Lawmaker Wants To Restore George Washington’s Birthday

A push is under way by lawmakers, historians and educators to give George Washington his birthday back instead of “diminishing the memory of the greatest American” by honoring it with a three-day weekend.

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., is sponsoring a bill to change the holiday to Feb. 22 from the third Monday in February. That date on the calendar is when the United States has marked Washington’s birthday since 1971, when a law took effect making Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Presidents Day all Monday holidays to give Americans a three-day weekend.

“President Washington exemplifies the best that America and Americans have to offer the world: principled leadership, personal bravery, a sense of duty and public service, patriotism, recognition of our unique role in world history and a reverence for his Creator,” Wolf said in prepared remarks during a House hearing on Wednesday. “His enduring service deserves to be remembered on his actual birthday.”

Wolf said Feb. 22 marked Washington’s 280th anniversary of his birth, yet most Americans celebrated a “generic” Presidents Day holiday two days earlier.-[source]