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o-' ~; ~5:r~~ i .ii 70 House of Representatives. Committee on the Library. Friday, February 25, 1938. The committee this day met, Hon. Kent E. Keller (Chairman) presiding. The Chairman. We will now take up for consideration House Joint Resolution 499, intro- duced by L:r. Dickstein. The joint resolution will be made a part of the record at this point. (The joint resolution referred to is as follows:) 75TH CONGRESS H. J. RES. 499 T 1J111E HfOUSE' OF BE1 SNPT E INvEomIne 15,1937 Mr'. DICISI'EIN i nt oUhe('dl t'he following joint resolute ition; wli li was referred to thle Comminit tee on! the iarland orf()dered to) be 1)rinted JOINT RESOLUTION A itt )I'1;dI( lhe vor [ ofll) a In eillnwild () tll(.Lat fte(I tielmo ')I Irem Ii. 1 Resollred byf //I( Sewli(o (Ind IHoust of IBo/)rsvvtatie-s 2 of the Unitdcci State.N off 1eit(w ifl (i' tfl/rces (1issemblci, 3 Thiat the Sectretary of the Itteiom h e, aind he is hereby, 4 atlolized ll (icdtctd to4 alnllt Ielh11issiolfl to the Marcoi 5 Mijiofnl i A ssoc ia tioi for the crectiol oil piblic glo-ufds ot 6 the T'itd States ini the I)istric of Columbia, other thaii 7 those- of the Calipitol, the Libi'Aary of Congress-, and the White 8 Iouse, of it memorial of simple and artistic formi to the late 9 (Auglielino Mfarconi, inventor of an appaatus for wireless 10 telegraphy, by the American people: Proidc~l, That the 11 site chosen and the design of the mjemor-ial shall have the 2 1 approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and that 2 the United States shall be put to no expense in or by the 3 erection of the said memorial: Provided further, That unless 4 funds, which in the estimation of the Secretary of the 5 Interior are sufficient to insure the completion of the 6 memorial, are certified available, and the erection of this me- 7 morial begun within five years from and after the passage 8 of this legislation, the authorization hereby granted is 9 revoked. 7 uCONGRESS) 2D SESSION r H.I J. RES.U *i 499 JOINT RESOLUTION Authorizing the erection of a memorial to the late Guglielmo Marconi. By Mr. DICKSTEIN NoVEMBE 15, 1937 Referred to the Committee on the Library and ordered to be printed -... ~.. '~ td -~-""- 2 t: ni: '' The Chairman. ir. Dickstein, if you gx ~ desire to make a statement in reference to your Joint Resolution, we will be very glad to hear you at this time. STATIC EMT OF HON. SAMUEL DICKSTEIN, A REPRESENTA- TIVE IN CONGRESS FROM. TH STATE O': NEW YORK. Mr. Dickstein. Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee, I need not dwell at length on the purposes of this proposed legislation. In my opinion, and I think in the opinion of the American people this is the most worthy memorial that has been proposed in honor of a distinguished citizen, whom I call a citizen of the world, Guglielmo Marconi. I do not propose to recite Marconi's his- tory; it would take too long to do so. This is not a case where we are calling upon Congress for the appropriation of any money, nor is it a case where we are calling upon the Government to provide for perpetual care. ~.. i'?:~: Since the introduction of the resolution an organization has been formed, known as he Marconi Lemorial Foundation, Incorporated. 'hey have now on hand a large sum of money, and are ready to start going at the earliest possible moment, if and when this resolution becomes a law. There is a large amount of other money that will come from many sections of the country from people who feel that this memorial would be a great tribute to this distinguished man for the many things he has done for this country and for the world. We do not consider him as an Italian citizen. We feel that Marconi is very close to the United States; in fact, he worked here in develop- ing some of his great inventions providing for the safety of human life and safety of ships at sea. So we feel that in view of the fact that this resolution does not provide for any appropriation by Congress, that this corporation will provide all the necessary finances, that this will be one of the outstanding monuments in the City of ~ashington, a:: -"c~ a ~~~-~:... :''~~R~CS'~'-'" "':.; '' ~""7'"' ,~ with no expense to the Government for its care and maintenance. Feel sure, 1r. 