[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 562 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 562

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                         March 1, 2012.
Whereas in 1965, civil rights advocates participated in three marches from Selma 
        to Montgomery, Alabama, marking a watershed moment of the civil rights 
        movement;
Whereas the first march took place on March 7, 1965, during which 600 civil 
        rights activists, led by now-Representative John Lewis and Reverend 
        Hosea Williams, began a march to protest unfair voter registration 
        practices and the shooting death of Jimmie Lee Jackson during a voter 
        registration drive;
Whereas marchers progressed only six blocks from the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church 
        to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where many were tear-gassed and beaten;
Whereas two days later, on March 9, 1965, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., led 
        a symbolic march of 2,000 people to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, all 
        kneeling there to pray;
Whereas, on March 21, 1965, with protection from the Alabama National Guard, 
        more than 3,000 people set out from Selma again led by Rev. King, 
        marching an average of 12 miles a day along Route 80 and sleeping in 
        farm fields;
Whereas that group grew to 25,000 participants by the time it reached Montgomery 
        on March 25, 1965, where Rev. King delivered one of his most venerated 
        speeches;
Whereas as a result of this historic three-week period, Congress passed the 
        Voting Rights Act of 1965, five months after the third march, as a 
        recognition of the right of all United States citizens to fully 
        participate in the electoral process;
Whereas in 1996, Congress created the 54-mile long Selma-to-Montgomery National 
        Historic Trail along the route of this third march, starting at the 
        Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, 
        and ending at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery;
Whereas beginning in 1998, Members of Congress have participated in an annual 
        civil rights pilgrimage to the Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic 
        Trail, to visit the historic sites, participate in fellowship, and 
        recognize the achievements of the civil rights movement;
Whereas the Office of the Historian, first established in 1983, researches, 
        preserves, and interprets the rich institutional history of the House of 
        Representatives in order to share it with Members, staff, and the 
        public, and serves as the institutional memory to inspire greater 
        understanding of the House of Representatives' central role in United 
        States history;
Whereas Members of the House of Representatives have included participants in 
        the historic 1965 marches and in the annual pilgrimages thereafter; and
Whereas the collection of oral memories of march participants who have served in 
        the House of Representatives, and will continue to serve in the House of 
        Representatives, is essential to the preservation of the history of the 
        institution: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives directs the Office of the 
Historian to compile oral histories from current and former Members of the House 
of Representatives involved in the historic and annual Selma to Montgomery, 
Alabama, marches, as well as the civil rights movement in general, for the 
purposes of expanding or augmenting the historic record and for public 
dissemination and education.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.