[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 349 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 349

  Honoring 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2008

 Mr. Shadegg submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Honoring 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.

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 84 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 2008, 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),

SECTION 1. RECOGNITION OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES ON MEMORIAL DAY.

    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.

SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.

    The authority on which this resolution rests is the authority of 
Congress to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper as 
provided in article I, section 8, of the United States Constitution.
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