[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 20, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4427-S4428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CARVING OF THE CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary
Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now
proceed to S. Res. 496.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the
resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 496) honoring the 60th anniversary of
the commencement of the carving of the Crazy Horse Memorial.
The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I wish to speak today about the Crazy
Horse Memorial in South Dakota. On June 3, 2008, the Crazy Horse
Memorial will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its dedication. Gutzon
Borglum, who was the sculptor behind Mount Rushmore, brought Korczak
Ziolkowski to South Dakota to work on Mount Rushmore. It was during
construction of Mount Rushmore when Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear
contacted Korczak Ziolkowski and stated ``My fellow chiefs and I would
like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too.'' It is
believed that this statement led Mr. Ziolkowski to construct this
memorial.
On June 3, 1948, this memorial was dedicated and construction has
continued ever since. Mr. Ziolkowski worked on this memorial until the
conclusion of his own life in 1982, when his wife, Ruth, took up the
job that her husband began. The Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation was
established and runs entirely on gifts and donations. No government
funds have ever been used for construction of this memorial. With no
way to predict when completion of this memorial will take place due to
cost and weather, construction continues. When it is completed,
however, it will be the largest carving on earth, measuring some 641
feet long by 563 feet high. To put that in perspective, it is said that
all four heads on Mount Rushmore could fit into Crazy Horse's head.
Today, I wish to honor Korczak Ziolkowski, his wife, and their family
for their continued work on this monument. In addition, I would like to
honor those involved with the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. Most
importantly, I wish to honor the memory of the great Lakota warrior to
whom this memorial is dedicated, Crazy Horse, as well as all Lakota
people for their great many contributions to our history and culture in
South Dakota. It is they that this memorial is to honor.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider
be laid upon the table.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 496) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 496
Whereas sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who never received any
formal art training but nonetheless won 1st place for
sculpture at the New York World's Fair in 1939, came to the
Black Hills of South Dakota as an assistant to Gutzon Borglum
to help carve Mount Rushmore;
Whereas Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear contacted Korczak
Ziolkowski in 1939 to encourage him to create another
mountain memorial, saying in his letter of invitation: ``My
fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red
man has great heroes, too'';
Whereas Crazy Horse was remembered by his people as a
fierce warrior and visionary leader who was committed to
preserving the traditional Lakota way of life;
Whereas Korczak Ziolkowski was inspired to honor the
culture, tradition, and living heritage of North American
Indians, and thus designed a metaphoric tribute to the spirit
of Crazy Horse and his people;
Whereas Korczak Ziolkowski was dedicated as well to helping
his country preserve freedom, enlisted in the Army, and was
wounded in 1944 at Omaha Beach;
Whereas Korczak Ziolkowski returned to South Dakota after
World War II in order to find a suitable mountain to carve in
order to honor Crazy Horse and his people;
Whereas Korczak Ziolkowski and Chief Standing Bear
dedicated the Crazy Horse Memorial on June 3, 1948;
Whereas Korczak Ziolkowski worked until his death in 1982,
and his wife, Ruth, and their family have dedicated their
lives to carving the mountain and continuing the mission of
the Crazy Horse Memorial;
Whereas there is no way to predict when the mountain
carving will be completed, owing to the uncertainty of
weather, the availability of private funding, and the
challenges of mountain engineering;
Whereas, when completed, the Crazy Horse mountain carving
will be the largest carving in the world, at 641 feet long by
563 feet high;
Whereas Korczak Ziolkowski's parting words to his wife
were, ``You must work on the mountain--but go slowly so you
do it right'';
Whereas the Ziolkowski family and the Crazy Horse Memorial
Foundation have continued to do it right, have proceeded
without government financial support, and remain dedicated to
making steady progress on the Memorial's humanitarian goals;
and
Whereas the Crazy Horse Memorial will celebrate the 60th
anniversary of the dedication of the mountain carving on June
3, 2008: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate, on the 60th anniversary of the
commencement of the mountain carving of the Crazy Horse
Memorial, honors sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, the Ziolkowski
family, and the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation for their
dedication to honoring the culture, tradition, and living
heritage of North American Indians and the spirit of Crazy
Horse and his people.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, the resolution that was adopted by the
Senate is S. Res. 496, which I introduced on April 2, 2008, along with
my colleague from South Dakota, Senator Tim Johnson. The resolution
honors the 60th anniversary of the Crazy Horse Memorial.
The Crazy Horse Memorial, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota,
honors the culture, the tradition, and the living heritage of Native
Americans. Once completed, the memorial will stand more than 22 stories
high and be the largest mountain sculpture in the world. Every year,
there is an event called the Volksmarch, in which people start at the
base and walk up to the very top of the monument. You cannot appreciate
the size and the dimension of this great monument from
[[Page S4428]]
a distance. It is only when you get up close that the true dimensions
of this monument come into full view. I have had that opportunity on
the Volksmarch, with my family, to walk up and stand next to this
monument and to have an appreciation for its true dimension and for
what it means to my State of South Dakota and to the Native American
culture.
The sculptor of this monument, Korczak Ziolkowski, had no formal
training and originally came to South Dakota to assist Gutzon Borglum
in the carving of Mount Rushmore. In 1939, Chief Henry Standing Bear
invited him to construct another mountain monument, this one to honor a
great Native American hero. However, it was not until June 3, in 1948,
that the project was officially dedicated.
Crazy Horse, a great Lakota chief, was selected as the Native
American hero worthy of the mountain monument because of his courage in
battle, his visionary leadership, and his commitment to the
preservation of the traditional Lakota way of life. The memorial was
placed in the Black Hills of South Dakota because they are sacred to
the Lakota people. While Crazy Horse was never photographed, the
completed monument will feature a likeness of him riding a horse and
pointing with his left hand out toward the Black Hills.
Ziolkowski, who worked tirelessly and without salary on the Crazy
Horse Memorial until his death in 1982, believed in individual
initiative and private enterprise and worked to build the memorial
without any Federal funding. As my colleagues can see from the photo we
have here, the face of Crazy Horse is complete, the rest of the
mountain has been roughly blocked out, and efforts are currently
focused on carving the horse's head.
While there is no way to predict the date of completion because of
weather, financing, and the challenges of carving a mountain,
Ziolkowski's wife Ruth, who is an amazingly determined woman, and his
family, along with the help of thousands of donors and visitors,
continues Ziolkowski's mission of honoring Native Americans through the
construction of this monument.
Therefore, today I rise to honor the 60th anniversary of the Crazy
Horse Memorial and send my best wishes to all those working to make
Korczak Ziolkowski's vision a reality.
I thank the Senate for its adoption of the resolution, and I yield
the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican whip is recognized.
____________________