[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 294 Engrossed in House (EH)]


H. Res. 294

                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                         July 25, 2005.
Whereas on March 3, 1699, France established the French colony of Louisiana, and 
        this event was commemorated in 1999 as FrancoFete 99 and the Congres 
        Mondial Acadien-Louisiane 1999;
Whereas on December 9, 2003, a royal proclamation was signed in Canada in which 
        Queen Elizabeth II acknowledged for the first time the wrongs committed 
        in the name of the English Crown during the Acadian deportation of 1755;
Whereas this royal proclamation sets July 28th of every year, beginning in 2005, 
        as ``A Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval'';
Whereas the 10,000 men, women, and children exiled from Nova Scotia two and a 
        half centuries ago are the ancestors of many of south Louisiana's 
        French-Acadian or Cajun people;
Whereas in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory 
        from France, and the French Napoleonic Civil Code was adopted as the 
        basis of Louisiana's civil law system which continues to the present;
Whereas in 1968, the Louisiana Legislature created the Council for the 
        Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) and mandated that the 
        agency promote French for economic, educational, and touristic purposes;
Whereas since its creation, CODOFIL has recruited teachers from the 
        international community to come to Louisiana to teach French in 
        Louisiana schools;
Whereas there are 30 French immersion schools in Louisiana, and Louisiana leads 
        the Nation in bilingual education;
Whereas Louisiana is officially bilingual pursuant to section 51 of title 1, 
        Louisiana Revised Statutes, which states ``Any act or contract made or 
        executed in the French language is as legal and binding upon the parties 
        as if it had been made or executed in the English language'';
Whereas in 2004, the Louisiana Legislature declared Acadian Heritage Week to be 
        the third week in September and urged schools in Louisiana to teach 
        children about their Acadian history, culture, and heritage; and
Whereas in 2005, the world will memorialize the 250th anniversary of the Acadian 
        deportation and observe a day of remembrance of the suffering of the 
        Acadian people as a result of their deportation by the British Crown (as 
        memorialized in Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Proclamation dated December 
        9, 2003): Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the goals of Acadian Heritage Week; and
            (2) supports the goals of ``A Day of Commemoration of the Great 
        Upheaval'', as established by Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Proclamation, 
        signed on December 9, 2003, in which the sufferings of the Acadian 
        people were acknowledged.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.