[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 119 (Tuesday, September 14, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS CELEBRATE THE CENTENARY OF THE STATE COUNCIL IN 
                        THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 14, 1999

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, the Order of the Knights of Columbus is an 
international Catholic family and fraternal service organization 
founded in 1882 in New Haven, Connecticut, by a 29-year-old parish 
priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, as a means for mutual social and 
financial support (self-insurance) among young Catholic men and their 
families. From its original 30 members from St. Mary's Parish, the 
Order has grown to more than 1.6 million members worldwide and, unlike 
many other similar fraternal organizations, is still growing.
  With its strong American orientation, in contrast to the focus on 
ancestral homelands and languages of ethnic or immigrant-centered 
societies, the fledgling organization had a broad appeal in the United 
States, expanding first through New England and then down the Atlantic 
Coast. In the Order's 15th year, 1897, Washington Council No. 224 was 
instituted in the District of Columbia.
  Within two years of the establishment of the Order in the District of 
the Washington Council, four other councils were instituted in the 
District: Keane Council No. 353 and Carroll Council No. 377 in 1898, 
and Spalding Council No. 417 and Potomac Council No. 433 in 1899. The 
first public appearance of the Knights of Columbus, as an Order, in the 
Nation's Capital was at the dedication of the Franciscan Monastery on 
September 17, 1899.
  With four councils and several hundred members in the District, the 
Supreme Council, the governing body of the Order, relinquished its 
direct supervision of these four councils by instituting the District 
of Columbia State Council on April 27, 1899. The State Council is the 
intermediate level of government within the Order's organizational 
structure whereby the councils within the State jurisdiction, in 
accordance with the Bylaws of the Order, can legislate their own 
affairs and elect State officers. This includes the Deputy Supreme 
Knight, or State Deputy, who serves as the chief executive officer for 
the jurisdiction. State Councils, in turn, collectively elect the 
leadership of the Supreme Council.
  Mr. Speaker, in the more recent years of the 20th century, another 12 
councils have been instituted in the District of Columbia, including 
councils at Catholic University of America and Georgetown University. 
The 17 councils in the District of Columbia have a combined membership 
of approximately 1900 Knights and their families.
  Mr. Speaker, the Knights of Columbus are dedicated to four major 
principles: Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism. Patriotism, the 
promotion of responsible citizenship and good government, is the 
special focus of the Fourth Degree of the Order. The Knights, in 
colorful capes and chapeaux at ecclesiastical and patriotic functions 
are members of the Color Corps of the Fourth Degree, the ``visible 
arm'' of the Knights of Columbus.
  Of these four principles, Charity is the basic principle of the 
Order. Within the Order's ``Surge . . . with Service'' program, the 
major program areas are service to Church, Community, Family and Youth. 
Within these program areas, in 1998, the Knights of Columbus Order-wide 
raised and distributed $110,692,742 for charitable and benevolent 
causes. In addition, Knights worldwide volunteered a total of 
55,033,160 hours of service to others.
  Of these total numbers for 1998, the 17 councils within the 
jurisdiction of the District of Columbia raised and distributed 
$177,008 and volunteered a total of 109,756 hours in service to others 
in the four primary programs. Notable within these figures is the 
support to care of the elderly through The Little Sisters of the Poor 
(a relationship dating back to 1899), and to persons with developmental 
disabilities through support of the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute for 
the past three decades.
  Mr. Speaker, throughout the 117-year history of the Knights of 
Columbus and, most particularly the 100-year history of the District of 
Columbia State Council, the Order has been in the forefront of service 
to the Church, the Community, Families and Youth and, most especially, 
in service to the United States. The greatest gift of the Knights of 
Columbus to mankind is the truly personal commitment of time and energy 
individual knights and their families give of themselves to charitable 
and benevolent causes. The Knights of Columbus, within the jurisdiction 
of the District of Columbia State Council are dedicated to maintaining 
and, indeed, increasing the level of service to others in the new 
Century and Millennium fast approaching.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that all of my colleagues join me in saluting the 
District of Columbia State Council of the Knights of Columbus for a 
century of selfless service and patriotism.

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