IIA 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. J. RES. 26 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES October 8, 2009 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary JOINT RESOLUTION Proclaiming Casimir Pulaski to be an honorary citizen of the United States posthumously.

Whereas Casimir Pulaski was a Polish military officer who fought on the side of the American colonists against the British in the American Revolutionary War; Whereas Benjamin Franklin recommended that General George Washington accept Casimir Pulaski as a volunteer in the American Cavalry and said that Pulaski was renowned throughout Europe for the courage and bravery he displayed in defense of his country’s freedom; Whereas, after arriving in America, Casimir Pulaski wrote to General Washington, I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it.; Whereas the first military engagement of Casimir Pulaski with the British was on September 11, 1777, at the Battle of Brandywine, and his courageous charge in this engagement averted a disastrous defeat of the American Cavalry and saved the life of George Washington; Whereas, on September 15, 1777, George Washington elevated Casimir Pulaski to the rank of Brigadier General of the American Cavalry; Whereas Casimir Pulaski formed the Pulaski Cavalry Legion, and in February 1779, this legion ejected the British occupiers from Charleston, South Carolina; Whereas, in October 1779, Casimir Pulaski mounted an assault against British forces in Savannah, Georgia; Whereas, on the morning of October 9, 1779, Casimir Pulaski was mortally wounded and was taken aboard the American ship USS Wasp, where he died at sea on October 11, 1779; Whereas, before the end of 1779, the Continental Congress resolved that a monument should be erected in honor of Casimir Pulaski; Whereas, in 1825, General Lafayette laid the cornerstone for the Casimir Pulaski monument in Savannah, Georgia; and Whereas, in 1929, Congress passed a resolution recognizing October 11 of each year as Pulaski Day in the United States: Now, therefore, be it

That Casimir Pulaski is proclaimed to be an honorary citizen of the United States posthumously.

Passed the House of Representatives October 8, 2009. Lorraine C. Miller, Clerk.