III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 287 

Honoring the life of and expressing the condolences of the Senate on the 

passing of Rosa Parks. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 25, 2005 

Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. FRIST, Mr. REID, Mr. OBAMA, 

Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. 

BROWNBACK, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. TALENT, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mrs. DOLE, 

Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. THOMAS, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. 

HARKIN, Mrs. BOXER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

AKAKA, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. BAYH, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. BYRD, 

Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CONRAD, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. DAYTON, 

Mr. DODD, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. JEFFORDS, 

Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. KOHL, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. 

LEAHY, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mrs. LINCOLN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs. MURRAY, 

Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. 

REED, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. SARBANES, and Mr. 

WYDEN) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 

agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the life of and expressing the condolences of the 

Senate on the passing of Rosa Parks. 

Whereas Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, as Rosa 

Louise McCauley, to James and Leona McCauley in 

Tuskegee, Alabama; 
2 

•SRES 287 ATS

Whereas her moral clarity and quiet dignity shaped and inspired the Civil Rights Movement in the United States 

over the last half-century; 

Whereas Rosa Parks was educated in Pine Level, Alabama, 

until the age of 11, when she enrolled in the Montgomery 

Industrial School for Girls and then went on to attend 

the Alabama State Teachers College High School; 

Whereas on December 18, 1932, Rosa McCauley married 

Raymond Parks and settled in Montgomery, Alabama; 

Whereas, together, Raymond and Rosa Parks worked in the 

Montgomery, Alabama branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 

where Raymond Parks served as an active member and 

Rosa Parks served as a secretary and youth leader; 

Whereas on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for 

refusing to give up her seat in the ‘‘colored’’ section of 

the bus to a white man on the orders of the bus driver 

because the ‘‘white’’ section was full; 

Whereas the arrest of Rosa Parks led African Americans and 

others to boycott the Montgomery city bus line until the 

buses in Montgomery were desegregated; 

Whereas the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott encouraged 

other courageous people across the United States to organize in protest and demand equal rights for all; 

Whereas most historians date the beginning of the modernday Civil Rights Movement in the United States to December 1, 1955; 

Whereas the fearless acts of civil disobedience displayed by 

Rosa Parks and others resulted in a legal action challenging Montgomery’s segregated public transportation 

system, which subsequently led to the United States Su-
3 

•SRES 287 ATS

preme Court, on November 13, 1956, affirming a district 

court decision that held that Montgomery segregation 

codes deny and deprive African Americans of the equal 

protection of the laws (352 U.S. 903); 

Whereas in 1957, Rosa Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan; 

Whereas in 1965, Representative John Conyers hired Rosa 

Parks as a member of his staff, where she worked in various administrative jobs for 23 years and retired in 1988 

at age 75; 

Whereas Rosa Parks continued her civil rights work by starting the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in 1987, a nonprofit organization that motivates young people to reach their highest potential; 

Whereas the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development offers educational programs for young people, 

including two signature programs: first, Pathways to 

Freedom, a 21-day program that introduces students to 

the Underground Railroad and the civil rights movement 

with a freedom ride across the United States and Canada, tracing the underground railroad into civil rights, 

and second, Learning Centers and Senior Citizens, a program that partners young people with senior citizens 

where the young help the senior citizens develop their 

computer skills and senior citizens mentor the young; 

Whereas Rosa Parks has been commended for her work in 

the realm of civil rights with such recognitions as the 

NAACP’s Spingarn Medal, the Martin Luther King, Jr., 

Nonviolent Peace Prize, the Presidential medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal; 

Whereas Time magazine named Rosa Parks one of the ‘‘100 

most influential people of the 20th century’’, The Henry 
4 

•SRES 287 ATS

Ford Museum in Michigan bought and exhibited the bus 

on which she was arrested, and The Rosa Parks Library 

and Museum opened in Montgomery in 2000; 

Whereas in 2005, the year marking the 50th anniversary of 

Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on the bus, we 

recognize the courage, dignity, and determination displayed by Rosa Parks as she confronted injustice and inequality; and 

Whereas in 1988 Rosa Parks said: ‘‘I am leaving this legacy 

to all of you . . . to bring peace, justice, equality, love 

and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die—the dream of freedom and 

peace’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate honors the life and accom2 plishments of Rosa Parks and expresses its condolences 

3 on her passing. 

Æ