Designating Square Dancing as the Folk Dance of the
United States -
February 5, 2003 - The "Promenade
Act" (Introduced in House) is a bill
introduced by Congressman Whitfield of the 1st District
in Kentucky and co-sponsored by Congressman Saxton of the
3rd District in New Jersey.Square dancers, please
write or call your local congressman and ask him or her
to co-sponsor the bill.
Letters and phone calls from constituents in support of a
particular
bill are always influential in a representative's
decision to support a bill.
Please pass this information along to as many square
dancers as possible.
Click
Here to EMail your Representative
USDA News Release "MAKE A LOT OF
NOISE" (Adobe Reader .pdf)
MAKE A LOT OF NOISE
“Promenade Act”
Square, Round, Contra, Line, Heritage dancers and
Cloggers across the United States are encouraged to
contact their congressman and congresswoman asking them
to be a Co-sponsor of H.R. 645, also
known as the “Promenade Act”.
The “Promenade Act”
will permanently designate the Square Dance as the
National Folk Dance of the United States of America
H.R. 645 was introduced in the 1st
Session of the 108th Congress on February 5, 2003, to
amend title 36, United States Code, designating the
Square Dance as the National Folk Dance by U. S.
Representative Ed Whitfield, 1st District, Kentucky. The
Square Dance is a traditional form of family recreation
and encompasses all age groups, including youth and the
handicapable. It is a healthy form of activity that
exercises the body, heart and mind, and is a very
politically correct activity.
The Square Dance is a great part of our American heritage
and history that should be given official recognition by
Congress. There are thirty-one states that have passed
legislation designating the Square Dance as their State
Folk Dance: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho,
Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland Massachusetts,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and
West Virginia.
The Square Dance is recognized in all the free world
today with many square dance groups in foreign countries
as well: Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Japan,
Philippines, and many other countries, who with us, keep
alive a heritage and tradition that predates the birth of
this great Nation.
Members of the United Square Dancers of America’s
Executive Committee recently walked the halls of the
House and Senate Office Buildings in Washington D.C.
discussing this legislation with various Congressional
offices and staff members seeking their co-sponsorship of
the “Promenade Act”.
In each case the response was very positive, raising the
hopes for success. If Square, Round, Contra, Line,
Heritage Dancers and Cloggers from all across the United
States MAKE A LOT OF NOISE by
urging their Representatives to Co-Sponsor this
legislation, the Square Dance will finally be permanently
designated as the National Folk Dance of the United
States of America.
If you have Internet access, go to the USDA home page at http://www.usda.org
and click on the Folk Dance section. There you can print
an individual congressional letter, a group congressional
letter and a signature petition form. If you click on the
link http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
- enter your own zip code it will connect you with your
Congressperson. Telephone calls also are effective and
with Congressional mail now taking over a month to
arrive, these other methods of communicating may be more
effective.
Click Here then
Type HR 645 for the Bill Number then click Search
Click
Here to see which Representatives have already Co-sponsored
the Bill
Click Here to EMail your
Representative
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