[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 289 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 289


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 25, 2008

        Received and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of 
        Colored People on the occasion of its 99th anniversary.

Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 
        originally known as the National Negro Committee, was founded in New 
        York City on February 12, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln's 
        birth, by a multiracial group of activists who answered `The Call' for a 
        national conference to discuss the civil and political rights of 
        African-Americans;
Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was 
        founded by a distinguished group of leaders in the struggle for civil 
        and political liberty, including Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry 
        Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, and William 
        English Walling;
Whereas the NAACP is the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the 
        United States;
Whereas the mission of the NAACP is to ensure the political, educational, 
        social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate 
        racial hatred and racial discrimination;
Whereas the NAACP is committed to achieving its goals through nonviolence;
Whereas the NAACP advances its mission through reliance upon the press, the 
        petition, the ballot, and the courts, and has been persistent in the use 
        of legal and moral persuasion, even in the face of overt and violent 
        racial hostility;
Whereas the NAACP has used political pressure, marches, demonstrations, and 
        effective lobbying to serve as the voice, as well as the shield, for 
        minority Americans;
Whereas after years of fighting segregation in public schools, the NAACP, under 
        the leadership of Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall, won one of its 
        greatest legal victories in the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown 
        v. Board of Education;
Whereas in 1955, NAACP member Rosa Parks was arrested and fined for refusing to 
        give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama--an act of 
        courage that would serve as the catalyst for the largest grassroots 
        civil rights movement in the history of the United States;
Whereas the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the passage of the Civil Rights 
        Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fannie 
        Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act 
        Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, and the Fair Housing Act, 
        laws which ensured Government protection for legal victories achieved;
Whereas in 2005, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
        launched the Disaster Relief Fund to help survivors in Louisiana, 
        Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama to rebuild their lives; and
Whereas in 2007, the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the passage of H. Res. 
        826, ``The Noose Intimidation Bill'', which expresses ``that the hanging 
        of nooses is a horrible act when used for the purpose of intimidation 
        and which under certain circumstances can be a criminal act that should 
        be thoroughly investigated by Federal law enforcement authorities and 
        that any criminal violations should be vigorously prosecuted'': Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) recognizes the 99th anniversary of the historic 
        founding of the National Association for the Advancement of 
        Colored People; and
            (2) honors and praises the National Association for the 
        Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 
        anniversary for its work to ensure the political, educational, 
        social, and economic equality of all persons.

            Passed the House of Representatives February 14, 2008.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.