Alexander Stoddart and Princetown University

That the Parliament expresses its pride in the international recognition given to the eminent sculptor Alexander Stoddart of Paisley and, in particular, on the occasion of Princeton University in the United States of America unveiling his magnificent new statue of the Paisley minister, the Reverend John Witherspoon, who became a founding father of the United States and helped to frame the American Declaration of Independence; congratulates Mr Stoddart on his dual Witherspoon statue now in Paisley and on his other superb works which grace parts of Scotland; is grateful to Princeton University, which started as a college with its most important early presidency held by the Reverend Witherspoon, for its vision in helping to support the best of sculpture from Scotland, and hopes that Scottish organisations may show equal vision in commissioning great works from exceptional artists who, like Mr Stoddart, strive to remain in Scotland.