IV 112th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 803 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 21, 2012 Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Rush, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Moore, Ms. Richardson, Mr. Gonzalez, Mrs. Christensen, Ms. Chu, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Filner, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Israel, Mr. Watt, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Farr, Mr. Polis, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Dingell, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Harris, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Edwards, and Ms. Waters) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Recognizing National Emancipation Day, marking the 150th anniversary of the end of slavery in areas of rebellion, and the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation in the struggle for the equal rights and freedoms afforded to all United States citizens.

Whereas the enslavement of Africans in the American colonies began in 1619, when 20 Africans were brought to the Virginia colony at Jamestown, marking the beginning of more than 200 years of captivity for Africans in America; Whereas, on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War and in accordance with the war powers vested to him, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as an executive order, legally emancipating millions of slaves in the States of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, and North Carolina; Whereas, on December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction, was adopted and effectively outlawed slavery in the United States; Whereas the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation was a significant precursor to the adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, also known as the Reconstruction Amendments, adopted between 1865 and 1870, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the National Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 among others; and Whereas slaves and their descendants in the United States have contributed significantly to the foundation, growth, diversity, and leadership of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives recognizes National Emancipation Day, marking the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the end of slavery in areas of rebellion, and the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation in the struggle for the equal rights and freedoms afforded to all United States citizens.