III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 600 

Commemorating the 44th anniversary of the deaths of civil rights workers 

Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner in Philadelphia, Mississippi, while working in the name of American democracy 

to register voters and secure civil rights during the summer of 1964, 

which has become known as ‘‘Freedom Summer’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24 (legislative day, JUNE 23), 2008 

Mr. REID (for Mr. OBAMA (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. 

SCHUMER)) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 

agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 44th anniversary of the deaths of civil 

rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and 

Michael Schwerner in Philadelphia, Mississippi, while 

working in the name of American democracy to register 

voters and secure civil rights during the summer of 1964, 

which has become known as ‘‘Freedom Summer’’. 

Whereas 44 years ago, on June 21, 1964, Andrew Goodman, 

James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner were murdered in 

Philadelphia, Mississippi, while working in the name of 

American democracy to register voters and secure civil 

rights during the summer of 1964, which has become 

known as ‘‘Freedom Summer’’; 


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Whereas Andrew Goodman was a 20-year-old White anthropology major at New York’s Queens College, who volunteered for the ‘‘Freedom Summer’’ project; 

Whereas James Chaney, from Meridian, Mississippi, was a 

21-year-old African-American civil rights activist who 

joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1963 

to work on voter education and registration; 

Whereas Michael ‘‘Mickey’’ Schwerner, from Brooklyn, New 

York, was a 24-year-old White CORE field secretary in 

Mississippi and a veteran of the civil rights movement; 

Whereas in 1964, Mississippi had a Black voting-age population of 450,000, but only 16,000 Blacks were registered 

to vote; 

Whereas most Black voters were disenfranchised by law or 

practice in Mississippi; 

Whereas in 1964, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner volunteered to work as part of the 

‘‘Freedom Summer’’ project that involved several civil 

rights organizations, including the Mississippi State 

chapter of the National Association for the Advancement 

of Colored People, the Southern Christian Leadership 

Conference, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and CORE, with the purpose of registering Black 

voters in Mississippi; 

Whereas on the morning of June 21, 1964, the 3 men left 

the CORE office in Meridian and set out for Longdale, 

Mississippi, where they were to investigate the recent 

burning of the Mount Zion Methodist Church, a Black 

church that had been functioning as a Freedom School 

for education and voter registration; 


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Whereas on their way back to Meridian, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were detained 

and later arrested and taken to the Philadelphia, Mississippi, jail; 

Whereas later that same evening, on June 21, 1964, they 

were taken from the jail, turned over to the Ku Klux 

Klan, and beaten, shot, and killed; 

Whereas 2 days later, their burnt, charred, and gutted blue 

Ford station wagon was pulled from the Bogue Chitto 

Creek, just outside Philadelphia, Mississippi; 

Whereas the national uproar caused by the disappearance of 

the civil rights workers led President Lyndon B. Johnson 

to order Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to send 

200 active duty Navy sailors to search the swamps and 

fields in the area for the bodies of the 3 civil rights workers, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to order 

his Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director, J. 

Edgar Hoover, to send 150 agents to Mississippi to work 

on the case; 

Whereas the FBI investigation led to the discovery of the 

bodies of several other African-Americans from Mississippi, whose disappearances over the previous several 

years had not attracted attention outside their local communities; 

Whereas the bodies of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and 

Michael Schwerner, beaten and shot, were found on August 4, 1964, buried under a mound of dirt; 

Whereas on December 4, 1964, 21 White Mississippians from 

Philadelphia, Mississippi, including the sheriff and his 

deputy, were arrested, and the Department of Justice 

charged them with conspiring to deprive Andrew GoodVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:59 Jun 26, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR600.ATS SR600

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man, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner of their civil 

rights, since murder was not a Federal crime; 

Whereas on December 10, 1964, the same day Dr. Martin 

Luther King, Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize, a 

United States District judge dismissed charges against 

the 21 men accused of depriving the 3 civil right workers 

of their civil rights by murder; 

Whereas in 1967, after an appeal to the Supreme Court and 

new testimony, 7 individuals were found guilty, but 2 of 

the defendants, including Edgar Ray Killen, who had 

been strongly implicated in the murders by witnesses, 

were acquitted because the jury came to a deadlock on 

their charges; 

Whereas on January 6, 2005, a Neshoba County, Mississippi, 

grand jury indicted Edgar Ray Killen on 3 counts of 

murder; 

Whereas on June 21, 2005, a jury convicted Edgar Ray 

Killen on 3 counts of manslaughter; 

Whereas June 21, 2008, was the 44th anniversary of Andrew 

Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner’s ultimate sacrifice; 

Whereas by the end of ‘‘Freedom Summer’’, volunteers, including Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael 

Schwerner, helped register 17,000 African-Americans to 

vote; 

Whereas the national uproar in response to the deaths of 

these brave men helped create the necessary climate to 

bring about passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; 

Whereas Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael 

Schwerner worked for freedom, democracy, and equal 

justice under the law for all; and 


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Whereas the Federal Government should find an appropriate 

way to honor these courageous young men and their contributions to civil rights and voting rights: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) encourages all Americans to pause and re3 member Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Mi4 chael Schwerner and the 44th anniversary of their 

5 deaths; 

6 (2) commemorates the life and work of Andrew 

7 Goodman, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and 

8 all of the other brave Americans who made the ulti9 mate sacrifice in the name of civil rights and voting 

10 rights for all Americans; and 

11 (3) commemorates and acknowledges the legacy 

12 of the brave Americans who participated in the civil 

13 rights movement and the role that they played in 

14 changing the hearts and minds of Americans and 

15 creating the political climate necessary to pass legis16 lation to expand civil rights and voting rights for all 

17 Americans. 

Æ 


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