[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 698 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 698

     Commemorating the 200th anniversary of Congressional Cemetery.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 1, 2007

    Mr. Walsh of New York (for himself and Mr. Farr) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Commemorating the 200th anniversary of Congressional Cemetery.

Whereas 2007 is the 200th anniversary of the founding of Congressional Cemetery;
Whereas Congressional Cemetery, first called the Washington Parish Burial 
        Ground, was founded in 1807 near the banks of the Anacostia River in the 
        District of Columbia and served the new federal city and a young America 
        as its first unofficial national cemetery, predating Arlington National 
        Cemetery by 70 years;
Whereas Congress was the primary developer of the cemetery through 
        appropriations for road grading, fencing, building of the Public Vault 
        and its Slate Path, and construction of the original Gatehouse, and 
        Congress ultimately attached its name to the burial ground as early as 
        the 1830's, referring to it as Congressional Cemetery;
Whereas within months of the establishment of the cemetery, the first burial of 
        a Member of Congress took place when Senator Uriah Tracey (CT) died in 
        Washington on July 19, 1807, and was interred the following day;
Whereas there are 19 Senators and 71 Representatives interred at Congressional 
        Cemetery, and its cenotaphs, designed by second Architect of the Capitol 
        Benjamin Latrobe, mark 165 sites to honor Members of Congress who died 
        in office;
Whereas Congressional Cemetery holds more than 55,000 individuals in 30,000 
        burial sites marked by 14,000 headstones;
Whereas among those who have been buried at Congressional Cemetery are Vice 
        Presidents George Clinton and Elbridge Gerry; Tobias Lear, personal 
        secretary to George Washington; Commodore Thomas Tingey, first 
        commandant of the Washington Navy Yard; William Wirt and William 
        Pinckney, Attorneys General of the United States; Generals Jacob J. 
        Brown and Alexander Macomb of the U.S. Army; General Archibald 
        Henderson, longest-serving Commandant of the Marine Corps; Dr. William 
        Thornton, who originally designed the United States Capitol and was the 
        first Architect of the Capitol; George Watterston, third Librarian of 
        Congress; Robert Mills, architect of the Washington Monument, the 
        Department of Treasury Building, the Old Post Office, and the original 
        U.S. Patent Office Building (current home of the National Museum of 
        American Art and National Portrait Gallery); Philip P. Barbour, Speaker 
        of the House of Representatives and Associate Justice of the Supreme 
        Court; and 10 mayors of the City of Washington;
Whereas several prominent Native Americans who died while in Washington were 
        buried at Congressional Cemetery, including Push-Ma-Ta-Ha, Chief of the 
        Choctaws and a Brigadier General of the U.S. Army, and Kan Ya Tu Duta 
        (or Scarlet Crow), a delegate of the Dakota Sioux;
Whereas among other significant figures in American history who are interred at 
        Congressional Cemetery are Belva Lockwood, the first woman to practice 
        law before the Supreme Court; conductor and composer John Philip Sousa; 
        Adelaide Johnson, suffragette and sculptor of the ``Portrait Monument'' 
        to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony in the 
        Rotunda of the Capitol; Civil War photographer Matthew Brady; silent 
        film star Mary Fuller; and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover;
Whereas the Congressional Cemetery was placed on the National Register of 
        Historic Places on June 23, 1969;
Whereas the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Congressional 
        Cemetery one of the 11 most endangered historical sites in America on 
        June 16, 1997;
Whereas for over 30 years the cemetery has been managed by the nonprofit 
        Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery, 
        whose mission is to preserve, interpret, and honor this national 
        treasure, significant District of Columbia landmark, and unique Capitol 
        Hill asset; and
Whereas by working with community volunteers such as the Congressional Cemetery 
        Dogwalkers Club, as well as with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 
        National Park Service, the Navy, and the Joint Military District of 
        Washington, the Association for the Preservation of Historic 
        Congressional Cemetery has made significant improvements to the 
        cemetery: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That on the 200th anniversary of the founding of 
Congressional Cemetery, the House of Representatives recognizes and 
honors the cultural and historical importance of Congressional Cemetery 
and the value of protecting and restoring this national treasure.
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