[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 106 (Monday, July 16, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S5049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 520--COMMENDING THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
 ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 103RD ANNIVERSARY

  Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. Grassley) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 520

       Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of 
     Colored People (referred to in this preamble as the 
     ``NAACP''), originally known as the National Negro Committee, 
     was founded in New York City on February 12, 1909, the 
     centennial of the date on which President Abraham Lincoln was 
     born, by a multiracial group of activists who met in a 
     national conference to discuss the civil and political rights 
     of African-Americans;
       Whereas the NAACP was founded by a distinguished group of 
     leaders in the struggle for civil and political liberty, 
     including Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, 
     Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, and William 
     English Walling;
       Whereas the NAACP is the oldest and largest civil rights 
     organization in the United States;
       Whereas the NAACP National Headquarters is located in 
     Baltimore, Maryland;
       Whereas the mission of the NAACP is to ensure the 
     political, educational, social, and economic equality of 
     rights of all people and to eliminate racial hatred and 
     racial discrimination;
       Whereas the NAACP is committed to achieving its goals 
     through nonviolence;
       Whereas the NAACP advances its mission through reliance on 
     the press, the petition, the ballot, and the courts;
       Whereas the NAACP has been persistent in the use of legal 
     and moral persuasion, even in the face of overt and violent 
     racial hostility;
       Whereas the NAACP has used political pressure, marches, 
     demonstrations, and effective lobbying to serve as the voice, 
     as well as the shield, for minorities in the United States;
       Whereas after years of fighting segregation in public 
     schools, the NAACP, under the leadership of Special Counsel 
     Thurgood Marshall, won one of its greatest legal victories in 
     the decision issued by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of 
     Education (347 U.S. 483 (1954));
       Whereas in 1955, NAACP member Rosa Parks was arrested and 
     fined for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in 
     Montgomery, Alabama, an act of courage that would serve as 
     the catalyst for the largest grassroots civil rights movement 
     in the history of the United States;
       Whereas the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the passage 
     of--
       (1) the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (Public Law 85-315; 71 
     Stat. 634);
       (2) the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (Public Law 86-449; 74 
     Stat. 86);
       (3) the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352; 78 
     Stat. 241);
       (4) the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.);
       (5) the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, 
     Cesar E. Chavez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Velasquez, and 
     Dr. Hector P. Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and 
     Amendments Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-246; 120 Stat. 577); 
     and
       (6) the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.);
       Whereas in 2005, the NAACP launched the Disaster Relief 
     Fund to help hurricane survivors rebuild their lives in the 
     States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and 
     Alabama;
       Whereas in the 110th Congress, the NAACP was prominent in 
     lobbying for the passage of H. Res. 826, the resolved clause 
     of which expresses that--
       (1) the hanging of nooses is a horrible act when used for 
     the purpose of intimidation;
       (2) under certain circumstances, the hanging of nooses can 
     be criminal; and
       (3) the hanging of nooses should be investigated thoroughly 
     by Federal authorities, and any criminal violations should be 
     vigorously prosecuted;
       Whereas in 2008, the NAACP vigorously supported the passage 
     of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 
     (28 U.S.C. 509 note), a law that puts additional Federal 
     resources into solving the heinous crimes that occurred 
     during the early days of the civil rights struggle that 
     remain unsolved and brings those who perpetrated those crimes 
     to justice;
       Whereas the NAACP has helped usher in the new millennium by 
     charting a bold course, beginning with the appointment of the 
     youngest President and Chief Executive Officer in the history 
     of the organization, Benjamin Todd Jealous, and its youngest 
     female Board Chair, Roslyn M. Brock;
       Whereas under the leadership of Benjamin Todd Jealous and 
     Roslyn M. Brock, the NAACP has outlined a strategic plan to 
     confront 21st century challenges in the critical areas of 
     health, education, housing, criminal justice, and the 
     environment;
       Whereas on July 16, 2009, the NAACP celebrated its 
     centennial anniversary in New York City, highlighting an 
     extraordinary century of ``Bold Dreams, Big Victories'' with 
     a historic address from the first African-American President 
     of the United States, Barack Obama;
       Whereas as an advocate for sentencing reform, the NAACP 
     applauded the enactment of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 
     (Public Law 111-220; 124 Stat. 2372), a landmark piece of 
     legislation that reduces the quantity of crack cocaine that 
     triggers a mandatory minimum sentence for a Federal 
     conviction of crack cocaine distribution from 100 times that 
     of people convicted of distributing the drug in powdered form 
     to 18 times that sentence;
        Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the 103rd anniversary of the historic 
     founding of the National Association for the Advancement of 
     Colored People; and
       (2) commends the National Association for the Advancement 
     of Colored People on the occasion of its anniversary for its 
     work to ensure the political, educational, social, and 
     economic equality of all people.

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