[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 35 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.Con.Res.35
                                     Agreed to February 13, 2009        

                      One Hundred Eleventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
             the sixth day of January, two thousand and nine


                          Concurrent Resolution

Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
  (referred to in this resolution as the ``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 met in a national conference to 
  discuss the civil and political rights of African-Americans;

Whereas the NAACP 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 decision 
  in Brown v. Board of Education, 374 U.S. 483 (1954);

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, Coretta Scott King, Cesar E. 
  Chavez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Velasquez, and Dr. Hector P. 
  Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, 
  and the Fair Housing Act, laws that ensured Government protection for 
  legal victories achieved;

Whereas in 2005, the NAACP launched the Disaster Relief Fund to help 
  survivors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama to 
  rebuild their lives;

Whereas in the 110th Congress, the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for 
  the passage of H. Res. 826, whose resolved clause expresses that: (1) 
  the hanging of nooses is a horrible act when used for the purpose of 
  intimidation and which under certain circumstances can be criminal; 
  (2) this conduct should be investigated thoroughly by Federal 
  authorities; and (3) any criminal violations should be vigorously 
  prosecuted; and

Whereas in 2008 the NAACP vigorously supported the passage of the 
  Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 (28 U.S.C. 509 
  note), a law that puts additional Federal resources into solving the 
  heinous crimes that occurred in the early days of the civil rights 
  struggle that remain unsolved and bringing those who perpetrated such 
  crimes to justice: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
        (1) recognizes the 100th 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.
Attest:

                                 Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Attest:

                                               Secretary of the Senate.