[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 133 (Saturday, August 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4164-S4165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMMEMORATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN
HELLENIC EDUCATIONAL PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee
on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. Res.
675 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The senior legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 675) commemorating the 100th
Anniversary of the founding of the American Hellenic
Educational Progressive Association.
There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the
Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Van
Hollen amendment at the desk to the resolution be agreed to; the
preamble be agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be considered made
and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 5434), in the nature of a substitute, was agreed
to as follows:
(Purpose: In the nature of a substitute.)
Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the
following: ``That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the significant contributions to the United
States of citizens of Hellenic heritage; and
(2) commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the founding of
the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association,
applauds its mission, and commends the many charitable
contributions of its members to communities in the United
States and around the world.
The resolution (S. Res. 675), as amended, was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 675
Whereas the American Hellenic Educational Progressive
Association (referred to in this preamble as ``AHEPA'') was
founded on July 26, 1922, in Atlanta, Georgia, by 8 visionary
Greek immigrants to help unify, organize, and protect
individuals of all ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds
against the bigotry, discrimination, and defamation
perpetrated predominantly by the Ku Klux Klan;
Whereas the mission of AHEPA is to promote the Hellenic
ideals of ancient Greece, which include philanthropy,
education, civic responsibility, and family and individual
excellence through community service and volunteerism;
Whereas, since the inception of AHEPA, the organization has
instilled in the members of AHEPA an understanding of their
Hellenic heritage and an awareness of the contributions that
Hellenic heritage has made to the development of democratic
principles and governance in the United States and throughout
the world;
Whereas AHEPA has done much throughout the history of the
organization to foster patriotism in the United States;
Whereas members of AHEPA have served in the Armed Forces of
the United States to protect the freedom of the people of the
United States and to preserve those democratic ideals that
are part of the Hellenic legacy;
Whereas, in World War II, members of AHEPA parachuted
behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Greece to help liberate
Greece;
Whereas AHEPA raised more than $253,000,000 for United
States war bonds during World War II, and, as a result of the
effort, AHEPA was named an official issuing agent for United
States war bonds by the Department of the Treasury, an honor
that no other civic organization had yet achieved;
Whereas, in 1990, the members of AHEPA donated $612,000
toward the restoration of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis
Island, New York, for which AHEPA received special
recognition by the Department of the Interior;
Whereas the AHEPA National Housing Program has sponsored
safe and dignified affordable housing for vulnerable senior
citizens under the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the
Elderly program (administered by the Department of Housing
and Urban Development and authorized under section 202 of the
Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q)), and the sponsorship
has a portfolio of 4,467 units in 87 communities in 19
States;
Whereas AHEPA has engaged in ``Track Two Diplomacy'' to
foster reconciliation and rapprochement in the Eastern
Mediterranean, which is in the best interest of the United
States, and has enhanced people-to-people ties between
countries;
Whereas AHEPA financially supports scholarships, natural
disaster and humanitarian relief, medical research, and
countless other charitable and philanthropic causes by
contributing more than $2,200,000 annually from the national,
district, and local levels of AHEPA;
Whereas generations of Greek American women and
Philhellenes have worked to strengthen society through
service organizations, such as the Daughters of Penelope, in
order to--
(1) provide affordable housing for older adults;
(2) sponsor and support domestic violence shelters;
(3) provide scholarship awards;
(4) raise awareness and provide financial support for
medical research and charitable causes; and
(5) help those in need of humanitarian assistance or
natural disaster relief;
Whereas, in the spirit of their Hellenic heritage and in
commemoration of the Centennial Olympic Games held in
Atlanta, Georgia, members of AHEPA raised $775,000 for the
Tribute to Olympism and Hellenism sculpture, the fan-like
structure of which helped to save lives during the 1996
Olympic Bombing at Centennial Olympic Park;
Whereas members of AHEPA raised $110,000 for the creation
of the George C. Marshall Statue erected on the grounds of
the United States Embassy in Athens, Greece, in celebration
of the historic relationship between the United States and
Greece and in tribute to General Marshall, an outstanding
statesman and Philhellene;
Whereas members of AHEPA raised $1,000,000 toward the
rebuilding of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and
National Shrine at the World Trade Center, which was the only
house of worship destroyed on September 11, 2001;
Whereas members of AHEPA have been Presidents and Vice
Presidents of the United States, United States Senators and
Representatives, and United States Ambassadors, and have
served honorably as elected and appointed officials at local
and State levels throughout the United States; and
Whereas President George H. W. Bush cited AHEPA as 1 of the
``thousand points of light'' in the United States: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the significant contributions to the United
States of citizens of Hellenic heritage; and
(2) commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the founding of
the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association,
applauds its mission, and commends the many charitable
contributions of its members to communities in the United
States and around the world.
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