[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 12 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 12

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
 States Postal Service should issue a postage stamp commemorating Juan 
                           Nepomuceno Seguin.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 2003

   Mr. Green of Texas submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
 States Postal Service should issue a postage stamp commemorating Juan 
                           Nepomuceno Seguin.

Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin was born October 27, 1806, in San Fernando de 
        Bejar, New Spain (known today as San Antonio, Texas), and died on August 
        27, 1889;
Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin fought for the rights of all native Texans, 
        despite constant threat of death, by opposing General Antonio Lopez de 
        Santa Ana's blatant disregard of the Mexican Constitution of 1824, which 
        granted all citizens and subjects of Mexico their basic human rights;
Whereas in 1835 Juan Nepomuceno Seguin sought to convene the first revolutionary 
        meeting in protest of the devastating demands and actions of the 
        government of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana;
Whereas on October 24, 1835, Juan Nepomuceno Seguin was commended for his 
        interception of vital documents sent to General Martin Perfecto de Cos, 
        commander of the Mexican Army in Texas, and was appointed by the 
        Commander in Chief of the Texas volunteer army, Stephen F. Austin, as 
        the captain of a volunteer company of Hispanic farmers and ranchers;
Whereas the Seguin family supplied the Texas volunteer army with cattle and 
        crops from their ranch without compensation, and encouraged other 
        Hispanic ranchers to do the same;
Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin fought in the Battle of Concepcion, which led to 
        the occupation of the Mission San Antonio de Valero (commonly known as 
        the Alamo);
Whereas on December 9, 1835, Juan Nepomuceno Seguin was an active participant in 
        the liberation of San Antonio, during which General Martin Perfecto de 
        Cos surrendered and paroled his army by withdrawing it south of the Rio 
        Grande;
Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin and the other volunteers in his company were 
        among the 189 brave and heroic men who, on February 22, 1836, fell back 
        to the reinforced battlements of the Alamo to which the Mexican Army 
        under the command of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana laid siege;
Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin escaped the fate of the other defenders of the 
        Alamo because Colonel William B. Travis sent him on an urgent mission to 
        the town of Goliad to seek reinforcements from Colonel James W. Fannin 
        on March 5, 1836, the day before the fall of the Alamo;
Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin, upon hearing of the fall of the Alamo, promptly 
        raised a new company for the defense of Texas, and joined forces with 
        General Sam Houston, commander of the remaining Texas volunteer army;
Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin was among the 750 Texans who defeated 1,500 
        soldiers of the Mexican Army near the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and 
        the San Jacinto River, which led to the establishment of the Republic of 
        Texas and, later, statehood for Texas;
Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin was an important political figure in both the 
        Republic and the State of Texas, serving as mayor of San Antonio, 
        senator in the Congress of the Republic of Texas, and judge of Wilson 
        County, Texas;
Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin has been recognized by the State of Texas as a 
        hero of its war for independence, and has been honored by the citizens 
        of Walnut Spring, Texas, who renamed their town Seguin, Texas;
Whereas all children in the United States, regardless of where they live, 
        currently learn about Juan Nepomuceno Seguin, a historically significant 
        Hispanic figure; and
Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin fought for freedom, justice, and dignity for all 
        peoples: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the United States Postal Service should issue a postage 
        stamp commemorating Juan Nepomuceno Seguin; and
            (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend 
        to the Postmaster General that such a postage stamp be issued.
                                 <all>