May 9, 1957

On this date, President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. An American ally against communism in Asia, Diem embarked on a two-week visit to the United States. Flying from Hawaii on President Dwight Eisenhower’s private plane, Columbine III, and greeted at National Airport by the President, Diem received full military honors including a 21-gun salute. As part of his state visit, Diem addressed a Joint Meeting, presided over by Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn of Texas and Vice President Richard M. Nixon of California. The Vietnamese leader expressed gratitude to the United States for “moral and material aid.” He outlined the history of his country and his hope for its future. Diem concluded his 20-minute speech by soliciting more financial assistance from the United States. “In the face of increased international tension and Communist pressure in southeast Asia, I could not repeat too often how much the Vietnamese people are grateful for American aid, and how much they are conscious of its importance, profound significance, and amount,” Diem told Representatives and Senators. The Joint Meeting concluded with a luncheon in honor of President Diem which was originally scheduled to take place in the Old Supreme Court Chamber. At the last minute, the fete moved to the Senate District Committee Room to accommodate a luncheon to honor First Lady Mamie Eisenhower at the request of Mrs. Patricia Nixon.

May 15, 1926

On this date, Hopi Indians from northern Arizona performed a series of sacred dances for the public and prominent U.S. government officials on the East Front of the Capitol. Critics had been seeking federal intervention to ban this particular ceremony—a series of four rain dances performed annually—for being too dangerous because it involved stepping among and handling poisonous snakes. The Hopi sought to use the public performance to demonstrate that the dances were a safe and important cultural practice. The dances “portray a solemn religious ritual of the tribe itself,” Senator Ralph Cameron of Arizona reminded his colleagues, describing his constituents as those “who seek by this demonstration before the Congress…to show its sincerity and religious character and thus allay what they deem the unfair effort on the part of some people to deprive them the right to conduct this religious ceremony.” In attendance among the crowd of nearly 5,000 onlookers were Vice President Charles Dawes, Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland, Speaker Nicholas Longworth of Ohio and many other Members of Congress. The Native Americans, adorned in their traditional feathered and beaded costumes, awed the crowd. One performer, identified as the dance leader, touched his lips to a deadly serpent’s mouth several times without receiving a bite. More than a year later, the Bureau of Indian Affairs tried to ban the dance, but quickly relented after noting that most criticism came from the East Coast—far from Arizona—and in deference to the important cultural and religious nature of the ceremony.

May 14, 1973

On this date, President Richard M. Nixon formally approved P.L. 93–33 (87 Stat. 71), the Roberto Walker Clemente Congressional Gold Medal. As the right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Clemente, a native of Puerto Rico, emerged as one of professional baseball’s greatest stars. In his storied 18 seasons with the Pirates, Clemente garnered 3,000 hits, 12 straight Gold Gloves (1961–1972), and the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1966. But he was also celebrated for his selfless humanitarianism. On December 31, 1972, he was killed in an air plane crash off San Juan, Puerto Rico, en route to deliver supplies to victims in earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. In the House, Representative William Moorhead of Pennsylvania introduced legislation to award Clemente the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously. Representative Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell of North Carolina, cosponsored the bill. Mizell had pitched against Clemente as a St. Louis Cardinal (holding the career .317 hitter to just .238 in 47 plate appearances) before becoming his teammate in Pittsburgh during the Pirates’ World Series Championship season in 1960. Mizell recalled, “His power hitting, his blazing base-running, his amazing ability as a fielder—all of these are testimony to the fact that he was a complete athlete and a genuine superstar in the game of baseball. This is Roberto Clemente the ball player but the greatest testimonial to how great Roberto Clemente the man was, was the tremendous interest he took in the youth of Puerto Rico.” On March 27, 1973, the House passed the Clemente bill. Later that year, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2002, the Baseball Hall of Fame changed the order of his name to Roberto Clemente Walker to reflect the tradition in many Latino cultures in which a man uses his mother’s maiden name after his surname.