[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 79 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF NAACP

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DEBORAH L. HALVORSON

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 21, 2009

  Mrs. HALVORSON. Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize the NAACP 
for one hundred years of promoting equal rights and fighting for the 
eradication of racial prejudice within the United States. The NAACP is 
the largest and oldest civil rights organization in the United States. 
It currently has more than half a million members and supporters 
throughout the United States and the world who serve as advocates for 
civil rights in their communities.
  On February 12, 1909, the 100th anniversary of President Abraham 
Lincoln's birth, the NAACP was founded in response to race riots in 
Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, Illinois. From the time of its 
founding, the NAACP has recognized that racial justice is important for 
every single American. This is reinforced by the fact that the 
organization has always been led by a diverse group of Americans from 
many races and backgrounds. These leaders came to the organization 
because, as Dr. King so eloquently described, ``All men are caught in 
an inescapable network of mutuality.''
  The NAACP played a pivotal role in overturning disenfranchisement, 
racial segregation in public schools, and discriminatory hiring 
practices. It fought for the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of the 
1950s and 60s, the Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act. The 
work of the NAACP paved the way for the election of Barack Obama--
another of Illinois' favorite sons--as our first African American 
President, one hundred years after the founding of the NAACP. The NAACP 
continues to work on ensuring equal access to education, health care, 
and jobs.
  On the 100th anniversary of its founding, I would like to celebrate 
the NAACP and its many important accomplishments towards securing equal 
rights of all persons.

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