[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 424 Received in Senate (RDS)]

  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 424


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 20, 2004

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Honoring past and current members of the Armed Forces of the United 
 States and encouraging Americans to wear red poppies on Memorial Day.

Whereas the red poppy was the first living plant that sprouted in the 
        battlefields devastated by fighting during World War I;
Whereas red poppies grew abundantly in the trenches and craters of the war-torn 
        battlefields in Northern France and Belgium;
Whereas during World War I, the bloom of red poppies each year and the coming of 
        the warm weather brought hope to those still fighting in the trenches of 
        France and Belgium;
Whereas in 1915, the red poppy inspired Canadian Colonel John McCrae to write 
        the poem ``In Flanders Fields'' in remembrance of the thousands of 
        soldiers who perished during the three battles of Ypres in Belgium;
Whereas in 1918, John McCrae's poem inspired Moina Belle Michael of Athens, 
        Georgia, to write her own poem entitled ``We Shall Keep the Faith'', in 
        which she promised to wear a red poppy to memorialize American soldiers 
        killed in World War I, and later to raise millions of dollars to support 
        and employ disabled American veterans of all wars;
Whereas on November 11, 1921, the first Poppy Day was held in the United Kingdom 
        and was a national success;
Whereas the red poppy is a symbol of sacrifice throughout the world;
Whereas the red poppy has been worn in the United States for more than 80 years 
        as a way to remember those individuals who died fighting for freedom and 
        democracy around the world and to raise money to help disabled veterans; 
        and
Whereas in 2004, wearing a red poppy on Memorial Day is especially timely 
        considering the sacrifices United States soldiers are making in Iraq and 
        Afghanistan for freedom, democracy, and security: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress honors past and current members of the Armed Forces of 
the United States and their families by encouraging every American to 
wear a red poppy on Memorial Day as a sign of admiration and thanks to 
those individuals who died to preserve freedom and democracy in the 
United States.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 19, 2004.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.