III 112th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 520 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 16, 2012 Mr. Cardin (for himself and Mr. Grassley) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Commending the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 103rd anniversary.

Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (referred to in this preamble as the NAACP), originally known as the National Negro Committee, was founded in New York City on February 12, 1909, the centennial of the date on which President Abraham Lincoln was born, 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 people 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 on the press, the petition, the ballot, and the courts; Whereas the NAACP 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 minorities in the United States; 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 decision issued by the Supreme Court 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— (1)the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (Public Law 85–315; 71 Stat. 634); (2)the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (Public Law 86–449; 74 Stat. 86); (3)the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88–352; 78 Stat. 241); (4)the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.); (5)the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, César E. Chávez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Velásquez, and Dr. Hector P. Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–246; 120 Stat. 577); and (6)the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); Whereas in 2005, the NAACP launched the Disaster Relief Fund to help hurricane survivors rebuild their lives in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama; Whereas in the 110th Congress, the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the passage of H. Res. 826, the resolved clause of which expresses that— (1)the hanging of nooses is a horrible act when used for the purpose of intimidation; (2)under certain circumstances, the hanging of nooses can be criminal; and (3)the hanging of nooses should be investigated thoroughly by Federal authorities, and 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 (28 U.S.C. 509 note), a law that puts additional Federal resources into solving the heinous crimes that occurred during the early days of the civil rights struggle that remain unsolved and brings those who perpetrated those crimes to justice; Whereas the NAACP has helped usher in the new millennium by charting a bold course, beginning with the appointment of the youngest President and Chief Executive Officer in the history of the organization, Benjamin Todd Jealous, and its youngest female Board Chair, Roslyn M. Brock; Whereas under the leadership of Benjamin Todd Jealous and Roslyn M. Brock, the NAACP has outlined a strategic plan to confront 21st century challenges in the critical areas of health, education, housing, criminal justice, and the environment; 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; and Whereas as an advocate for sentencing reform, the NAACP applauded the enactment of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–220; 124 Stat. 2372), a landmark piece of legislation that reduces the quantity of crack cocaine that triggers a mandatory minimum sentence for a Federal conviction of crack cocaine distribution from 100 times that of people convicted of distributing the drug in powdered form to 18 times that sentence: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1)recognizes the 103rd anniversary of the historic founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and (2)commends 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 people.