[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 149 (Thursday, October 6, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6354-S6356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RESOLUTIONS SUBMITTED TODAY
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the consideration en bloc of the following resolutions,
which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 288, S. Res. 289, and S.
Res. 290.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolutions en bloc.
Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to,
the preambles be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the
table en bloc, with no intervening action or debate, and any related
statements be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolutions were agreed to.
The preambles were agreed to.
The resolutions, with their preambles, read as follows:
S. Res. 288
Designating the week beginning October 9, 2011, as ``National Wildlife
Refuge Week''
Whereas in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt established
the first national wildlife refuge on Florida's Pelican
Island;
Whereas in 2011, the National Wildlife Refuge System,
administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, is the premier
system of lands and waters to conserve wildlife in the world,
and has grown to more than 150,000,000 acres, 553 national
wildlife refuges, and 38 wetland management districts in
every State and territory of the United States;
Whereas national wildlife refuges are important
recreational and tourism destinations in communities across
the Nation, and these protected lands offer a variety of
recreational opportunities, including 6 wildlife-dependent
uses that the National Wildlife Refuge System manages:
hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, photography,
environmental education, and interpretation;
Whereas more than 370 units of the National Wildlife Refuge
System have hunting programs and more than 350 units of the
National Wildlife Refuge System have fishing programs,
averaging more than 2,500,000 hunting visits and more than
7,100,000 fishing visits;
Whereas the National Wildlife Refuge System experiences
28,200,000 wildlife observation visits annually;
Whereas national wildlife refuges are important to local
businesses and gateway communities;
Whereas for every $1 appropriated, national wildlife
refuges generate $4 in economic activity;
Whereas the National Wildlife Refuge System experiences
approximately 45,700,000 visits every year, generating nearly
$1,700,000,000 and 27,000 jobs in local economies;
Whereas the National Wildlife Refuge System encompasses
every kind of ecosystem in the United States, including
temperate, tropical, and boreal forests, wetlands, deserts,
grasslands, arctic tundras, and remote islands, and spans 12
time zones from the Virgin Islands to Guam;
Whereas national wildlife refuges are home to more than 700
species of birds, 220 species of mammals, 250 species of
reptiles and amphibians, and more than 1,000 species of fish;
Whereas national wildlife refuges are the primary Federal
lands that foster production, migration, and wintering
habitat for waterfowl;
Whereas since 1934, more than $750,000,000 in funds, from
the sale of the Federal Duck Stamp to outdoor enthusiasts,
has enabled the purchase or lease of more than 5,300,000
acres of waterfowl habitat in the National Wildlife Refuge
System;
Whereas 59 refuges were established specifically to protect
imperiled species, and of the more than 1,300 federally
listed threatened and endangered species in the United
States, 280 species are found on units of the National
Wildlife Refuge System;
Whereas national wildlife refuges are cores of conservation
for larger landscapes and resources for other agencies of the
Federal Government and State governments, private landowners,
and organizations in their efforts to secure the wildlife
heritage of the United States;
Whereas 39,000 volunteers and more than 220 national
wildlife refuge ``Friends'' organizations contribute nearly
1,400,000 hours annually, the equivalent of 665 full-time
employees, and provide an important link with local
communities;
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Whereas national wildlife refuges provide an important
opportunity for children to discover and gain a greater
appreciation for the natural world;
Whereas because there are national wildlife refuges located
in several urban and suburban areas and 1 refuge located
within an hour's drive of every metropolitan area in the
United States, national wildlife refuges employ, educate, and
engage young people from all backgrounds in exploring,
connecting with, and preserving the natural heritage of the
Nation;
Whereas since 1995, refuges across the Nation have held
festivals, educational programs, guided tours, and other
events to celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week during the
second full week of October;
Whereas the Fish and Wildlife Service will continue to seek
stakeholder input on the implementation of the
recommendations in the document entitled ``Conserving the
Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation'', which is
an update to the strategic plan of the Fish and Wildlife
Service for the future of the National Wildlife Refuge
System;
Whereas the week beginning on October 9, 2011, has been
