Incoming California Democrat Congressman Robert Garcia (D-CA) said he would “proudly” be sworn into Congress on the U.S. Constitution and a copy of a rare “Superman” comic book, among other personal items.
Garcia, a former mayor of Long Beach, California, will be sworn into the 118th Congress after the body of government picks a Speaker of the House. The incoming congressman stated he would also have a picture of his late parent and his citizenship certificate when he is sworn in.
“Will be proudly sworn-in to Congress on the U.S. Constitution,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “Underneath the Constitution will be 3 items that mean a lot to me personally. A photo of my parents who I lost to covid, my citizenship certificate & an original Superman #1 from the @librarycongress.”
Additionally, Sara Guerrero, a spokeswoman for Garcia, told the New York Post that the incoming congressman “learned to read and write in English by reading Superman comics, so it’s especially exciting he was able to borrow this rare copy from the kind folks at the Library of Congress.”
As Garcia’s spokeswoman noted, the Library of Congress typically provides historical documents and volumes of text, such as Thomas Jefferson’s copy of the Quran, or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Bible, to lawmakers at their request to be used during their swearing-in ceremony.
The “Superman” comic that Garcia will hold during his swearing was published in 1938 and is the first comic featuring Clark Kent as the Man of Steel and is considered a collector’s item. Last January, a copy of the No.1 “Superman” comic sold for a record-breaking $5.3 million, according to the Post.
After being elected to Congress in November, Garcia tweeted of the “Congressional members reading room in the Library of Congress,” explaining that he can read any of the comic books the Library of Congress has in their possession.
He also tweeted a picture of two comic books, one of which he will be using at his swearing-in, explaining at the time that he’s “going to have a hard time deciding which one to check out first.”
Editor’s Note: At the time of publication, this story contained two incorrect dates — that the Superman comic was first published in 1938 and that it was sold for $5 million in April 2022. Those dates have been corrected to 1939 and January 2022.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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