the 
        observance of Veterans Day.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 30, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.