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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 457 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 457

   Recognizing Lunar New Year as a significant cultural holiday and 
encouraging local education agencies to consider closing school on the 
                            Lunar New Year.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 13, 2014

Ms. Meng submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
   Recognizing Lunar New Year as a significant cultural holiday and 
encouraging local education agencies to consider closing school on the 
                            Lunar New Year.

Whereas Lunar New Year begins on the new moon, or first day of the new year of 
        the lunisolar calendar, and extends until the full moon 15 days later;
Whereas the 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival;
Whereas Lunar New Year is also often referred to as Spring Festival in various 
        Asian countries;
Whereas many religious and ethnic communities also use lunar-based calendars;
Whereas Lunar New Year began in China over 4,000 years ago and is now widely 
        celebrated in East and Southeast Asia;
Whereas the Asian diaspora has expanded the Lunar New Year celebration into an 
        annual worldwide event;
Whereas Lunar New Year is celebrated by well over 8.7 million Asian-Americans in 
        the United States, as well as by many non-Asian-Americans;
Whereas Lunar New Year is traditionally celebrated by community activities and 
        cultural performances, and celebrants travel to spend the day reuniting 
        with family and friends;
Whereas Lunar New Year is traditionally a time to wish upon others good fortune, 
        health, prosperity, and happiness;
Whereas Lunar New Year is one of the most significant cultural holidays for 
        Asian-Americans;
Whereas Asian-American students wishing to participate in Lunar New Year 
        celebrations must choose between absence, which could result in missing 
        scheduled or unannounced school exams, and celebrating with family, 
        friends, and their community; and
Whereas communities with a substantial Asian-American population annually 
        experience a large number of student or teacher absences on Lunar New 
        Year: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes that Lunar New Year is a significant 
        cultural holiday for many Asian-Americans in the United States; 
        and
            (2) encourages local education agencies serving a 
        substantial Asian-American population to close schools on Lunar 
        New Year annually in recognition of the cultural significance 
        of Lunar New Year, and to reduce the waste in government 
        resources necessitated by holding school open on a day when a 
        substantial portion of the student or teacher population is 
        absent from school.
                                 <all>
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