[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 208 Referred in Senate (RFS)]


109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 208


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 15, 2005

        Received and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the 50th anniversary of Rosa Louise Parks' refusal to give 
  up her seat on the bus and the subsequent desegregation of American 
                                society.

Whereas most historians date the beginning of the modern-day Civil Rights 
        Movement in the United States to December 1, 1955;
Whereas December 1, 1955, is the date of Rosa Louise Parks' refusal to give up 
        her bus seat to a white man and her subsequent arrest;
Whereas Rosa Louise Parks was born on February 4, 1913, as Rosa Louise McCauley 
        to James and Leona McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama;
Whereas Rosa Louise Parks was educated in Pine Level, Alabama, until the age of 
        11, when she enrolled in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls and 
        then went on to attend the Alabama State Teachers College's High School;
Whereas on December 18, 1932, Rosa Louise McCauley married Raymond Parks and the 
        two settled in Montgomery, Alabama;
Whereas, together, Raymond and Rosa Parks worked in the Montgomery, Alabama, 
        branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
        (NAACP), where Raymond served as an active member and Rosa served as a 
        secretary and youth leader;
Whereas on December 1, 1955, Rosa Louise Parks was arrested for refusing to give 
        up her seat in the ``colored'' section of the bus to a white man on the 
        orders of the bus driver because the ``white'' section was full;
Whereas the arrest of Rosa Louise Parks led African Americans and others to 
        boycott the Montgomery city bus line until the buses in Montgomery were 
        desegregated;
Whereas the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott encouraged other courageous people 
        across the United States to organize in protest and demand equal rights 
        for all;
Whereas the fearless acts of civil disobedience displayed by Rosa Louise Parks 
        and others resulted in a legal action challenging Montgomery's 
        segregated public transportation system which subsequently led to the 
        United States Supreme Court, on November 13, 1956, affirming a district 
        court decision that held that Montgomery segregation codes deny and 
        deprive African Americans of the equal protection of the laws (352 U.S. 
        903);
Whereas, in the years following the Montgomery bus boycott, Rosa Louise Parks 
        moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1957, and continued her civil rights work 
        through efforts that included working in the office of Congressman John 
        Conyers, Jr., from 1965 until 1988, and starting the Rosa and Raymond 
        Parks Institute for Self Development, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that 
        motivates youth to reach their highest potential, in 1987;
Whereas Rosa Louise Parks has been commended for her work in the realm of civil 
        rights with such recognitions as the NAACP's Springarn Medal in 1979, 
        the Martin Luther King, Jr., Nonviolent Peace Prize in 1980, the 
        Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, and the Congressional Gold Medal 
        in 1999; and
Whereas in 2005, the year marking the 50th anniversary of Rosa Louise Parks' 
        refusal to give up her seat on the bus, we recognize the courage, 
        dignity, and determination displayed by Rosa Louise Parks as she 
        confronted injustice and inequality: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) recognizes and celebrates the 50th anniversary of Rosa 
        Louise Parks' refusal to give up her seat on the bus and the 
        subsequent desegregation of American society;
            (2) encourages the people of the United States to recognize 
        and celebrate this anniversary and the subsequent legal 
        victories that sought to eradicate segregation in all of 
        American society; and
            (3) endeavors to work with the same courage, dignity, and 
        determination exemplified by civil rights pioneer, Rosa Louise 
        Parks, to address modern-day inequalities and injustice.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 14, 2005.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.

                            

        By Gerasimos C. Vans,

                                                          Deputy Clerk.