[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 551 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 551

                    Celebrating Black History Month.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 8 (legislative day, February 7), 2024

Mr. Booker (for himself, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Warnock, Ms. 
 Butler, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Risch, Mr. Carper, Mr. 
Cramer, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Moran, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cardin, 
Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Sullivan, 
Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Reed, Mr. Coons, Mr. Casey, Mr. Merkley, 
Mr. Durbin, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. 
Whitehouse, Ms. Warren, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Rosen, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. King, 
  Ms. Cantwell, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Smith, Mr. Ossoff, Mr. 
 Kelly, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Warner, Mr. Murphy, 
     Mr. Lujan, Mr. Markey, Mr. Welch, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. 
  Duckworth, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Peters, Mrs. Britt, and Mr. Brown) 
 submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
                    Celebrating Black History Month.

Whereas, in 1776, people envisioned the United States as a new nation dedicated 
        to the proposition stated in the Declaration of Independence that ``all 
        men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with 
        certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the 
        pursuit of Happiness'';
Whereas Africans were first brought involuntarily to the shores of the United 
        States as early as the 17th century;
Whereas African Americans suffered enslavement and subsequently faced the 
        injustices of lynch mobs, segregation, and denial of the basic and 
        fundamental rights of citizenship;
Whereas, in 2024, the vestiges of those injustices and inequalities remain 
        evident in the society of the United States;
Whereas, in the face of injustices, people of good will and of all races in the 
        United States have distinguished themselves with a commitment to the 
        noble ideals on which the United States was founded and have fought 
        courageously for the rights and freedom of African Americans and others;
Whereas African Americans, such as Lieutenant Colonel Allen Allensworth, Maya 
        Angelou, Arthur Ashe, Jr., James Baldwin, James Beckwourth, Clara Brown, 
        Blanche Bruce, Ralph Bunche, Shirley Chisholm, Holt Collier, Miles 
        Davis, Louis Armstrong, Larry Doby, Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du 
        Bois, Ralph Ellison, Medgar Evers, Aretha Franklin, Alex Haley, Dorothy 
        Height, Jon Hendricks, Olivia Hooker, Lena Horne, Charles Hamilton 
        Houston, Mahalia Jackson, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, B.B. King, Martin 
        Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker 
        Motley, Rosa Parks, Walter Payton, Bill Pickett, Homer Plessy, Bass 
        Reeves, Hiram Revels, Amelia Platts Boynton Robinson, Jackie Robinson, 
        Aaron Shirley, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, 
        the Greensboro Four, the Tuskegee Airmen, Prince Rogers Nelson, Recy 
        Taylor, Fred Shuttlesworth, Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Muhammad 
        Ali, Elijah Cummings, Ella Fitzgerald, Mamie Till, Toni Morrison, Gwen 
        Ifill, Diahann Carroll, Chadwick Boseman, John Lewis, Katherine Johnson, 
        Rev. C.T. Vivian, Hank Aaron, Edith Savage-Jennings, Septima Clark, Mary 
        Mcleod Bethune, Cicely Tyson, John Hope Franklin, Colin Powell, bell 
        hooks, Bob Moses, Sidney Poitier, Bill Russell, and Chief Justice of 
        South Carolina Ernest Finney, along with many others, worked against 
        racism to achieve success and to make significant contributions to the 
        economic, educational, political, artistic, athletic, literary, 
        scientific, and technological advancement of the United States;
Whereas the contributions of African Americans from all walks of life throughout 
        the history of the United States reflect the greatness of the United 
        States;
Whereas many African Americans lived, toiled, and died in obscurity, never 
        achieving the recognition those individuals deserved, and yet paved the 
        way for future generations to succeed;
Whereas African Americans continue to serve the United States at the highest 
        levels of business, government, and the military;
Whereas the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass inspired the 
        creation of Negro History Week, the precursor to Black History Month;
Whereas Negro History Week represented the culmination of the efforts of Dr. 
        Carter G. Woodson, the ``Father of Black History'', to enhance knowledge 
        of Black history through The Journal of Negro History, published by the 
        Association for the Study of African American Life and History, which 
        was founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland;
Whereas Black History Month, celebrated during the month of February, originated 
        in 1926 when Dr. Carter G. Woodson set aside a special period in 
        February to recognize the heritage and achievements of Black people in 
        the United States;
Whereas Dr. Carter G. Woodson stated, ``We have a wonderful history behind us. . 
        . . If you are unable to demonstrate to the world that you have this 
        record, the world will say to you, `You are not worthy to enjoy the 
        blessings of democracy or anything else.''';
Whereas, since its founding, the United States has imperfectly progressed toward 
        noble goals;
Whereas the history of the United States is the story of people regularly 
        affirming high ideals, striving to reach those ideals but often failing, 
        and then struggling to come to terms with the disappointment of that 
        failure, before committing to try again;
Whereas, on November 4, 2008, the people of the United States elected Barack 
        Obama, an African-American man, as President of the United States; and
Whereas, on February 22, 2012, people across the United States celebrated the 
        groundbreaking of the National Museum of African American History and 
        Culture, which opened to the public on September 24, 2016, on the 
        National Mall in Washington, District of Columbia: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) acknowledges that all people of the United States are 
        the recipients of the wealth of history provided by Black 
        culture;
            (2) recognizes the importance of Black History Month as an 
        opportunity to reflect on the complex history of the United 
        States, while remaining hopeful and confident about the path 
        ahead;
            (3) acknowledges the significance of Black History Month as 
        an important opportunity to commemorate the tremendous 
        contributions of African Americans to the history of the United 
        States;
            (4) encourages the celebration of Black History Month to 
        provide a continuing opportunity for all people in the United 
        States to learn from the past and understand the experiences 
        that have shaped the United States; and
            (5) agrees that, while the United States began as a divided 
        country, the United States must--
                    (A) honor the contribution of all pioneers in the 
                United States who have helped to ensure the legacy of 
                the great United States; and
                    (B) move forward with purpose, united tirelessly as 
                a nation ``indivisible, with liberty and justice for 
                all.''.
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