110 HCON 349 IH: Honoring past and current members of the U.S. House of Representatives 2008-05-14 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

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

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.

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.