III
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 491
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 24, 2006
Mr. Hagel (for himself, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Murkowski, and Mr. Voinovich) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
June 14, 2006
Committee discharged; considered and agreed to
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the accomplishments of Ignacy Jan Paderewski as a musician, composer, statesman, and philanthropist, and commemorating the 65th anniversary of his death on June 29, 1941.
Whereas Ignacy Jan Paderewski, born in Poland in 1860, was a brilliant and popular pianist who performed hundreds of concerts in Europe and the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries;
Whereas Paderewski donated the bulk of the proceeds of his concerts to charitable causes, including the establishment of the American Legion's Orphans and Veterans Fund;
Whereas, during World War I, Paderewski worked for the independence of Poland and served as the first Premier of Poland;
Whereas, in December 1919, Paderewski resigned as Premier of Poland, and in 1921 he left politics to return to his music;
Whereas the German invasion of Poland in 1939 spurred Paderewski to return to political life;
Whereas Paderewski fought against the Nazi dictatorship in World War II by joining the exiled Polish Government to mobilize the Polish forces and to urge the United States to join the Allied Forces;
Whereas, on June 29, 1941, Paderewski died in exile in the United States while all of Europe was imperiled by war and occupation;
Whereas, by the direction of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, the remains of Paderewski were placed alongside the honored dead of
the United States in Arlington National Cemetery, where President Roosevelt
said, He may lie there until Poland is free.
;
Whereas, in 1963, President John F. Kennedy honored Paderewski by placing a plaque marking his remains at the Mast of the Maine at Arlington National Cemetery;
Whereas, in 1992, President George H.W. Bush, at the request of Lech Walesa, the first democratically elected President of Poland since World War II, ordered the remains of Paderewski to be returned to his native Poland;
Whereas, on June 26, 1992, the remains of Paderewski were removed from the Mast of the Maine at Arlington National Cemetery and returned to Poland 3 days later;
Whereas, on July 5, 1992, the remains of Paderewski were interred in a crypt at the St. John Cathedral in Warsaw, Poland; and
Whereas Paderewski wished his heart to be forever enshrined in the United States, where his lifelong struggle for democracy and freedom had its roots and was cultivated, and now his heart remains at the Shrine of the Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
recognizes the accomplishments of Ignacy Jan Paderewski as a musician, composer, statesman, and philanthropist;
on the 65th anniversary of his death, acknowledges the invaluable efforts of Ignacy Jan Paderewski in forging close ties between Poland and the United States; and
recognizes Poland as an ally and strong partner in the war against global terrorism.