IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 89 

Expressing the sense of the Congress that a commemorative postage stamp 

should be issued honoring Varian Fry, and that the Citizens’ Stamp 

Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that 

such a stamp be issued. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2007 

Mr. ROTHMAN (for himself, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. 

SAXTON, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. PASCRELL, and Ms. WOOLSEY) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Congress that a commemorative 

postage stamp should be issued honoring Varian Fry, 

and that the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee should 

recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp 

be issued. 

Whereas Varian Mackey Fry, of Ridgewood, New Jersey, embodied the spirit of American heroism and demonstrated 

personal bravery of the highest order during the Holocaust; 

Whereas while serving as a representative of the Emergency 

Refugee Committee in Occupied Vichy, France between 


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•HCON 89 IH 

1940 and 1941, Varian Fry helped save the lives of 

1,500 Jews and hundreds of other anti-Nazi refugees; 

Whereas Varian Fry established a legal French relief organization, the Centre Ame ́ricain de Secou, as a cover for his 

heroic but sometimes unlawful actions on behalf of the 

refugees, including securing false visas, planning daring 

escape routes through the mountains of Southern France, 

illegally chartering ships to transport refugees out of the 

country, and exchanging funding for these operations on 

the black market; 

Whereas in order to save thousands of Jews and refugees 

threatened by the Nazis, Varian Fry risked his personal 

safety, forfeited his employment as a writer with the Foreign Policy Association, and was ultimately expelled from 

France because his actions contravened the policies of the 

Vichy French government; 

Whereas Varian Fry’s efforts resulted in the rescue of some 

2,000 persons, including such distinguished artists and 

intellectuals as Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Hannah 

Arendt, Franz Werfel, Jacques Lipchitz, Lion 

Feuchtwanger, and Heinrich Mann; 

Whereas in 1967, for his heroic actions, Varian Fry received 

the Croix de Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, 

1 of France’s highest civilian honors; and 

Whereas in 1996, Varian Fry was named as ‘‘Righteous 

Among the Nations’’ by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust 

Heros and Martyrs Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, making him the first American recipient of 

Israel’s highest honor for rescuers during the Holocaust: 

Now, therefore, be it 


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•HCON 89 IH 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that— 

3 (1) a commemorative postage stamp should be 

4 issued by the United States Postal Service honoring 

5 Varian Fry; and 

6 (2) the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee 

7 should recommend to the Postmaster General that 

8 such a stamp be issued. 

Æ 


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