[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 165 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S14931]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO HAVE BEEN AWARDED THE 
                              PURPLE HEART

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
committee on Governmental Affairs be discharged from further 
consideration of S. Con. Res. 42, and that the Senate proceed to its 
immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the concurrent resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 42) expressing the 
     sense of the Congress that a commemorative postage stamp 
     should be issued by the United States Postal Service honoring 
     the members of the Armed Forces who have been awarded the 
     Purple Heart.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
concurrent resolution and preamble be agreed to, en bloc, the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating 
thereto be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 42) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 42

       Whereas the Order of the Purple Heart for Military Merit, 
     commonly known as the Purple Heart, is the oldest military 
     decoration in the world in present use;
       Whereas the Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the 
     President of the United States to members of the Armed Forces 
     who are wounded in conflict with an enemy force or while held 
     by an enemy force as a prisoner of war, and posthumously to 
     the next of kin of members of the Armed Forces who are killed 
     in conflict with an enemy force or who die of a wound 
     received in conflict with an enemy force;
       Whereas the Purple Heart was established on August 7, 1782, 
     during the Revolutionary War, when General George Washington 
     issued an order establishing the Honorary Badge of 
     Distinction, otherwise known as the Badge of Military Merit 
     or the Decoration of the Purple Heart;
       Whereas the award of the Purple Heart ceased with the end 
     of the War of the Revolution, but was revived out of respect 
     for the memory and military achievements of George Washington 
     in 1932, the year marking the 200th anniversary of his birth; 
     and
       Whereas 1999 is the year marking the 200th anniversary of 
     the death of George Washington: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) a commemorative postage stamp should be issued by the 
     United States Postal Service honoring the members of the 
     Armed Forces who have been awarded the Purple Heart; and
       (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend 
     to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued in 
     1999, the year marking the 200th anniversary of the death of 
     George Washington.

                          ____________________