Italian Heroes and Heritage Act

This Act may be cited as the Italian Heroes and Heritage Act .

(a) Findings. The Congress finds the following: (1) Christopher Columbus set sail 534 years ago in 1492 to bravely cross the Atlantic Ocean and discovered new land that would soon after become known as America. (2) President Benjamin Harrison founded Christopher Columbus day in 1892 to honor Christopher Columbus’s voyage and the 11 Italian-Americans murdered by a New Orleans lynch mob due to suspicion and hatred of Italian-Americans. (3) The 11 people brutally murdered were Italian-American cobbler Pietro Monasterio; fruit importer Joseph P. Macheca; fruit peddlers Antonio Bagnetto, Antonio Marchesi, Antonio Scaffidi; rice plantation laborer Charles Traina; stevedores James Caruso and Rocco Geraci; street vendor Emmanuele Polizzi; tinsmith Loreto Comitis; and ward politician Frank Romero.

(b) Sense of congress. It is the sense of Congress that October 12th should continue to be celebrated nationwide as Christopher Columbus Day, as it has been since 1892, to honor our Italian-American heritage and our forefather, Christopher Columbus, who helped to discover this great land.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during the 1-year period beginning after October 12, 2026, and each Columbus Day (as described in section 6103(a) of title 5, United States Code) thereafter, no Federal funds may be obligated, expended, or otherwise dispursed to any State or unit of local government that celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day in lieu of Columbus Day.