[Congressional Bills 113th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. Res. 534 Agreed to Senate (ATS)] 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 534 Designating September 6, 2014, as ``Everett McKinley Dirksen and Marigold Day''. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 31, 2014 Mr. Kirk (for himself and Mr. Durbin) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to _______________________________________________________________________ RESOLUTION Designating September 6, 2014, as ``Everett McKinley Dirksen and Marigold Day''. Whereas the great Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen of Pekin, Illinois, has passed from the halls of the United States Capitol; Whereas the current Senators wish to honor Senator Dirksen; Whereas, upon the passing of Senator Dirksen, his contemporaries and peers stated that-- (1) Senator Dirksen-- G (A) provided sage advice and counsel and wholehearted wisdom; G (B) provided support that made the civil rights legislation of the 1960s a fact rather than a dream during that decade; and G (C) was known as an American who cultivated a high sense of honor; and (2) when Senator Dirksen spoke, the country listened, and his eloquence was a source of national strength; Whereas, as the obituary for Senator Dirksen in the New York Times noted, Senator Dirksen ``was ever constant to the marigold, which he sought to make the national flower and which he grew profusely in his garden''; Whereas, as Senator Dirksen said on the Senate floor on April 17, 1967, the marigold ``is a native of North America and can in truth and in fact be called an American flower''; Whereas, as Senator Dirksen said in that speech, the marigold ``is national in character, for it grows and thrives in every one of the fifty states of this nation''; Whereas, as Senator Dirksen said in that speech, the marigold's ``robustness reflects the hardihood and character of the generations who pioneered and built this land into a great nation''; Whereas, beginning in 1973, Pekin has held the Pekin Marigold Festival each year to honor Pekin's favorite son, Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen; and Whereas the 40th Pekin Marigold Festival will be held during the first week of September 2014, which includes Saturday, September 6: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate designates September 6, 2014, as ``Everett McKinley Dirksen and Marigold Day''. <all>