[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 70 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 70

          Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 3, 2005

 Mr. Frist (for himself, Mr. Corzine, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. 
Allen, Mr. Reid, and Mr. Alexander) submitted the following resolution; 
                   which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
          Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Whereas March 7, 2005, marks the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the day on 
        which some 600 civil rights marchers were demonstrating for African 
        American voting rights;
Whereas Jimmy Lee Jackson was killed February 26, 1965, 2 weeks prior to Bloody 
        Sunday, at a civil rights demonstration while trying to protect his 
        mother and grandfather from a law enforcement officer;
Whereas Congressman John Lewis and the late Hosea Williams led these marchers 
        across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama where they were 
        attacked with billy clubs and tear gas by State and local lawmen;
Whereas the circumstances leading to Selma's Bloody Sunday represented a set of 
        grave injustices for African Americans which included--

    (1) the murder of Herbert Lee of Liberty, Mississippi for attending 
voter education classes;

    (2) the cutting off of Federal food relief by State authorities in 2 of 
the poorest counties in Mississippi in order to intimidate residents from 
registering to vote; and

    (3) the loss of jobs or refusal of credit to registered black voters at 
local banks and stores;

Whereas during the march on Bloody Sunday Congressman Lewis was beaten 
        unconscious, leaving him with a concussion and countless other injuries;
Whereas footage of the events on Bloody Sunday was broadcast on national 
        television that night and burned its way into the Nation's conscience;
Whereas the courage, discipline, and sacrifice of these marchers caused the 
        Nation to respond quickly and positively; and
Whereas the citizens of the United States must not only remember this historic 
        event, but also commemorate its role in the creation of a more just 
        society and appreciate the ways in which it has inspired other movements 
        around the world: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That Congress commemorates the 40th anniversary of 
Bloody Sunday.
                                 <all>