[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 17 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 17

 Honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of 
        Colored People on the occasion of its 108th anniversary.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2017

 Mr. Al Green of Texas (for himself, Ms. Adams, Ms. Bass, Mrs. Beatty, 
Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Mr. 
 Butterfield, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Clay, 
Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Danny K. Davis 
   of Illinois, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Evans, Ms. Fudge, Mr. 
 Hastings, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of 
 Texas, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mrs. Lawrence, 
Mr. Lawson of Florida, Ms. Lee, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. McEachin, Mr. 
 Meeks, Ms. Moore, Ms. Norton, Mr. Payne, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Richmond, 
Mr. Rush, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Sewell 
of Alabama, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Maxine Waters 
    of California, Mrs. Watson Coleman, and Ms. Wilson of Florida) 
 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 108th anniversary.

Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (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 multiracial founders of the NAACP were a distinguished group of 
        leaders in the struggle for human rights, 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 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 peaceful protest, 
        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 
        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 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 hurricane 
        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 the hanging 
        of nooses is a horrible act when used for the purpose of intimidation 
        and which under certain circumstances can be criminal, this conduct 
        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, 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 its 
        youngest female Board Chair, Roslyn M. Brock;
Whereas under their leadership, the NAACP has outlined a strategic plan to 
        confront 21st century challenges in the critical areas of health, 
        education, housing, criminal justice, and 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;
Whereas, as an advocate for sentencing reform, the NAACP applauded the passage 
        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;
Whereas in 2011, the NAACP led the charge to defend the constitutional right to 
        vote and to protect that right for all citizens of the United States, 
        whether they be seniors, young voters, the poor, or from minority 
        communities;
Whereas in 2013, the NAACP signed a historic Memorandum of Agreement with the 
        Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to put mechanisms in place to 
        ensure that the needs of underrepresented communities are more fully 
        integrated into future plans for disaster preparedness;
Whereas in 2014, the NAACP was a leader in the effort to strengthen the Voting 
        Rights Act and protect the principle of ``one person, one vote'';
Whereas in 2014, the NAACP released its groundbreaking report ``Born Suspect'' 
        on racial profiling by law enforcement in the United States, which 
        highlighted the problem of racial profiling experienced by individuals 
        of color and communities of color; and
Whereas in 2016, the NAACP led the charge in raising awareness about and 
        challenging voter suppression laws in Federal court across the Nation: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This resolution may be cited as the ``Original NAACP Resolution of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. HONORING AND PRAISING THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
              ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE.

    Congress--
            (1) recognizes the 108th 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 rights of all persons.
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