Rep. Michael Rulli (R-OH) introduced a bill to preserve Columbus Day and penalize cities that continue to replace the day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
“For years, the extreme left has desecrated statues of Christopher Columbus and sought to erase Columbus Day, replacing it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” Rulli said in a statement to the Tribune Chronicle. “This is not about inclusion; it is about erasing the contributions of millions of Italian Americans who helped build this nation. Indigenous peoples deserve recognition, but this day was created to honor us.”
Rulli noted that his bill, the “Italian Heroes and Heritage Act,” recognizes the “generations of Italian Americans whose courage, sacrifice and hard work have helped shape the United States.”
State or local governments that celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day will lose federal funding, the bill says.
“Columbus Day was created as an act of national reconciliation and recognition of the Italian American experience,” the congressman added. “It celebrates exploration, faith and family, the values that unite us as Americans. To attack Columbus Day is to attack that legacy of perseverance and pride. Italian Americans fought to be recognized as part of the American story, and we will not allow their memory or their day of honor to be erased.”
The bill comes as President Trump issued a proclamation that October 13 is Columbus Day.
The proclamation declares that Columbus “planted a majestic cross in a mighty act of devotion, dedicating the land to God and setting in motion America’s proud birthright of faith.”
“Guided by steadfast prayer and unwavering fortitude and resolve, Columbus’s journey carried thousands of years of wisdom, philosophy, reason, and culture across the Atlantic into the Americas — paving the way for the ultimate triumph of Western civilization less than three centuries later on July 4, 1776,” it adds, going on to condemn the actions taken by “left-wing radicals” who have “toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his character, and sought to exile him from our public spaces.”
