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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.