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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 33 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 33

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
 States Postal Service should issue a commemorative stamp honoring the 
                         life of Maya Angelou.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 14, 2015

 Mrs. Beatty submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
            the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
 States Postal Service should issue a commemorative stamp honoring the 
                         life of Maya Angelou.

Whereas Dr. Maya Angelou, was born Marguerite Ann Johnson in St. Louis, 
        Missouri, on April 4, 1928, and raised in Arkansas;
Whereas Maya Angelou was a prominent and celebrated author, poet, educator, 
        producer, actress, filmmaker, and civil rights activist;
Whereas hailed for her talents as a performing artist at an early age, Maya 
        Angelou toured Europe with a production of the Gershwin opera Porgy and 
        Bess in 1955 and released her first album in 1957;
Whereas Maya Angelou was active in the civil rights movement and was a personal 
        friend of both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X;
Whereas Maya Angelou served as a leader of the Southern Christian Leadership 
        Conference during the civil rights movement;
Whereas in 1969, Maya Angelou wrote the autobiography ``I Know Why the Caged 
        Bird Sings'', which catapulted her to international acclaim for its 
        vivid and honest depiction of the experience of Black women in the Jim 
        Crow era;
Whereas Maya Angelou has published more than 30 best-selling titles, including 
        her collection of poems, ``Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I 
        Diiie'', which earned her a Pulitzer Prize nomination;
Whereas Maya Angelou wrote the screenplay and composed the score for the 1972 
        film ``Georgia, Georgia''; her script, the first by an African-American 
        woman to be filmed;
Whereas Maya Angelou served in various capacities to several Presidents of the 
        United States, including President Gerald Ford, who appointed her to the 
        American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, and President Jimmy Carter, 
        who appointed her to serve on the Presidential Commission for the 
        International Year of the Woman;
Whereas Maya Angelou was the first African-American to serve as an Inaugural 
        Poet, authoring and reciting the poem ``On the Pulse of Morning'' in 
        1993;
Whereas Maya Angelou was a trailblazer in literature and poetry who bravely 
        explored the ways in which socially marginalizing forces affected 
        African-American women;
Whereas Maya Angelou was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, 
        the Lincoln Medal in 2008, and the National Medal of Arts in 2000 for 
        her exceptional contributions to American culture as an author and poet;
Whereas Maya Angelou passed away on May 28, 2014, in her North Carolina home at 
        age 86, leaving behind a legacy of literacy achievement and an indelible 
        mark on the movement for civil rights; and
Whereas issuing a postage stamp honoring Maya Angelou is fitting and proper: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the Postmaster General should issue a commemorative 
        postage stamp honoring Maya Angelou; and
            (2) such stamp should--
                    (A) be issued in the denomination used for first-
                class mail up to 1 ounce in weight;
                    (B) bear such illustration or picture as the 
                Postmaster General determines; and
                    (C) be placed in sale at such time and for such 
                period as the Postmaster General determines.
                                 <all>
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