[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 21, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROSA LOUISE PARKS'S REFUSAL TO GIVE UP 
   HER SEAT ON THE BUS AND THE SUBSEQUENT DESEGREGATION OF AMERICAN 
                                SOCIETY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 14, 2005

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 208 and 
commend the gentlemen from Wisconsin and Michigan for bringing this 
concurrent resolution to the floor today.
  Fifty years ago this coming December, Rosa Louise Parks inspired a 
town, a movement, and a Nation to hold true to the ideals and 
principles upon which our Nation was founded. By refusing to give up 
her seat after a long day of work because she felt she was being 
treated unfairly, Rosa Parks demonstrated the quiet strength that 
typified her life.
  Her arrest led to the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott and to the 
eventual repeal of the segregation laws of the South. Her individual 
act of defiance is considered by many to be the beginning of the civil 
rights movement.
  Ten years later, on August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed 
into law the Voting Rights Act, which in later years was strengthened 
with amendments to affirm the rights of non-Whites to vote and to be 
represented fairly in government. This fall, parts of the Voting Rights 
Act will come before Congress to be reauthorized. We must not only 
renew our commitment to the voting rights protected under that 
legislation, but look to strengthen voter rights and to improve our 
electoral systems. And we must forever link our current state of 
freedom with the sacrifice of exceptional individuals like Rosa Parks 
who stood up to oppression and changed history.
  Let us celebrate the lifetime achievements of a truly remarkable 
woman. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Con. Res. 208.

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