'hairman and Gentlemen of the Committee, that the country will be with us, if we authorize the erection of this monument. There are quite a number of patriotic citizens who have been in negotiation with the Commission of Fine Arts in the last few months as to this particular monument, and everyoody seems to be very cooperative and to feel as I do, and as many Members of the House feel, that this commit- tee should report this resolution favorably. I will ask you to hear a few witnesses, who could go into the matter more fully, if you wish to have them do so. I will not take the time of the committee any further, but I will ask you to hear these other witnesses. The Chairman. I thank you for making that short statement. Permit me to suggest that I am sure the committeevill be only too glad to give very thorough consideration Sf this movement, because P" ... ~., C~nbtl:'. ~T~~ ~2~".' f,; the American people know of the tremendous con- Gk: tributions to art C; and to invention that the e,'' gc, 41 Italian people have made during the period from the R~auxx Renaissance up to the present time. I am hopeful in seeing this result in a wonderful piece of Italian art here in our National Capitol. Personally, I shall be delighted to give testimony bearing out what you are telling us. Mr. Dickstein. I am sure that this will be a masterpiece of art, because this is not a case where we are seeking any public funds. Only a few days ago there was a performance of an opera here, the proceeds from which were for the benefit of the Marconi Iemorial. The iarconi Memorial Foundation has on hand now twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars. There is money coming in every day, and we hope to have enough to enable the Foundation to provide for perpetual care, so it will not cost the government a solitary nickel. in this country SIt is a tribute which I think we owe to this 75 great genius. CONGRESSMAN CITRON SUPPORTS MEMORIAL TO THE LATE GUGLIELMO MARCONI Statement of Honorable William M. Citron of Connecticut, before the Committee on the Library. Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee, I desire to record myself in favor of H. J. Res. 499, a bill that authorizes the erection of a memorial to the late Guglielmo Marconi. The proposal honors the name of a great inventor, whose work and accomplishments have benefitted our civilization. Such a memorial would express not only our appreciation of a great student and scientist in the field of electricity and wireless telegraphy, but would be a guiding beacon for the youth and future generations of our country to strive for accomplishment in the field of art, science and humanity. It is only fitting that the memorial to honor Marconi's name be erected in our nation's Capital where his distinguished services to mankind were recognized on several occasions during his visits to our country. The Marconi Memorial Foundation, Inc. of which one of our great newspaper editors and writers, Mr. Generoso Pope, is the head, has offered to donate a monument through subscriptions collected from those holding the name of Marconi in great esteem. The acceptance of this gift and its erection in Washington would help to cement the friendship of our people with the people of Italy, and would be a further stimulus to international friend- ship and good will. The passage of this bill would prove the respect we hold for a great son of Italy and would also show our mutual respect and admiration for the many citizens of our country whose ancestry came from Marconi's native land. Our country is a land different from any other, as it is composed of people who emigrated from all parts of the world seeking liberty and justice, and who are striving to make it an example throughout the world. And, when this monument shall have been placed in the capital city of our country, let it stand as a monument to a. great personage and to a noble ideal, that of service to mankind, so when our youth and school children come to this city in their excursions from every state of the Union, they may gaze upon this memorial with respect and admiration for one whose spirit and ideals will live on with us forever. A2 76 ~~' ; STATEMENT OF iMR. S. SAMUEL DI FALCO, 166 Second AVENUE, NEW YORK, N. Y. Mr. Di Palco. h:r. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee, in conformity with the suggestion you made I want to make just a orief statement supplementing the remarks of Congressman DicksteiA " with reference to the organization of this Memorial Foundation. Immediately after the death of Marconi, Mr. Pope, who, by the way, wishes to offer his today apologies to the committee for not being here because of illness -- 'r.