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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 39 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 39

  Apologizing to the victims of lynching and the descendants of those 
     victims for the failure of the Senate to enact anti-lynching 
                              legislation.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 7, 2005

 Ms. Landrieu (for herself, Mr. Allen, Mr. Levin, Mr. Frist, Mr. Reid, 
Mr. Allard, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Bayh, Ms. Collins, Mr. Biden, 
Mr. Ensign, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Dayton, 
Mr. McCain, Mr. Dodd, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Specter, Mr. Feingold, 
Mr. Stevens, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Talent, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. 
    Johnson, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Leahy, Mr. 
Lieberman, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Pryor, and Mr. Schumer) submitted 
 the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
  Apologizing to the victims of lynching and the descendants of those 
     victims for the failure of the Senate to enact anti-lynching 
                              legislation.

Whereas the crime of lynching succeeded slavery as the ultimate expression of 
        racism in the United States following Reconstruction;
Whereas lynching was a widely acknowledged practice in the United States until 
        the middle of the 20th century;
Whereas lynching was a crime that occurred throughout the United States, with 
        documented incidents in all but 4 States;
Whereas at least 4,742 people, predominantly African-Americans, were reported 
        lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968;
Whereas 99 percent of all perpetrators of lynching escaped from punishment by 
        State or local officials;
Whereas lynching prompted African-Americans to form the National Association for 
        the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and prompted members of B'nai 
        B'rith to found the Anti-Defamation League;
Whereas nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress during the 
        first half of the 20th century;
Whereas, between 1890 and 1952, 7 Presidents petitioned Congress to end 
        lynching;
Whereas, between 1920 and 1940, the House of Representatives passed 3 strong 
        anti-lynching measures;
Whereas protection against lynching was the minimum and most basic of Federal 
        responsibilities, and the Senate considered but failed to enact anti-
        lynching legislation despite repeated requests by civil rights groups, 
        Presidents, and the House of Representatives to do so;
Whereas the recent publication of ``Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in 
        America'' helped bring greater awareness and proper recognition of the 
        victims of lynching;
Whereas only by coming to terms with history can the United States effectively 
        champion human rights abroad; and
Whereas an apology offered in the spirit of true repentance moves the United 
        States toward reconciliation and may become central to a new 
        understanding, on which improved racial relations can be forged: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) apologizes to the victims of lynching for the failure 
        of the Senate to enact anti-lynching legislation;
            (2) expresses the deepest sympathies and most solemn 
        regrets of the Senate to the descendants of victims of 
        lynching, the ancestors of whom were deprived of life, human 
        dignity, and the constitutional protections accorded all 
        citizens of the United States; and
            (3) remembers the history of lynching, to ensure that these 
        tragedies will be neither forgotten nor repeated.
                                 <all>
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