A bust of Václav Havel, the first president of the Czech Republic, will be dedicated at a U.S. Capitol ceremony on Wednesday, November 19. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) made the announcement in a letter to members of the House and Senate.
“A playwright turned political dissident, Havel spent years in prison for challenging the ideology and legitimacy of the communist regime that ruled his native Czechoslovakia during the Cold War,” Boehner wrote. “On the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which liberated his people and led to his election as president, we will gather to honor Havel and all those whose sacrifices helped bring down the Iron Curtain.”
On March 11, 2014, the House of Representatives unanimously approved H. Res. 506, which states “that to honor the life and legacy of Václav Havel, the House of Representatives Fine Arts Board shall provide for the display of an appropriate bust of Václav Havel in the House of Representatives wing of the United States Capitol.”
A short time after the dedication in National Statuary Hall, the bust will be added to the Capitol’s Freedom Foyer, joining Winston Churchill, Lajos Kossuth, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington.
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