[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 23605-23606]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FREEDOM RIDES

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration 
of House Resolution 1779 and ask for its immediate consideration in the 
House.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1779

       Whereas, on May 4, 1961, a Greyhound bus left Washington, 
     DC with black and white passengers and traveled South to 
     challenge discriminatory racial segregation laws;
       Whereas, while the travels of these passengers were 
     initially called a Journey of Reconciliation, their efforts 
     would come to be known as the Freedom Rides;
       Whereas these Southern-bound passengers, known as the 
     Freedom Riders, were united by their commitment to end 
     segregation and ongoing racial discrimination;
       Whereas the Freedom Riders traveled into states where Jim 
     Crow laws were still prevalent, thus challenging the Federal 
     Government to enforce its decision to overturn them by non-
     violently integrating the bus routes and rest stops;
       Whereas, on their journeys during the Summer of 1961, the 
     Freedom Riders would stop at locations in Virginia, North 
     Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, 
     Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana;

[[Page 23606]]

       Whereas, at many times during the Freedom Rides, the Riders 
     encountered antagonism, verbal abuse, acts of violence, and 
     incarceration, yet never gave up their commitment to equality 
     and social justice;
       Whereas, led by James Farmer and the Congress of Racial 
     Equality, the Freedom Riders were successful in part due to 
     their role-playing preparation and practice in non-violence 
     and Gandhian principles;
       Whereas the Freedom Riders' non-violent actions would help 
     expose to the Nation and the world the cruelty and injustice 
     of Jim Crow laws; and
       Whereas the Freedom Rides would spur the Kennedy 
     Administration to enforce laws and judicial rulings that 
     guaranteed the rights and safety of all passengers, 
     regardless of race, gender, or religious background, to sit 
     wherever they desired on bus routes and at rest stops: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) honors the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides; and
       (2) recognizes the extraordinary leadership and sacrifice 
     of the Freedom Riders in their commitment to ending racial 
     segregation in America.

  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________