[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 64 (Thursday, May 1, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S5691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE 140TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of Calendar No. 81, S. Con. Res. 15, which was 
reported earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 15) commemorating the 
     140th anniversary of the issuance of the Emancipation 
     Proclamation.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be 
agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, and any statements related to this matter be printed in 
the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 15) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 15

       Whereas Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the 
     United States, issued a proclamation on September 22, 1862, 
     declaring that on the first day of January, 1863, ``all 
     persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of 
     a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against 
     the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever 
     free'';
       Whereas the proclamation declared ``all persons held slaves 
     within the insurgent States''--with the exception of 
     Tennessee, southern Louisiana, and parts of Virginia, then 
     within Union lines--``are free'';
       Whereas, for two and half years, Texas slaves were held in 
     bondage after the Emancipation Proclamation became official 
     and only after Major General Gordon Granger and his soldiers 
     arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, were African-
     American slaves in that State set free;
       Whereas slavery was a horrendous practice and trade in 
     human trafficking that continued until the passage of the 
     Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ending 
     slavery on December 18, 1865;
       Whereas the Emancipation Proclamation is historically 
     significant and history is regarded as a means of 
     understanding the past and solving the challenges of the 
     future;
       Whereas one hundred and forty years after President 
     Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans have 
     integrated into various levels of society; and
       Whereas commemorating the 140th anniversary of the 
     Emancipation Proclamation highlights and reflects the 
     suffering and progress of the faith and strength of character 
     shown by slaves and their descendants as an example for all 
     people of the United States, regardless of background, 
     religion, or race: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes the historical significance of the 140th 
     anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation as an important 
     period in the Nation's history; and
       (2) encourages its celebration in accordance with the 
     spirit, strength, and legacy of freedom, justice, and 
     equality for all people of America and to provide an 
     opportunity for all people of the United States to learn more 
     about the past and to better understand the experiences that 
     have shaped the Nation.

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