III 110th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 503 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 3, 2008 Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Specter, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Voinovich) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Recognizing and honoring the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act and the 20th anniversary of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.

Whereas 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of the enactment of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); Whereas 2008 also marks the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (Public Law 100–430; 102 Stat. 1619); Whereas the Chicago Freedom Movement, which took place from 1965 to 1967 and was led by the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., raised the national consciousness about housing discrimination and shaped the debate that led to landmark fair housing legislation; Whereas the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and commonly known as the Kerner Commission, found in 1968 that [o]ur nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal; Whereas Congress passed the Fair Housing Act as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Public Law 90–284; 82 Stat. 73), and President Johnson signed the Act into law on April 11, 1968, one week after the assassination of Dr. King; Whereas the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions on the basis of race, color, national origin, and religion; Whereas, in section 808 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (Public Law 93–383; 88 Stat. 728), Congress amended the Fair Housing Act to include protection on the basis of sex; Whereas the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (Public Law 100–430; 102 Stat. 1619), passed by overwhelming margins in Congress, included protection on the basis of familial status and disability and expanded the definition of discriminatory housing practices to include interference and intimidation; Whereas Congress's intent in passing the Fair Housing Act was broad and inclusive, to advance equal opportunity in housing and achieve racial integration for the benefit of all people in the United States; Whereas housing integration affects other dimensions of life, including educational attainment, employment opportunities, access to health care, and home equity; Whereas the majority of people in the United States support neighborhood integration and numerous studies have shown the universal benefits of residential integration; Whereas the National Fair Housing Alliance estimates that 3,700,000 violations of fair housing laws still occur each year against African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and American Indians, and that number does not include violations that occur on the basis of other national origins, religion, sex, or familial status or against persons with disabilities; Whereas the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that only 1 percent of individuals who believe they are victims of housing discrimination report those violations of fair housing laws to the government, and this underreporting is a major obstacle to achieving equal opportunity in housing; Whereas testing of the enforcement of fair housing laws continues to uncover a high rate of discrimination in the rental, sales, mortgage lending, and insurance markets; and Whereas the Fair Housing Act is an essential component of our Nation’s civil rights legislation: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1)recognizes and honors the 40th anniversary of the enactment of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) and the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (Public Law 100–430; 102 Stat. 1619); (2)supports activities to recognize and celebrate the historical milestone represented by the anniversaries of the enactment of the Fair Housing Act and the enactment of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988; and (3)encourages all levels of government to rededicate themselves to the enforcement and the ideals of fair housing laws.