[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 15 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 15

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States, issued a 
        proclamation on September 22, 1862, declaring that on the first day of 
        January, 1863, ``all persons held as slaves within any State or 
        designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion 
        against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever 
        free'';
Whereas the proclamation declared ``all persons held slaves within the insurgent 
        States''--with the exception of Tennessee, southern Louisiana, and parts 
        of Virginia, then within Union lines--``are free'';
Whereas, for two and half years, Texas slaves were held in bondage after the 
        Emancipation Proclamation became official and only after Major General 
        Gordon Granger and his soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 
        1865, were African-American slaves in that State set free;
Whereas slavery was a horrendous practice and trade in human trafficking that 
        continued until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United 
        States Constitution ending slavery on December 18, 1865;
Whereas the Emancipation Proclamation is historically significant and history is 
        regarded as a means of understanding the past and solving the challenges 
        of the future;
Whereas one hundred and forty years after President Lincoln's Emancipation 
        Proclamation, African Americans have integrated into various levels of 
        society; and
Whereas commemorating the 140th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation 
        highlights and reflects the suffering and progress of the faith and 
        strength of character shown by slaves and their descendants as an 
        example for all people of the United States, regardless of background, 
        religion, or race: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes the historical significance of the 140th 
        anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation as an important 
        period in the Nation's history; and
            (2) encourages its celebration in accordance with the 
        spirit, strength, and legacy of freedom, justice, and equality 
        for all people of America and to provide an opportunity for all 
        people of the United States to learn more about the past and to 
        better understand the experiences that have shaped the Nation.

            Passed the Senate May 1, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
108th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                            S. CON. RES. 15

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Commemorating the 140th anniversary of the issuance of the Emancipation 
                             Proclamation.