designated as ``National Wildlife Refuge Week'' by the Fish
and Wildlife Service;
Whereas in 2011, the designation of National Wildlife
Refuge Week would recognize more than a century of
conservation in the United States and would serve to raise
awareness about the importance of wildlife and the National
Wildlife Refuge System and to celebrate the myriad
recreational opportunities available to enjoy this network of
protected lands: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) designates the week beginning on October 9, 2011, as
``National Wildlife Refuge Week'';
(2) encourages the observance of National Wildlife Refuge
Week with appropriate events and activities;
(3) acknowledges the importance of national wildlife
refuges for their recreational opportunities and contribution
to local economies across the United States;
(4) pronounces that national wildlife refuges play a vital
role in securing the hunting and fishing heritage of the
United States for future generations;
(5) identifies the significance of national wildlife
refuges in advancing the traditions of wildlife observation,
photography, environmental education, and interpretation;
(6) recognizes the importance of national wildlife refuges
to wildlife conservation and the protection of imperiled
species and ecosystems, as well as compatible uses;
(7) acknowledges the role of national wildlife refuges in
conserving waterfowl and waterfowl habitat pursuant to the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (40 Stat. 755, chapter 128);
(8) reaffirms the support of the Senate for wildlife
conservation and the National Wildlife Refuge System; and
(9) expresses the intent of the Senate--
(A) to continue working to conserve wildlife; and
(B) to manage the National Wildlife Refuge System for
current and future generations.
S. Res. 289
Celebrating the life and achievements of Reverend Fred Lee
Shuttlesworth
Whereas the Reverend Fred Lee Shuttlesworth was born on
March 18, 1922, in Mount Meigs, Alabama;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth, a former truck driver who
studied theology at night, was ordained in 1948;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth became pastor of Bethel
Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1953, and was an
outspoken leader in the fight for racial equality;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth worked alongside Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. and was hailed by Dr. King for his courage
and energy in the fight for civil rights;
Whereas, in May 1956, Reverend Shuttlesworth established
the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights when the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
was banned from Alabama by court injunction;
Whereas, in a brazen attempt to threaten Reverend
Shuttleworth's resolve and commitment to the fight for
equality and justice, 6 sticks of dynamite were detonated
outside Reverend Shuttlesworth's bedroom window on Christmas
Day, 1956;
Whereas, on the day after the attack on his home, on
December 26, 1956, an undeterred Reverend Shuttlesworth
courageously continued the fight for equal rights, leading
250 people in a protest of segregated buses in Birmingham;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth was beaten with chains and
brass knuckles by a mob of Ku Klux Klansmen in 1957 when he
tried to enroll his children in a segregated school in
Birmingham;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth co-founded the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as the first
secretary of the organization from 1958 to 1970 and as its
president in 2004;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth participated in protesting
segregated lunch counters and helped lead sit-ins in 1960;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth worked with the Congress of
Racial Equality to organize the Freedom Rides against
segregated interstate buses in the South in 1961;
Whereas it was Reverend Shuttlesworth who called upon
Attorney General Robert Kennedy to protect the Freedom
Riders;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth freed a group of Freedom
Riders from jail and drove them to the Tennessee State line
to safety;
Whereas, in 1963, Reverend Shuttlesworth persuaded Dr. King
to bring the civil rights movement to Birmingham;
Whereas, in the spring of 1963, Reverend Shuttlesworth
designed a mass campaign that included a series of nonviolent
sit-ins and marches against illegal segregation by Black
children, students, clergymen, and others;
Whereas, in 1963, while leading a nonviolent protest
against segregation in Birmingham, Reverend Shuttlesworth was
slammed against a wall and knocked unconscious by the force
of the water pressure from fire hoses turned on demonstrators
at the order of Bull Connor, the Commissioner of Public
Safety;
Whereas the televised images of Connor directing the use of
firefighters' hoses and police dogs to attack nonviolent
demonstrators, and to arrest those undeterred by violence,
had a profound effect on the view of the civil rights
struggle by citizens of the United States;
Whereas as a result of those violent images, President John
Fitzgerald Kennedy called the fight for equality a moral
issue;
Whereas those violent images helped lead to the passage of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352; 78 Stat.
