I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1537 

To direct the Postmaster General to issue a forever stamp depicting Bayard 

Rustin, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2019 

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To direct the Postmaster General to issue a forever stamp 

depicting Bayard Rustin, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bayard Rustin Stamp 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Bayard Rustin was born on March 17, 

9 1912, and was raised by his grandparents in West 

10 Chester, Pennsylvania. From a young age, Rustin 


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1 learned to prioritize the values of nonviolence and 

2 peacekeeping from his grandparents’ Quaker faith, 

3 and would continue to build these values in his life 

4 as a civil rights movement leader. 

5 (2) Rustin attended City College of New York, 

6 where he joined a progressive club that aimed to 

7 remedy racial issues during turbulent times. His 

8 time with the club was short lived, but it inspired 

9 him to join the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an or10 ganization that became a champion for labor rights, 

11 equality, and world peace. 

12 (3) His time with the Fellowship of Reconcili13 ation prompted Rustin to become a leader in the 

14 1947 ‘‘Journey to Reconciliation’’, an event where 

15 White and Black people across the South rode buses 

16 together to challenge segregation laws, a precursor 

17 to the Freedom Rides. 

18 (4) Rustin was an advisor in Martin Luther 

19 King, Jr.’s inner circle as he advocated pacifism and 

20 nonviolence for achieving equal treatment for Afri21 can Americans. 

22 (5) Rustin used his brilliant strategic handling 

23 of the use of aggressive, peaceful action in the civil 

24 rights movement and throughout his life as an activ25 ist. 


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1 (6) His most important role was as the chief or2 ganizer of the 1963 March on Washington, DC, the 

3 largest demonstration ever organized at the time, in 

4 which a quarter of a million people turned out to de5 mand civil rights for African Americans. 

6 (7) In the years after the civil rights movement, 

7 Rustin used his background as a gay man to inspire 

8 others to advocate for and to achieve LGBT rights. 

9 (8) Rustin remained a strategist and public 

10 speaker for workers’ rights movements, including co11 founding the A. Philip Randolph Institute for Black 

12 trade union members. 

13 (9) Rustin committed to promoting social good 

14 and advocating for the disenfranchised until his 

15 death in 1987. 

16 SEC. 3. BAYARD RUSTIN STAMP. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to honor the life and 

18 work of Bayard Rustin, a leader in the civil rights move19 ment, the Postmaster General shall provide for the 

20 issuance of a forever stamp suitable for that purpose that 

21 depicts Bayard Rustin. 

22 (b) DEFINITION OF DEFINITIVE STAMP.—For the 

23 purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘forever stamp’’ means a 

24 definitive stamp that— 


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1 (1) meets the postage required for first-class 

2 mail up to one ounce in weight; and 

3 (2) retains full validity for that purpose even if 

4 the rate of that postage is later increased. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The stamp described in sub6 section (a) shall be issued as soon as practicable after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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