[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9099]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 198--COMMEMORATING THE 150TH ANNIVERSARIES OF THE 
RATIFICATION OF THE 13TH, 14TH, AND 15TH AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 
 OF THE UNITED STATES, OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE ``SECOND FOUNDING'' OF 
                           THE UNITED STATES

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

                              S. Res. 198

       Whereas, in 1787, delegates from the original 13 States 
     gathered in Philadelphia to propose and ratify a new guiding 
     charter, the Constitution of the United States, for the young 
     republic;
       Whereas George Washington, James Madison, and the other 
     delegates managed to craft the most durable form of 
     government in world history, one that provided for its own 
     revision and, therefore, allowed future generations to 
     continue to build a ``more perfect Union'';
       Whereas following the Civil War, President Lincoln and his 
     generation did just that, ratifying a series of 
     transformational amendments that gave the United States what 
     Lincoln promised at Gettysburg, ``a new birth of freedom'';
       Whereas the Second Founding of the United States began in 
     earnest on January 31, 1865, when Congress passed the 13th 
     Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and sent 
     it to the States for ratification;
       Whereas the next day, President Lincoln signed the 13th 
     Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, calling 
     it a ``King's cure'' for the evil of slavery;
       Whereas the people of the United States ratified the 13th 
     Amendment to the Constitution of the United States on 
     December 6, 1865, banning slavery and forced labor;
       Whereas the people of the United States next ratified the 
     14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States on 
     July 9, 1868, enshrining a host of new constitutional 
     guarantees;
       Whereas the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the 
     United States granted United States citizenship to everyone 
     born on the soil of, and subject to the jurisdiction of, the 
     United States, protected fundamental rights like free speech 
     from State abuses, ensured due process of law for the people 
     of the United States, and guaranteed equality for all of the 
     people of the United States;
       Whereas the people of the United States ratified the 15th 
     Amendment to the Constitution of the United States on 
     February 3, 1870, guaranteeing the right to vote free from 
     racial discrimination;
       Whereas the ratification of this series of amendments truly 
     constituted a ``Second Founding'' for the United States; and
       Whereas the 150th anniversary of the Second Founding occurs 
     over the course of the next 5 years: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates the 150th anniversaries of the 
     ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the 
     Constitution of the United States--the Second Founding of the 
     United States;
       (2) designates the year of 2015 as the ``Sesquicentennial 
     of Our Nation's Second Founding, New Birth of Freedom: 
     Commemorating the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth 
     Amendments'';
       (3) encourages State and local governments to join in the 
     Sesquicentennial celebration by organizing appropriate 
     ceremonies, activities, and educational outreach; and
       (4) encourages the people of the United States to explore 
     the history and significance of the Second Founding and to 
     celebrate the continuing importance to our Constitution and 
     to the United States of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments 
     to the Constitution of the United States.

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