241);
Whereas, in his 1963 book ``Why We Can't Wait'', Dr. King
called Reverend Shuttlesworth ``one of the nation's most
courageous freedom fighters . . . a wiry, energetic, and
indomitable man'';
Whereas, in March 1965, Reverend Shuttlesworth helped
organize the historic march from Selma to Montgomery to
protest voting discrimination in Alabama;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth became pastor of the Greater
New Light Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1966 and
served as pastor until his retirement in 2006;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth advocated for racial justice
in Cincinnati and for increased minority representation in
the public institutions of Cincinnati, including the police
department and city council;
Whereas, in the 1980s, Reverend Shuttlesworth established
the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation in Cincinnati, which
helped low-income families in Cincinnati become homeowners;
Whereas, in 2001, President William Jefferson Clinton
awarded Reverend Shuttlesworth a Presidential Citizens Medal
for his leadership in the ``nonviolent civil rights movement
of the 1950s and 60s, leading efforts to integrate
Birmingham, Alabama's schools, buses, and recreational
facilities'';
Whereas the Birmingham international airport was named for
Reverend Shuttlesworth in 2008, and is now known as the
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport;
Whereas Reverend Shuttlesworth was inducted into the Ohio
Civil Rights Commission Hall of Fame in 2009;
Whereas in Reverend Shuttlesworth's final sermon he said
``the best thing we can do is be a servant of God . . . it
does good to stand up and serve others''; and
Whereas upon the death of Reverend Shuttlesworth, President
Barack Hussein Obama said of Reverend Shuttlesworth that he
``dedicated his life to advancing the cause of justice for
all Americans. He was a testament to the strength of the
human spirit. And today we stand on his shoulders, and the
shoulders of all those who marched and sat and lifted their
voices to help perfect our union'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate celebrates the life and
achievements of Reverend Fred Lee Shuttlesworth and honors
him for his tireless efforts in the fight against segregation
and his steadfast commitment to the civil rights of all
people.
S. Res. 290
Supporting the designation of October 6, 2011, as ``Jumpstart's Read
for the Record Day''
Whereas Jumpstart, a national early education organization,
is working to ensure that all children in the United States
enter school prepared to succeed;
Whereas, year-round, Jumpstart recruits and trains college
students and community members to serve preschool children in
low-income neighborhoods, helping them to develop the key
language and literacy skills necessary to succeed in school
and in life;
Whereas, since 1993, Jumpstart has engaged more than 20,000
adults in service to more than 90,000 young children in
communities across the United States;
Whereas Jumpstart's Read for the Record, presented in
partnership with the Pearson Foundation, is a national
campaign that mobilizes adults and children in an effort to
close the early education achievement gap in the United
States by setting a reading world record;
Whereas the goals of the campaign are to raise awareness in
the United States of the importance of early education,
provide books to children in low-income households through
donations and sponsorship, and celebrate the commencement of
Jumpstart's program year;
Whereas October 6, 2011, would be an appropriate date to
designate as ``Jumpstart's Read for the Record Day'' because
it is the date Jumpstart aims to set the world record for the
largest shared reading experience; and
Whereas Jumpstart hopes to engage more than 2,100,000
children in reading Anna
[[Page S6356]]
Dewdney's ``Llama Llama Red Pajama'' during this record-
breaking celebration of reading, service, and fun, all in
support of preschool children in the United States: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) supports the designation of October 6, 2011, as
``Jumpstart's Read for the Record Day'';
(2) commends Jumpstart's Read for the Record in its sixth
year;
(3) encourages adults, including grandparents, parents,
teachers, and college students--
(A) to join children in creating the world's largest shared
reading experience; and
(B) to show their support for early literacy and
Jumpstart's early education programming for young children in
low-income communities; and
(4) respectfully requests the Secretary of the Senate to
transmit a copy of this resolution to Jumpstart, one of the
leading nonprofit organizations in the United States in the
field of early education.
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