If one Hawaii congresswoman had her way, Memorial Day would always be celebrated on May 30.
Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, a freshman Democrat, introduced legislation Thursday to restore May 30 as Memorial Day. She believes that restoring the holiday to its original date better honors those who were killed while serving the United States.
“On Memorial Day, we pay tribute to our fallen heroes who gave their lives to protect our great nation,” Hanabusa said in a statement, adding that as a result of the date change “many Americans have begun to celebrate the long weekend as the beginning of summer rather than honoring those who died courageously in battle.”
Memorial Day became a floating three-day holiday after Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968. If the act passes, Memorial Day will fall on a different day of the week each year instead of always falling on a Monday.
Hanabusa also noted that she is carrying on the work of the late Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), who passed away last year. Inouye introduced similar legislation in every Congress from 1989 onward, but the bill never garnered any support.
