Today the House of Representatives of the Italian Parliament almost unanimously approved the motion presented by parliamentarians Fucsia Fitzgerald Nissoli and Federico Mollicone in defense of Christopher Columbus. It is a historic day.

The motion was discussed on October 26, 2020 and it has been voted today. It was originally signed by 53 parliamentarians, with each political group having at least one signatory.

After a description of the many courageous and valorous Italian Americans who are fighting for Columbus and an explanation about why Italy should defend Columbus, the motion ends with its purpose:

“The House of Representatives commits the Government

1) to take action, on the political and diplomatic level, so that the Italian cultural heritage in the USA and the symbolic figure of that heritage embodied by Christopher Columbus may be safeguarded;

2) to use all the communication tools available to the Government, to grant the enhancement, both at the level of bilateral Italy-US relations and at the multilateral level, of the real historical role of Christopher Columbus, an explorer moved by the noble sentiments of discovery, at the basis of the evolution of society and of the whole of humanity.”

We the Italians wants to thank Fucsia Fitzgerald Nissoli and Federico Mollicone for their effort, their courage and their commitment. The credit for this historical success goes to them. To pass this motion and reach this goal was not easy at all. For years, once practically alone in the Italian Parliament, they have been defending Christopher Columbus and his symbolic value for the Italian Americans: the defense of Columbus is the defense of the Italian American community. This is a historic day because for the first time the Italian Parliament recognized this.

Together with Hon. Nissoli and Hon. Mollicone, at the beginning of July We the Italians will organize a press conference live from the press room of the House of Representatives in Rome, to comment on the outcome of the vote.

We the Italians also wants to recognize the valorous fight that many organizations, leaders and people in the Italian American Community are leading in defense of Columbus, which also means defending Italy. Organizations like the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, the Columbus Heritage Foundation, the Columbus Citizens Foundation, UNICO, National Columbus Education Foundation, The Order of Sons and Daughters of Italy The Italian Sons and Daughters of America, the National Italian American Foundation and the Italian American One Voice Coalition are doing a fantastic job, together with several other organizations and their members.

Two Flags, One Heart, Italy and the Italian Americans together in defense of Columbus!