Second Regular Session
Sixty-first General Assembly
LLS NO. R980630.01 GWF
STATE OF COLORADO
BY REPRESENTATIVE C. Berry;
also SENATORS Norton and Wells.
STATE, VETERANS & MILITARY
AFFAIRS
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 98-1012
WHEREAS, The Jack Swigert Memorial Commission has
fulfilled its mission as ordered by the Colorado General Assembly
of raising the necessary funds to build and place a statue of
Apollo 13 Astronaut John "Jack" Swigert in the United
States Capitol in Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, The statue of John L. Swigert was dedicated
on May 22, 1997, to stand in the hall of Congress; and
WHEREAS, John Swigert was famous for coolly uttering
the phrase "Houston, we have a problem", when an explosion
ripped apart an oxygen tank on Apollo 13 two hundred fifty thousand
miles from earth; and
WHEREAS, John Swigert was elected to Congress in
1982 but died of complications from cancer one week before he
was to have been sworn in to take office; and
WHEREAS, Each state is permitted to put two statues
of its choosing in Statutory Hall; and
WHEREAS, The statue of John L. Swigert, born in Denver,
Colorado, is the second statue from this state in the Capitol,
the first being a sculpture of Dr. Florence Rena Sabin, who led
the way for women to go to medical school; and
WHEREAS, The statue depicts Swigert in a white space
suit holding a goldcolored helmet with an Apollo 13 crew
patch picturing three horses streaking toward the moon on the
left breast and the American flag on the left shoulder, with the
inscription on the statue saying "Astronaut, Apollo 13, congressmanelect
1982"; and
WHEREAS, Among those present at the dedication were
Fred Haise, Jr., and James Lovell, Jr., his fellow astronauts
on the Apollo 13 mission, Daniel Goldin, NASA administrator, members
of the Colorado General Assembly who authorized the statue, and
Newt Gingrich, House Speaker, accepting the statue on behalf of
Congress who said it was fitting to have someone representing
"a state created by pioneers who was himself a pioneer"
and who also said "that a person of that caliber is represented
here not only speaks well of the state of Colorado, but will serve
as a lesson for all the young people who come through here and
ask, 'what does it mean to be an American?'"; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives
of the Sixtyfirst General Assembly of the State of Colorado,
the Senate concurring herein:
(1) That we, the members of the General
Assembly, authorize the Jack Swigert Memorial Commission to raise
the necessary funds from the private sector and place an identical
statue of John Swigert in the State of Colorado;
(2) That the Jack Swigert Memorial Commission
is hereby authorized to raise sufficient donations through public
subscription from private sources to cover all costs of the entire
project, including sculpture, transportation, and erection in
the state of Colorado;
(3) That the Jack Swigert Memorial Commission
shall direct such donations to the state treasurer to be accepted
pursuant to section 2422105, Colorado Revised Statutes;
(4) That the Jack Swigert Memorial Commission
shall give account of income and expenditures to the Joint Budget
Committee of the Colorado General Assembly; and
(5) That no public moneys shall be expended
by the Jack Swigert Memorial Commission and the members thereof
shall not be paid any salary or per diem for serving on the commission.
The Jack Swigert Memorial Commission may use public facilities
to hold public meetings.