[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14555]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE'S 100TH ANNIVERSARY

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to ask my colleagues to 
join me in recognizing the National Urban League on celebrating 100 
years of enabling African Americans to secure economic self-reliance, 
parity, power, and civil rights.
  The National Urban League is a historic civil rights organization 
dedicated to economic empowerment in order to elevate the standard of 
living in historically underserved urban communities. Founded in 1910 
and headquartered in New York City, the National Urban League 
spearheads the efforts of its local affiliates through the development 
of programs, public policy research, and advocacy. Today, there are 
more than 100 local affiliates in 36 States and the District of 
Columbia, providing direct services that impact and improve the lives 
of more than 2 million people nationwide.
  This week, some of the Nation's foremost power brokers, celebrities, 
corporate leaders, and activists are convening at the Washington 
Convention Center in the Nation's Capital to celebrate the 100th 
anniversary of the National Urban League. The Centennial Conference 
marks the completion of the first century of leadership and service and 
now prepare for a new civil rights strategy to meet the new challenges 
to equal opportunity in America.
  The National Urban League employs a five-point approach to provide 
economic empowerment, educational opportunities, and the guarantee of 
civil rights for African Americans: education and youth empowerment, 
which ensures the education of all children by providing access to 
early childhood literacy, aftercare programs and college scholarships; 
economic empowerment, which invests in the financial literacy and 
employability of adults through job training, home ownership, and 
entrepreneurship; health and quality of life empowerment, which 
promotes community wellness through a focus on prevention, including 
fitness, healthy eating, and access to affordable healthcare; civic 
engagement and leadership empowerment, which encourages all people to 
take an active role to improve quality of life through participation in 
community service projects and public policy initiatives; and civil 
rights and racial justice empowerment, which guarantees equal 
participation in all facets of American society through proactive 
public policies and community-based programs.
  I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating the National Urban 
League on its 100th anniversary and in wishing them the best for years 
to come.

                          ____________________