January 4, 2012

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a resolution introduced by Speaker John A. Boehner (R- OH) providing for a bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to be placed in the U.S. Capitol.

The resolution (H.R. 497) was passed by a voice vote on December 19th 2011 and directs that “the Architect of the Capitol place an appropriate statue or bust of Sir Winston Churchill in the United States Capitol at a location directed by the House Fine Arts Board in consultation with the Speaker.”

The resolution noted that Dec. 26, 2011 was the 70th anniversary of Churchill’s speech to a joint session of Congress in 1941 and that Churchill was made an honorary citizen of the United States in 1963 by then President Kennedy and given the Congressional Gold Medal in 1969. “The United Kingdom remains and will forever be an important and irreplaceable ally to the United States,” the resolution reads and it goes on to note that Churchill’s “persistence, determination and resolve remain an inspiration to freedom-fighters all over the world”