[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 87 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  2d Session

                             H. J. RES. 87

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                            JOINT RESOLUTION

Honoring the life and legacy of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and 
  recognizing his contributions on the anniversary of the date of his 
                                 birth.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. J. RES. 87

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
Honoring the life and legacy of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and 
  recognizing his contributions on the anniversary of the date of his 
                                 birth.

Whereas President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, New York, on 
        January 30, 1882;
Whereas his commitment to public service followed the example of his fifth 
        cousin, the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt;
Whereas sixty years ago, President Roosevelt became the only President of the 
        United States elected to a fourth term in office;
Whereas President Roosevelt fulfilled his promise to lead the Nation through the 
        Great Depression by creating a series of New Deal programs that 
        fundamentally changed the role of Government;
Whereas President Roosevelt's leadership was instrumental in extending freedom 
        and democracy around the globe and uniting the world confronted by 
        tyranny and aggression;
Whereas President Roosevelt unified and mobilized the American effort after the 
        bombing of Pearl Harbor and World War II, encouraging patriotism and 
        volunteerism;
Whereas through his war time leadership, President Roosevelt directed the 
        Government into the most productive partnership with private enterprise 
        in the Nation's history by appointing top businessmen to run the 
        production agencies, exempting business from antitrust laws, allowing 
        business to write off the full cost of investments, and guaranteeing a 
        substantial profit;
Whereas as a result of his leadership, the United States was outproducing all 
        the Axis and the Allied powers combined, contributing nearly 300,000 
        planes, 100,000 tanks, 2 million trucks, and 87,000 warships to the 
        Allied cause;
Whereas 2004 is the 60th anniversary of D-Day, which commemorates the largest 
        air, land, and sea operation undertaken before or since June 6, 1944;
Whereas in the spring of 2004, the National World War II Memorial will be 
        dedicated in Washington, DC, to encourage Americans to celebrate and 
        remember the contributions of President Roosevelt and the courageous men 
        and women which were critical to the American war effort at home and 
        American military successes overseas;
Whereas President Roosevelt supported the effort to find a cure for infantile 
        paralysis (polio), by which he had been paralyzed in 1921; in 1938, 
        President Roosevelt founded the National Foundation for Infantile 
        Paralysis, a national organization which raised funds to find a cure for 
        polio; the following year, comedian Eddie Cantor asked the Nation to 
        mail dimes to the White House to help the Foundation, and in one month, 
        the White House received 2.5 million dimes; Cantor declared it ``A March 
        of Dimes'' and, in 1979, the name became the lasting moniker for the 
        Foundation;
Whereas President Roosevelt established the polio foundation hospital at Warm 
        Springs, Georgia, for the treatment of polio patients, which had a 
        profound impact on scores of young Americans;
Whereas in a broadcast launching the annual March of Dimes Campaign, President 
        Harry S. Truman declared ``The fight to conquer infantile paralysis is 
        an unfinished task of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It must and shall be 
        carried to complete victory.''; thanks to President Roosevelt and the 
        March of Dimes, polio is largely now a thing of the past in America and 
        worldwide eradication of polio is expected by 2005;
Whereas Americans who encountered and conquered polio have benefited from the 
        March of Dimes and from President Roosevelt's example of courage;
Whereas Eleanor Roosevelt more than fulfilled her traditional duties as First 
        Lady;
Whereas she expanded the role, being voted the most admired woman in America and 
        even called ``the First Lady of the Western World'' for her work on 
        behalf of civil rights, women's rights, and human rights; she carried on 
        the beliefs and ideals of her husband, serving as the foremost 
        spokesperson for human rights around the world as the first chairperson 
        of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights;
Whereas President Roosevelt is loved and admired by millions of Americans and by 
        countless others around the world; and
Whereas a grateful Nation and world are better off because of President 
        Roosevelt's inimitable leadership: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress, on behalf 
of the American people, honors the life and legacy of President 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and recognizes his contributions on the 
anniversary of the date of his birth.

            Passed the House of Representatives March 17, 2004.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.