Public Laws ENACTED DURING THE FIRST SESSION OF THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, January 3, 1961, and adjourned sine die on Wednesday, September 27, 1961. Until noon January 20, 1961, DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, President; RICHARD M. NIXON, Vice President; SAM RAYBURN, Speaker of the House of Representatives; from January 20, 1961, JOHN F. Kennedy, President; LYNDON B. JOHNSON, Vice President; SAM RAYBURN, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Public Law 87-1 JOINT RESOLUTION To create a joint committee to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the first inaugural of Abraham Lincoln. Whereas Saturday, March 4, 1961, will mark the centenary of Abraham Lincoln's taking the oath of office as sixteenth President of the United States; and Whereas the anniversary will be widely observed and noted throughout this land and overseas; and Whereas the occasion will coincide with exercises commemorative of the American Civil War of 1861-1865; and Whereas Mr. Lincoln stood at the head of the Government of the United States and its Armed Forces during those years of tragedy and travail; and Whereas he foresaw the difficulty of the task before him as "greater than that which rested on Washington"; and Whereas he sought the guidance of Almighty God, saying, "Without the assistance of that Divine Being . . . I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail."; and Whereas one who stood in the audience at his first inauguration would later write, "the shouts which have resounded for him at the Capitol are still ringing in my ears."; and Whereas from a wooden platform, projected from the eastern portico, beneath an unfinished dome, he pleaded and reasoned that day for reconciliation and the preservation of the Union, saying: March 1, 1961 [H. J. Res. 155] 3 coln's first inau guration. Centennial. "I take the official oath today, with no mental reservations, and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws, by any hypercritical rules. . . . I hold, that in contemplation of universal law, and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual.... It is safe to say that no government proper, ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step, while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from, have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to, are greater than all the real ones you fly from? Will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake? Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence, and beyond the reach of each other; but the different parts of our country cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them.... We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."; and ... Whereas the better angels do, in fact, touch us: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Abraham Lin States of America in Congress assembled, That on Saturday, March 4 next, the one hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration shall be commemorated by such observance as may be determined by the committee on arrangements in cooperation with the national Civil War Centennial Commission, the Civil War Centennial Commission of the District of Columbia, and the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia. Committee on arrangements. Planning of cere mony. Immediately upon passage of this resolution, the President of the Senate shall appoint four Members of the Senate and the Speaker of the House shall appoint four Members of the House of Representatives jointly to constitute a committee on arrangements. Immediately upon passage of this resolution and after the Members of the Senate and House have been appointed, the Speaker shall direct the committee on arrangements to meet and select a chairman from one of their own group and such other officers as will be appropriate and needed who will immediately proceed to plan, in cooperation with the national Civil War Centennial Commission, the Civil War Centennial Commission of the District of Columbia and the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia, an appropriate ceremony, issue invitations to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, Secretaries of departments, heads of independent agencies, offices, and commissions, the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, the diplomatic corps, assistant heads of departments, Commissioners of the District of Columbia, members of the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia, centennial commissions from the various States, Civil War roundtables, State and local historical and patriotic societies, and such other students and scholars in the field of history as may have a special interest in the occasion, organize a reenactment of Mr. Lincoln's first inauguration on the eastern portico of the Capitol, select a speaker and other participants, prepare and publish a program and submit a report not later than June 1, 1961. Approved March 1, 1961. Report. Public Law 87-2 AN ACT To authorize the distribution of copies of the Congressional Record to former March 21, 1961 [S. 451] Congressional Record. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 73 of the Printing Act, approved January 12, 1895, as amended (44 U.S.C. 183), is amended by inserting after the paragraph relating to Congress." ex-Presidents and ex-Vice Presidents a new paragraph as follows: "To each former Senator, Representative in Congress, Delegate from a territory, or Commissioner from Puerto Rico, upon request to the Public Printer, one copy of the daily." Approved March 21, 1961. Public Law 87-3 AN ACT To authorize the appointment of Dwight David Eisenhower to the active list of the Regular Army, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States is authorized to appoint former President Dwight David Eisenhower to the active list of the Regular Army in his former grade of General of the Army with his former date of rank in such grade. Dwight David Eisenhower, as a former President entitled to a monetary allowance and other benefits by the Act of August 25, 1958 (Public Law 85-745), shall not be entitled to the pay or allowances of a General of the Army. SEC. 2. The Secretary of Defense is authorized to assign military assistants to Dwight David Eisenhower as General of the Army. The amount authorized to be expended per annum by the Administrator of General Services under section (b) of the Act of August 25, 1958 (Public Law 85-745) to provide an office staff for a former President of the United States shall be reduced by the sum of the pay and allowances of any such military assistants so assigned. SEC. 3. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as in any way affecting or limiting the benefits provided the widow of any former President under the Act of August 25, 1958 (Public Law 85-745). Approved March 22, 1961. Distribution to former Members of 49 Stat. 1549. March 22, 1961 [S. 1173] Dwight D. Eisen hower. Regular Army, active list. 72 Stat. 838. |