Ten republicans voted against this resolution. I imagine they were afraid any identification with higher learning might alienate them from their base. (Aside from the Glen Beck types who...oh never mind)

Congress has voted on these sorts of things for years...bet they'd have voted for No Stem Cell Research Day hah...but I imagine these folks were "ascared ah schinse en larnin" and likely didn't know what pi is.

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Whereas the Greek letter (Pi) is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter;

Whereas the ratio Pi is an irrational number, which will continue infinitely without repeating, and has been calculated to over one trillion digits;

Whereas Pi is a recurring constant that has been studied throughout history and is central in mathematics as well as science and engineering;

Whereas mathematics and science are a critical part of our children's education, and children who perform better in math and science have higher graduation and college attendance rates;

Whereas aptitude in mathematics, science, and engineering is essential for a knowledge-based society;

Whereas, according to the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) survey done by the National Center for Education Statistics, American children in the 4th and 8th grade were outperformed by students in other countries including Taiwan, Singapore, Russia, England, South Korea, Latvia, and Japan;

Whereas since 1995 the United States has shown only minimal improvement in math and science test scores;

Whereas by the 8th grade, American males outperform females on the science portion of the TIMSS survey, especially in Biology, Physics, and Earth Science, and the lowest American scores in math and science are found in minority and impoverished school districts;

Whereas America needs to reinforce mathematics and science education for all students in order to better prepare our children for the future and in order to compete in a 21st Century economy;

Whereas the National Science Foundation has been driving innovation in math and science education at all levels from elementary through graduate education since its creation 59 years ago;

Whereas mathematics and science can be a fun and interesting part of a child's education, and learning about Pi can be an engaging way to teach children about geometry and attract them to study science and mathematics; and

Whereas Pi can be approximated as 3.14, and thus March 14, 2009, is an appropriate day for `National Pi Day': Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) supports the designation of a `Pi Day' and its celebration around the world;

(2) recognizes the continuing importance of National Science Foundation's math and science education programs; and

(3) encourages schools and educators to observe the day with appropriate activities that teach students about Pi and engage them about the study of mathematics.

The 10 Republicans voting no were Jason Chaffetz, Jeff Flake, Ted Poe, Ron Paul, Bill Shuster, Randy Neugebauer, Jeff Miller, Mike Pence, Dean Heller and Tim Johnson

It's not clear as to why those Republicans would have opposed this resolution.

It was Pi Day at my child's school Friday.

They had a contest to see who could memorize the most numbers for it.
They ate pie too. lol The parents donated the pies.

My child is still talking about it and trying to memorize more numbers.

When will the madness stop? Obama's birthday is a government holiday while he's still in office?

I think the real problem facing our children is not the passing of Pi day. The current president inherited a $500B deficit and now it is estimated to be $23T in 2019. After all the stimulus and spending bills to reward his special interest groups for getting him elected he blames the defecit on Bush. There is a new way of doing business in Washington but that depends on what the definition os is is!

When carbon credits are traded on Wall Street and your power bill goes up $2,000 a year, how many pies will you be able to take to school on Pi day?

That is what we should be paying attention to right now.

This is a bit silly...

You really think a national Pi day would solve our education problems? LOL

Funny how easily we get sidetracked from our problems.

When did Obama's birthday become a government holiday?

The pies were for fun, btw. Imagine that - making learning fun. What a concept!

I like Pi.
Apl pi
choclt pi
and chri pi but only roughly one third of the time.