[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 164 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 164
Commemorating the centennial anniversary of Korea's March First
Movement Day.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 28, 2019
Ms. Meng (for herself, Mr. Kim, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Pascrell, and Mr.
Keating) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Commemorating the centennial anniversary of Korea's March First
Movement Day.
Whereas March 1, 2019, marks the centennial anniversary of Korea's March First
Movement Day;
Whereas the Korean Declaration of Independence was read aloud in Seoul on March
1, 1919, and included the proclamation, ``We desire a full measure of
satisfaction in the way of liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and an
opportunity to develop what is in us for the glory of our people'';
Whereas the Korean Declaration of Independence was inspired by President Woodrow
Wilson's Fourteen Points and the right of a people to self-
determination;
Whereas President Wilson stated in an address to a Joint Session of Congress on
February 11, 1918, that ``self-determination is not a mere phrase. It is
an imperative principle of action'';
Whereas the March First Movement constitutes a foundation upon which the
Republic of Korea stands today as a global leader and one of America's
greatest foreign policy success stories;
Whereas Yu Gwan-sun, a 16-year-old young woman, joined alongside her classmates
at the March 1, 1919, independence demonstrations and later became the
face of the Korean independence movement;
Whereas Yu Gwan-sun was a student at Ewha Haktang in Seoul, which was
established by American missionaries as the first modern educational
institution for women in Korea;
Whereas Yu Gwan-sun was imprisoned and tortured at Seodaemun Prison in Seoul,
and on the first anniversary of the March First Movement, cried out,
``Even if my fingernails are torn out, my nose and ears are ripped
apart, and my legs and arms are crushed, this physical pain does not
compare to the pain of losing my nation.'';
Whereas, on March 28, 2018, the New York Times issued an obituary about Yu Gwan-
sun in its series titled ``Overlooked No More'';
Whereas Korea's March First Movement included contributions from several
prominent Koreans that were educated and resided in the United States;
Whereas these notable persons included Dr. Syngman Rhee, the first President of
the Republic of Korea, who received his doctorate from Princeton
University in 1910 from then President of the University, Woodrow
Wilson, and addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress on July 28, 1954;
Whereas Kim Kyu-Sik was among the earliest to receive a bachelor's degree in the
United States from Roanoke College in 1903;
Whereas Dosan Ahn Chang Ho was one of the early leaders of the Korean-American
community, having immigrated to San Francisco in October 1902, and
established the Friendship Society in 1903, the first Korean-American
organization;
Whereas Representative Diane Watson of California sponsored the bill that was
enacted on June 25, 2004, as Public Law 108-239, designating the
facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3751 West 6th
Street in Los Angeles, California, as the ``Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post
Office'', the first such facility to be named in honor of an Asian-
American;
Whereas Philip Jaisohn was the first Korean to become a naturalized citizen of
the United States in 1890 and was the first Korean to receive a United
States medical degree from Columbia Medical College, now the George
Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences;
Whereas, on April 14 through 16, 1919, following the March First Movement, Dr.
Syngman Rhee, with Philip Jaisohn, organized the first conference of
Korean-American organizations called the ``First Korean Congress'',
which was held at the Little Theatre on Delancey Place in Philadelphia
to symbolize Korea's independence movement, having drawn inspiration
from the United States Declaration of Independence nearly a century and
a half earlier;
Whereas Korea's March First Movement's principles of self-determination, human
rights, and nonviolence impacted similar movements throughout the world
in 1919 such as ``Satyagraha'', the nonviolent resistance developed by
Mahatma Gandhi and implemented by the Indian National Congress on April
5, 1919; and
Whereas the goals and ideals of the March First Movement continue to reside in
the hearts and minds of the Korean-American community: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) commemorates the centennial anniversary of Korea's
March First Movement Day;
(2) recognizes the role of Yu Gwan-sun and the impact of
all youth human rights activists;
(3) recognizes the significant and indelible contributions
of Korean Americans to the vibrancy of United States society,
politics, culture, and the economy; and
(4) reaffirms the United States-Korea alliance as the
lynchpin of United States engagement in Northeast Asia through
the shared values of democracy, free-market economy, human
rights, and the rule of law.
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