[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 51 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 51

 Honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of 
        Colored People on the occasion of its 101st anniversary.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 25, 2010

Mr. Dodd (for himself, Mr. Reid, Mr. Levin, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Schumer, 
Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Burris, Mr. Lautenberg, 
 Mr. Harkin, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Hagan, Mr. Whitehouse, and 
Mr. Bingaman) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
               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 101st anniversary.

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 NAACP National Headquarters is located in Baltimore, Maryland;
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, 347 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;
Whereas in 2008 the NAACP vigorously supported the passage of the Emmett Till 
        Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007, 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;
Whereas the NAACP has helped usher in the new millennium by charting a bold 
        course, beginning with the appointment of the organization's youngest 
        President and Chief Executive Officer, Benjamin Todd Jealous, and by 
        outlining a strategic plan to confront 21st century challenges in the 
        critical areas of health, education, housing, criminal justice, and 
        environment; and
Whereas, on July 16, 2009, the NAACP celebrated its centennial anniversary in 
        New York City, highlighting an extraordinary century of Bold Dreams, Big 
        Victories with a historic address from the first African-American 
        president of the United States, Barack Obama: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes the 101st 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.
                                 <all>