H. Con. Res. 289 Agreed to March 5, 2008 

One Hundred Tenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and eight 

Concurrent Resolution 

Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 

People (NAACP), originally known as the National Negro Committee, was founded in New York City on February 12, 1909, 

the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, by a multiracial group 

of activists who answered ‘The Call’ for a national conference 

to discuss the civil and political rights of African-Americans; 

Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 

People was founded by a distinguished group of leaders in the 

struggle for civil and political liberty, including Ida Wells-Barnett, 

W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald 

Garrison Villard, and William English Walling; 

Whereas the NAACP is the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the United States; 

Whereas the mission of the NAACP is to ensure the political, 

educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons 

and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination; 

Whereas the NAACP is committed to achieving its goals through 

nonviolence; 

Whereas the NAACP advances its mission through reliance upon 

the press, the petition, the ballot, and the courts, and has been 

persistent in the use of legal and moral persuasion, even in 

the face of overt and violent racial hostility; 

Whereas the NAACP has used political pressure, marches, demonstrations, and effective lobbying to serve as the voice, as well 

as the shield, for minority Americans; 

Whereas after years of fighting segregation in public schools, the 

NAACP, under the leadership of Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall, won one of its greatest legal victories in the Supreme 

Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education; 

Whereas in 1955, NAACP member Rosa Parks was arrested and 

fined for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in 

Montgomery, Alabama—an act of courage that would serve as 

the catalyst for the largest grassroots civil rights movement in 

the history of the United States; 

Whereas the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the passage 

of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964, the Voting 

Rights Act of 1965, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and 

Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and 

Amendments Act of 2006, and the Fair Housing Act, laws which 

ensured Government protection for legal victories achieved; 
H. Con. Res. 289—2 

Whereas in 2005, the National Association for the Advancement 

of Colored People launched the Disaster Relief Fund to help 

survivors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama 

to rebuild their lives; and 

Whereas in 2007, the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the 

passage of H. Res. 826, ‘‘The Noose Intimidation Bill’’, which 

expresses ‘‘that the hanging of nooses is a horrible act when 

used for the purpose of intimidation and which under certain 

circumstances can be a criminal act that should be thoroughly 

investigated by Federal law enforcement authorities and that 

any criminal violations should be vigorously prosecuted’’: Now, 

therefore, be it 

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress— 

(1) recognizes the 99th anniversary of the historic founding 

of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 

People; and 

(2) honors and praises the National Association for the 

Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its anniversary for its work to ensure the political, educational, social, 

and economic equality of all persons. 

Attest: 

Clerk of the House of Representatives. 

Attest: 

Secretary of the Senate.