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A RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING CASIMIR PULASKI TO BE
AN HONORARY CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES POSTHUMOUSLY PASSED THE U.S.
SENATE
Washington D.C., March 20 - Late in the evening on March
19, 2007, the resolution S.J.RES.5 – "A joint resolution proclaiming
Casimir Pulaski to be an honorary citizen of the United States
posthumously" was passed in the U.S. Senate by Unanimous Consent without
amendment and with a preamble.The resolution was sponsored by Senator
Richard Durbin (D-IL) and had nine cosponsors (in alphabetical order),
Senators: Ben Cardin (D-MD), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Robert Casey, Jr.
(D-PA), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), John Kerry (D-MA), Barbara Mikulski
(D-MD), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Barack Obama (D-IL) and Mark Pryor
(D-AR).
The resolution reads:
S.J. RES. 5
Whereas Casimir Pulaski was a Polish
military officer who fought on the side of the American colonists
against the British in the American Revolutionary War;
Whereas Benjamin Franklin recommended that General George Washington
accept Casimir Pulaski as a volunteer in the American Cavalry and
said that Pulaski was "renowned throughout Europe for the courage
and bravery he displayed in defense of his country's freedom'';
Whereas after arriving in America, Casimir Pulaski wrote to General
Washington, "I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve
it, and to live or die for it.'';
Whereas the first military engagement of Casimir Pulaski with the
British was on September 11, 1777, at the Battle of Brandywine, and
his courageous charge in this engagement averted a disastrous defeat
of the American Cavalry and saved the life of George Washington;
Whereas on September 15, 1777, George Washington elevated Casimir
Pulaski to the rank of Brigadier General of the American Cavalry;
Whereas Casimir Pulaski formed the Pulaski Cavalry Legion, and in
February 1779, this legion ejected the British occupiers from
Charleston, South Carolina;
Whereas in October 1779, Casimir Pulaski mounted an assault against
British forces in Savannah, Georgia;
Whereas on the morning of October 9, 1779, Casimir Pulaski was
mortally wounded and was taken aboard the American ship USS Wasp,
where he died at sea on October 11, 1779;
Whereas before the end of 1779, the Continental Congress resolved
that a monument should be erected in honor of Casimir Pulaski;
Whereas in 1825, General Lafayette laid the cornerstone for the
Casimir Pulaski monument in Savannah, Georgia; and
Whereas in 1929, Congress passed a resolution recognizing October 11
of each year as Pulaski Day in the United States: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That Casimir Pulaski is
proclaimed to be an honorary citizen of the United States
posthumously.
On the same date, March 19 2007, at 7:45pm, the Resolution was
forwarded to the U.S. House of Representatives where it was referred to
the House Committee on the Judiciary.
In the House, a corresponding resolution - H.J.RES.39, in identical
wording, was introduced on March 5, 2007 by Congressman Dennis Kucinich
(D-OH), and cosponsored by 23 other Representatives. |