[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 101 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 101

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
  States Postal Service should issue a commemorative postage stamp in 
   2015 to honor Constantino Brumidi, Artist of the Capitol, and to 
commemorate the 150th anniversary of his completion of ``The Apotheosis 
 of Washington'' in the eye of the dome of the Capitol, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 2013

 Ms. Norton submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
            the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
  States Postal Service should issue a commemorative postage stamp in 
   2015 to honor Constantino Brumidi, Artist of the Capitol, and to 
commemorate the 150th anniversary of his completion of ``The Apotheosis 
 of Washington'' in the eye of the dome of the Capitol, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas on July 1, 2008, President George W. Bush signed an Act of Congress 
        authorizing the Congressional Gold Medal be posthumously awarded to 
        Constantino Brumidi for his work in the Capitol over 25 years;
Whereas the Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor of civilian 
        achievement that the Congress bestows, and this makes Constantino 
        Brumidi worthy of a commemorative stamp;
Whereas it has been estimated that approximately 2,000,000 people saw 
        Constantino Brumidi's most famous work of art, ``The Apotheosis of 
        Washington'', in the Rotunda of the Capitol last year;
Whereas on July 11, 2012, the Congressional Gold Medal was presented in the 
        Capitol, in a ceremony attended by the House and Senate leadership and 
        many Members of Congress;
Whereas on July 26, 1805, Constantino Brumidi was born in Rome, Italy, of an 
        Italian mother and a Greek father who inspired him with a love of 
        liberty;
Whereas Constantino Brumidi's Greek ancestry stirred his passion for liberty and 
        citizenship, and his Italian heritage provided the art styles of the 
        Renaissance and the Baroque periods which influenced the artwork of the 
        United States Capitol;
Whereas Constantino Brumidi became a citizen of the United States as soon as he 
        was able, embracing its history, values, and ideals;
Whereas in 1865, at the end of the Civil War, Constantino Brumidi completed in 
        just 11 months his masterpiece, ``The Apotheosis of Washington'', in the 
        eye of the Capitol dome;
Whereas in 1871, Constantino Brumidi created the first tribute to an African-
        American in the Capitol when he placed the figure of Crispus Attucks at 
        the center of his fresco of the Boston Massacre;
Whereas in 1878, Constantino Brumidi, at the age of 72 and in poor health, began 
        work on the Rotunda frieze, which chronicles the history of America;
Whereas on February 19, 1880, Constantino Brumidi died at the age of 74, four-
        and-a-half months after slipping and nearly falling from a scaffold 
        while working on the Rotunda frieze;
Whereas Constantino Brumidi, proud of his artistic accomplishments and devoted 
        to his adopted country, said, ``My one ambition and my daily prayer is 
        that I may live long enough to make beautiful the Capitol of the one 
        country on earth in which there is liberty'';
Whereas Constantino Brumidi's life and work exemplify the lives of millions of 
        immigrants who came to pursue the American dream;
Whereas the United States Postal Service has yet to issue a stamp to honor the 
        memory of Constantino Brumidi, Artist of the Capitol; and
Whereas issuing a postage stamp to honor the memory of Constantino Brumidi, 
        Artist of the Capitol, is fitting and proper: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the United States Postal Service should issue a 
        commemorative postage stamp to honor Constantino Brumidi, 
        Artist of the Capitol;
            (2) the stamp should be issued to commemorate the 150th 
        anniversary of Constantino Brumidi's completion of ``The 
        Apotheosis of Washington''; and
            (3) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend 
        to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be so issued.
                                 <all>