119-sres284

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 284 Agreed to Senate

    (ATS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
S. RES. 284

 Designating June 10, 2025, as ``DACOR Bacon House Bicentennial Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 June 17, 2025

 Mr. Whitehouse (for himself and Mr. Wicker) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

 Designating June 10, 2025, as ``DACOR Bacon House Bicentennial Day''.

Whereas the DACOR Bacon House (in this preamble referred to as the ``House'') 
 rests upon land originally belonging to the Anacostian people, who lived 
 in the area between the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers for generations 
 before European settlers arrived on their shores;
Whereas the House is built upon land previously owned by David Burnes, a 
 Revolutionary War veteran who negotiated with President George 
 Washington for the sale of his property to the Federal Government, which 
 included the land upon which the White House and much of the National 
 Mall are built;
Whereas the property was acquired in 1815 by Tobias Lear V, George Washington's 
 personal secretary, who was the last person to whom President Washington 
 spoke before passing and who was instrumental in ending the First 
 Barbary War during his service as Consul General to Algiers;
Whereas Tench Ringgold, United States Marshal for the District of Columbia and 
 Keeper of the Keys of the Capitol, who personally led President James 
 Madison and several members of his Cabinet to safety during the 1814 
 British burning of the White House, completed building the present-day 
 DACOR Bacon House in 1825, through the use of enslaved people;
Whereas Chief Justice John Marshall, a previous Secretary of State, boarded at 
 the House and was joined at times by Justices Joseph Story, Gabriel 
 Duval, Smith Thompson, and Henry Baldwin;
Whereas former Maryland Governor Samuel Sprigg, who was instrumental in the 
 completion of the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, purchased the 
 House as a gift for his daughter Sally Sprigg and nephew William Thomas 
 Carroll, Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States and a member of 
 the prominent Carroll family, which includes signers of the Declaration 
 of Independence, Articles of Confederation, United States Constitution, 
 as well as numerous elected officials and the founder of Georgetown 
 University;
Whereas William Thomas Carroll was also known for providing President Abraham 
 Lincoln with the Bible that was used for his first inauguration, which 
 has since become known as the ``Lincoln Bible'' and has been utilized by 
 other presidents, including President Barack Obama and President Donald 
 Trump, for their oaths of office;
Whereas the DACOR Bacon House served as the official residence of Russian 
 Imperial Minister Nikolai Shishkin, the Russian Federation's top 
 diplomatic representative to the United States, from 1875 to 1878 while 
 he was dispatched to Washington, D.C.;
Whereas Chief Justice Melville Fuller and his family resided at the House from 
 1896 to 1910, during which time the House remained a fixture in 
 Washington, D.C., high society and hosted President Grover Cleveland, 
 President Theodore Roosevelt, and Secretary of War William Howard Taft;
Whereas, from 1911 to 1925, Alice Cornelia Copley Thaw owned the House and 
 modernized its inner workings;
Whereas Illinois Senator Medill McCormick and his wife, the future Congresswoman 
 Ruth Hanna McCormick, resided in the House during the 1920s when they 
 entertained lawmakers and their spouses;
Whereas socialite Virginia Murray Bacon and her husband, 8-term New York 
 Congressman Robert Low Bacon, owned the House from 1925 to 1980, during 
 which period Virginia Murray Bacon's hosting abilities earned her the 
 reputation of being one of Washington, D.C.'s last grandes dames;
Whereas the House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, 
 paying homage to its nearly 150 years of contributions to American 
 history and society;
Whereas Virginia Murray Bacon established the Bacon House Foundation, which 
 worked hand in hand with the DACOR Education and Welfare Foundation to 
 establish the DACOR Bacon House Foundation, which was charged with 
 caring for the historic House in perpetuity;
Whereas, on May 23, 1986, Secretary of State George P. Shultz attended the 
 dedication ceremony that marked the DACOR Bacon House Foundation's new 
 ownership and charged those present to ``protect and advance the 
 interests and ideals of America'';
Whereas, since 1986, the House has served as the headquarters of the Diplomatic 
 and Consular Officers, Retired

    (DACOR) organization, a premier 
 organization of foreign affairs professionals, whose members include 
 ambassadors, foreign service officers, military and intelligence 
 officials, political appointees from both major parties, Members of 
 Congress and their staffs, Peace Corps and International Monetary Fund 
 officials, global business leaders, and other professionals dedicated to 
 promoting American interests and diplomatic relations;
Whereas, through DACOR and the DACOR Bacon House Foundation, which host regular 
 educational discussions, policy programs, leadership development 
 opportunities, and musical events, the House continues to be a vibrant 
 center of cultural and diplomatic exchange, a museum of American life, 
 and the home of the foreign affairs community; and
Whereas, 200 years after its construction, the House remains a pillar of 
 strength in the President's neighborhood, pays tribute to the legacy of 
 its prior owners, enslaved workers, and distinguished guests, and serves 
 as a unique prism for understanding the history of both the District of 
 Columbia and the United States of America: Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the Senate--

    (1) recognizes the historic importance of the DACOR Bacon 
 House to the history of the United States, including American 
 diplomacy, the Supreme Court, and Congress;

    (2) applauds the DACOR Bacon House Foundation and the 
 Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired organization for 
 their decades-long efforts to preserve this historic landmark 
 located in the heart of the capital of the United States; and

    (3) designates June 10, 2025, as ``DACOR Bacon House 
 Bicentennial Day''.
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