[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 223 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 223

   Recognizing the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Lawyers' 
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and supporting the designation of 
       an Equal Justice Day in commemoration of such anniversary.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 19, 2003

  Mr. Conyers (for himself, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Frost, Mr. 
 McDermott, Ms. Lee, Mr. Wynn, Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, and Mr. Case) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Recognizing the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Lawyers' 
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and supporting the designation of 
       an Equal Justice Day in commemoration of such anniversary.

Whereas on June 21, 1963, President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert 
        F. Kennedy convened 244 members of the National, State, and local 
        private bar to provide legal representation to remedy racial 
        discrimination against minority communities;
Whereas, without President Kennedy's vision for racial justice, the bar would 
        have remained silent in the face of vocal resistance by Southern State 
        legislatures against desegregation;
Whereas for more than 4 decades, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under 
        Law (hereinafter in this resolution referred to as ``Lawyers' 
        Committee'') has worked to advance the civil rights of African-Americans 
        and other racial and ethnic minority communities in the areas of 
        environmental protection, employment, affirmative action, fair housing, 
        education, and voting;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee operated an office in Jackson, Mississippi, from 
        1964 through 1984, which filed numerous cases that transformed the 
        State, including the defense of civil rights demonstrators, 
        desegregation of many public institutions and workforces, reformation of 
        the notorious Parchman Prison, and numerous voting rights cases 
        resulting in a revolution in the number of African-American elected 
        officials in State positions and Congress;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee fought for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 
        1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 1982 Amendments, Fair Housing 
        Act of 1988, Civil Rights Act of 1991, and National Voter Registration 
        Act of 1993;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee secured a landmark, unanimous United States 
        Supreme Court decision that strengthened first amendment protections for 
        peaceful political boycotts in Claiborne Hardware Co. v. NAACP;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee created a police community relations program in 
        1965 that recruited African-Americans for law enforcement positions and 
        eased tensions between law enforcement officers and African-American 
        communities;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee defended the students of Jackson State University 
        following police shootings upon a peaceful demonstration that killed 2 
        persons and wounded a dozen others;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee operated its Cairo, Illinois office from 1969 
        through 1972 in response to intense racial unrest and police brutality 
        in the city;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee recruited attorneys from the local bar to 
        represent African-Americans who could not obtain legal counsel during 
        the 1960s;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee transformed African-American voting strength by 
        litigating critical cases throughout the South to oppose archaic voter 
        discrimination laws, poll taxes, and literacy tests that prevented 
        African-Americans from registering and voting;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee launched the Urban Areas Project in 1968, which 
        resulted in local independent Lawyers' Committee offices in 
        Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, San 
        Antonio, and Washington, D.C.;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee developed the Southern African Project, which 
        provided legal assistance to thousands of political detainees and 
        technical assistance in resisting pro-apartheid legislation for more 
        than 20 years and which monitored elections in Namibia in 1989 and 
        elections in South Africa in 1994;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee led the defense of Executive Order 11246 when it 
        was attacked during the Reagan Administration in the 1980s;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee litigated a series of cases from the 1970s to the 
        present that desegregated police and fire departments throughout the 
        Nation, notably in the State of Mississippi and in Miami, Birmingham, 
        Cleveland, Nassau County, Buffalo, and Houston;
Whereas in Givens v. Hamlet Estates, the Lawyers' Committee acquired the first 
        seizure order in a fair housing case that led to the exposure of a 
        decade old racial coding system that denied apartments to 6,000 African-
        Americans and Hispanics in Miami, Florida;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee obtained victories in 3 cases before the United 
        States Supreme Court in 1996-1997 involving the Voting Rights Act, 
        including Young v. Fordice, Lawyer v. United States, and King v. State 
        Board of Elections;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee persuaded the Environmental Protection Agency to 
        relocate 358 African-American families living around the Escambia toxic 
        Superfund site in Pensacola, Florida;
Whereas in NAACP v. Harris, the Lawyers' Committee reached a settlement 
        agreement with the State of Florida following the 2000 elections to 
        improve its administration procedures in allowing its minority citizens 
        to vote;
Whereas the Lawyers' Committee coordinated a Church Burning Project in the 1990s 
        to provide free legal assistance to churches that were destroyed during 
        a bitter rampage of racially motivated church burnings;
Whereas in Washington Park Land Committee v. Portsmouth, the Lawyers' Committee 
        secured a case settlement that led to the relocation of 185 families 
        from toxic lead poisoned segregated public housing in Portsmouth, 
        Virginia, to new integrated housing opportunities; and
Whereas June 21, 2003 is the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Lawyers' 
        Committee: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes that these accomplishments of the Lawyers' 
        Committee reflect the tremendous commitment to implementing 
        justice that President Kennedy embarked on 40 years ago;
            (2) recognizes the achievements of the Lawyers' Committee, 
        as its staff and pro bono attorneys, clients, and friends 
        commemorate and celebrate its 40th anniversary; and
            (3) supports the designation of an appropriate day as 
        ``Equal Justice Day'' in honor of the dedicated work of the 
        Lawyers' Committee and the many hours of pro bono service 
        offered by lawyers and law firms throughout this country to 
        secure justice and equal opportunity for all.
                                 <all>