[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 496 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 496

Affirming that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts 
 in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected 
              by the First Amendment to the Constitution.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 2019

    Ms. Omar (for herself, Ms. Tlaib, and Mr. Lewis) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Affirming that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts 
 in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected 
              by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Whereas boycotts have been effectively used in the United States by advocates 
        for equal rights since the Boston Tea Party and include boycotts led by 
        civil rights activists during the 1950s and 1960s in order to advocate 
        for racial equality, such as the Montgomery bus boycott, and promote 
        workers' rights, such as the United Farm Workers-led boycott of table 
        grapes;
Whereas Americans of conscience have a proud history of participating in 
        boycotts to advocate for human rights abroad, including--

    (1) attempting to slow Japanese aggression in the Pacific by boycotting 
Imperial Japan in 1937 and 1938;

    (2) boycotting Nazi Germany from March 1933 to October 1941 in response 
to the dehumanization of the Jewish people in the lead-up to the Holocaust;

    (3) the United States Olympic Committee boycotting the 1980 summer 
Olympics in Moscow in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 
preceding year; and

    (4) leading the campaign in the 1980s to boycott South African goods in 
opposition to apartheid in that country;

Whereas the Supreme Court, in the 1966 case Rosenblatt v. Baer, held that the 
        First Amendment to the Constitution ensures that ``[c]riticism of 
        government is at the very center of the constitutionally protected area 
        of free discussion'';
Whereas the Supreme Court held in the 1982 case NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware that 
        ``[t]he right of the States to regulate economic activity could not 
        justify a complete prohibition against a nonviolent, politically 
        motivated boycott . . . .'';
Whereas the Supreme Court has recognized various activities as ``expressive 
        conduct'' warranting constitutional protection, such as flag burning, 
        wearing black armbands, silent sit-ins, and creating and designing 
        custom wedding cakes; and
Whereas despite this tradition, governments and nongovernmental organizations 
        alike have sought to criminalize, stigmatize, and delegitimize the use 
        of boycotts in an attempt to stifle constitutionally protected political 
        expression: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) affirms that all Americans have the right to 
        participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at 
        home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the 
        Constitution;
            (2) opposes unconstitutional legislative efforts to limit 
        the use of boycotts to further civil rights at home and abroad; 
        and
            (3) urges Congress, States, and civil rights leaders from 
        all communities to endeavor to preserve the freedom of advocacy 
        for all by opposing antiboycott resolutions and legislation.
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