March 24, 1971
Page 7680
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 11 – SUBMISSION OF A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION CONGRATULATING SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO ON ITS 450TH ANNIVERSARY
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I submit, on behalf of myself and the Senator from New York (Mr. JAVITS), a concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 11) to commemorate the 450th anniversary of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the oldest city in the United States.
This commemoration is most appropriate, and I am honored to join in submitting this concurrent resolution. The American people are proud of San Juan, proud of its rich cultural heritage and
proud of the unique role San Juan plays in joining the peoples of North, Central, and South America in a cooperative community.
The splendid harbor of San Juan is a gateway to the verdant plains and mountains of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and to our sister nations in the Caribbean and the Americas. Our American citizens in San Juan have shown fellow citizens throughout the United States the joyous celebrations of their fiestas and the industrial development resulting from their hard work.
I do not mean to overlook the pressing problems which San Juan shares with our other great cities, in housing, employment, health, and ecology. These are problems, but they are problems we can and must overcome, working together.
So, let us join with the wonderful citizens of San Juan in commemorating this joyous occasion. And let us wish the citizens of San Juan 450 more years of success.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The concurrent resolution will be received and appropriately referred.
The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 11), which reads as follows, was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:
S. CON. RES. 11
Whereas the city of San Juan, capital of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, commemorates this year the 450th anniversary of its founding on the same site where it is presently located;
Whereas its founding in the year 1521 makes it the oldest city in the United States;
Whereas, our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico, and the citizens of the United States generally, feel justly proud of the rich historical and cultural heritage contributed by the city of San Juan to the gigantic melting pot of different races, peoples, and customs that comprise our great American nations; and
Whereas, the citizens of San Juan, headed by the Governor of Puerto Rico, Hon. Luis A. Ferre, and the city mayor, Hon. Carlos Romero Barcelo, jubilantly celebrate the historical date:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress of the United States congratulates the citizens of the municipality of San Juan, and joins them in the joyful celebration of their 450th anniversary.