Italian Heroes and Heritage Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 5739 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5739 To prohibit Federal funds from being provided to any State or local government that celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 10, 2025 Mr. Rulli introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To prohibit Federal funds from being provided to any State or local government that celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Italian Heroes and Heritage Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following: (1) Christopher Columbus set sail 533 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 13th should continue to be celebrated nationwide as Christopher Columbus Day, as it ha