[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 22796]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE LIFE AND WORK OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary 
Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 613.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 613) honoring the life and work of 
     William Wilberforce and commemorating the 200th anniversary 
     of the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to the resolution.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider 
be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 613) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 613

       Whereas William Wilberforce, born August 25, 1759, used his 
     position as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons to 
     stop the slave trade in Great Britain, proclaiming, ``I 
     [will] never rest until I have effected [slavery's] 
     abolition.'';
       Whereas William Wilberforce displayed remarkable 
     perserverance in answering the call of social justice and 
     fought the slave trade in Great Britain and slavery itself 
     for 46 years, despite the national and personal financial 
     interests aligned against him, the public criticism and 
     slander he endured, and the stress and pain placed on his 
     family;
       Whereas William Wilberforce rested his political career on 
     the ideals of stewardship, respect for the rights of others, 
     advancing the views of others, and promoting the happiness of 
     others, and proclaimed, ``Let every one . . . regulate his 
     conduct by the golden rule . . . and the path of duty will be 
     clear before him.'';
       Whereas William Wilberforce defended the rights of slaves 
     who had no voice in the legislature of Great Britain and 
     committed himself to sweeping social reform in his country;
       Whereas William Wilberforce joined with Sir Thomas Fowell 
     Buxton, Thomas Clarkson, Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Martineau, 
     Hannah More, and other great abolitionists in Great Britain;
       Whereas William Wilberforce inspired abolitionists in the 
     United States, including William Lloyd Garrison, John 
     Greenleaf Whittier, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, 
     and Harriet Beecher Stowe;
       Whereas William Wilberforce also influenced John Quincy 
     Adams, James Monroe, John Jay, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin 
     Franklin, along with many leaders in the African-American 
     community, among them William Wells Brown, Paul Cuffe, and 
     Benjamin Hughes;
       Whereas Frederick Douglass said, ``it was the faithful, 
     persistent and enduring enthusiasm of . . . William 
     Wilberforce . . . and [his] noble co-workers, that finally 
     thawed the British heart into sympathy for the slave, and 
     moved the strong arm of the government in mercy to put an end 
     to his bondage.''; and
       Whereas March 25, 2007 marks the 200th anniversary of the 
     abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) honors the life and work of William Wilberforce; and
       (2) commemorates the 200th anniversary of the abolition of 
     the slave trade in Great Britain and its impact on similar 
     efforts in the United States.

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