Press Releases
Senate Approves Boozman Resolution Commemorating 70th Anniversary of D-Day
Parliament members passed identical resolution in France
May 22 2014
WASHINGTON – A resolution sponsored by U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) commemorating the upcoming 70th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion and honoring the U.S. Armed Forces who helped bring an end to World War II passed the Senate by unanimous consent.
Boozman, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and co-chair of the Senate French Caucus, is recovering from heart surgery and was not in Washington when the resolution was called up.
Boozman offered the following statement on the passage of S. Res. 421:
“I am grateful that the Senate was able to expedite passage of this important resolution commemorating the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion before the Memorial Day recess so that we can rightly honor the brave men and women of the Allied Forces who helped break the Nazi stranglehold on Western Europe. As time passes, it remains our duty to remember the sacrifices made by the members of the Greatest Generation, including those brave Arkansans, who answered the call of those being oppressed by the Nazi and Fascist regimes.”
In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, 31,000 members of the United States Armed Forces, and 153,000 of their counterparts in the Allied Expeditionary Force, launched Operation Overlord by storming ashore five landing areas on the beaches of Normandy, France. The first day of the operation, which became known as D-Day, approximately 10,000 Allied soldiers were wounded or killed, including 6,000 Americans. Operation Overlord led to Allied liberation of Western Europe from the control of Nazi Germany and an end to World War II.
Earlier this month, the Parliament of the French Republic passed a similar resolution. French Parliament members asked Congress to pass a resolution in both bodies, honoring these sacrifices made in the name of liberty. Boozman answered this request in the Senate by introducing and getting this resolution passed. While the House of Representatives has not considered resolutions in the 113th Congress, similar language was added to H.R. 4435, the “National Defense Authorization Act for FY15” as an amendment.
