[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 512 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 512

  Honoring the life and accomplishments of Rosa Parks and expressing 
                      condolences on her passing.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 26, 2005

 Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan (for herself, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Cooper, Mr. 
McDermott, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Lee, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Murphy, 
Mr. Holt, Mrs. Maloney, Ms. McCollum of Minnesota, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Van 
 Hollen, Ms. Harman, Ms. Watson, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Moran of Virginia, 
Mr. Sanders, Mr. Higgins, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. 
 Sherman, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Honda, 
Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Davis of Alabama, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Blumenauer, 
Mr. Rothman, Ms. Berkley, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. 
 Case, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Scott of Georgia, Mr. Dingell, Mr. 
  Farr, and Ms. Carson) submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Honoring the life and accomplishments of Rosa Parks and expressing 
                      condolences on her passing.

Whereas Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, as Rosa Louise McCauley, to 
        James and Leona McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama;
Whereas her moral clarity and quiet dignity shaped and inspired the Civil Rights 
        Movement in the United States over the last half-century;
Whereas Rosa 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 High School;
Whereas on December 18, 1932, Rosa Louise McCauley married Raymond Parks and 
        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 Parks served as an active member and Rosa Parks 
        served as a secretary and youth leader;
Whereas on December 1, 1955, Rosa 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 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 most historians date the beginning of the modern-day Civil Rights 
        Movement in the United States to December 1, 1955;
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 1957, Rosa Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan;
Whereas in 1965, United States Representative John Conyers hired Rosa Parks as a 
        member of his staff, where she worked in various administrative jobs for 
        23 years and retired in 1988 at age 75;
Whereas Rosa Parks continued her civil rights work by starting the Rosa and 
        Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in 1987, a nonprofit 
        501(c)(3) that motivates youth to reach their highest potential;
Whereas the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development offers 
        educational programs for young people including two signature programs: 
        first, Pathways to Freedom, a 21-day program that introduces students to 
        the Underground Railroad and the civil rights movement with a freedom 
        ride across the United States and Canada, tracing the underground 
        railroad into civil rights and second, Learning Centers and Senior 
        Citizens, a program that partners young people with senior citizens 
        where the young help the senior citizens develop their computer skills 
        and senior citizens mentor the young;
Whereas Rosa Parks has been commended for her work in the realm of civil rights 
        with such recognitions as the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, the Martin Luther 
        King, Jr., Nonviolent Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 
        and the Congressional Gold Medal;
Whereas Time magazine named Rosa Parks one of the ``100 most influential people 
        of the 20th century'', The Henry Ford Museum in Michigan bought and 
        exhibited the bus on which she was arrested, and the Rosa Parks Library 
        and Museum opened in Montgomery in 2000;
Whereas in 2005, the year marking the 50th anniversary of Rosa 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; and
Whereas in 1988 Rosa Parks said: ``I am leaving this legacy to all of you. . . 
        to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our 
        lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without 
        courage and inspiration, dreams will die--the dream of freedom and 
        peace.'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives honors the life and 
accomplishments of Rosa Parks and expresses its condolences on her 
passing.
                                 <all>