IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 17 

Honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People on the occasion of its 108th anniversary. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2017 

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. BASS, Mrs. BEATTY, 

Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. ELLISON, 

Mr. EVANS, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

JEFFRIES, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. 

MOORE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. 

RUSH, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. WILSON of 

Florida) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 108th 

anniversary. 

Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People (NAACP), originally known as the National Negro Committee, was founded in New York City 

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•HCON 17 IH 

coln’s birth, by a multiracial group of activists who met 

in a national conference to discuss the civil and political 

rights of African-Americans; 

Whereas the multiracial founders of the NAACP were a distinguished group of leaders in the struggle for human 

rights, 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 NAACP National Headquarters is located in 

Baltimore, Maryland; 

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

educational, social, and economic 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 peaceful protest, 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 minorities in the United 

States; 

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 decision in Brown v. Board of 

Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954); 


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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, Coretta Scott King, Ce ́sar E. Cha ́vez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Vela ́squez, and Dr. Hector P. 

Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, and the Fair Housing Act, laws that 

ensured Government protection for legal victories 

achieved; 

Whereas in 2005, the NAACP launched the Disaster Relief 

Fund to help hurricane survivors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama to rebuild their 

lives; 

Whereas in the 110th Congress, the NAACP was prominent 

in lobbying for the passage of H. Res. 826, whose resolved clause expresses that the hanging of nooses is a 

horrible act when used for the purpose of intimidation 

and which under certain circumstances can be criminal, 

this conduct should be investigated thoroughly by Federal 

authorities, and any criminal violations should be vigorously prosecuted; 

Whereas in 2008, the NAACP vigorously supported the passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act 

of 2007, a law that puts additional Federal resources 

into solving the heinous crimes that occurred in the early 

days of the civil rights struggle that remain unsolved and 

bringing those who perpetrated such crimes to justice; 


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Whereas the NAACP has helped usher in the new millennium 

by charting a bold course, beginning with the appointment of the organization’s youngest President and Chief 

Executive Officer, Benjamin Todd Jealous, and its 

youngest female Board Chair, Roslyn M. Brock; 

Whereas under their leadership, the NAACP has outlined a 

strategic plan to confront 21st century challenges in the 

critical areas of health, education, housing, criminal justice, and environment; 

Whereas, on July 16, 2009, the NAACP celebrated its centennial anniversary in New York City, highlighting an extraordinary century of Bold Dreams, Big Victories with 

a historic address from the first African-American President of the United States, Barack Obama; 

Whereas, as an advocate for sentencing reform, the NAACP 

applauded the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 

2010 (Public Law 111–220; 124 Stat. 2372), a landmark 

piece of legislation that reduces the quantity of crack cocaine that triggers a mandatory minimum sentence for a 

Federal conviction of crack cocaine distribution from 100 

times that of people convicted of distributing the drug in 

powdered form to 18 times that sentence; 

Whereas in 2011, the NAACP led the charge to defend the 

constitutional right to vote and to protect that right for 

all citizens of the United States, whether they be seniors, 

young voters, the poor, or from minority communities; 

Whereas in 2013, the NAACP signed a historic Memorandum 

of Agreement with the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency (FEMA) to put mechanisms in place to ensure 

that the needs of underrepresented communities are more 


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fully integrated into future plans for disaster preparedness; 

Whereas in 2014, the NAACP was a leader in the effort to 

strengthen the Voting Rights Act and protect the principle of ‘‘one person, one vote’’; 

Whereas in 2014, the NAACP released its groundbreaking 

report ‘‘Born Suspect’’ on racial profiling by law enforcement in the United States, which highlighted the problem 

of racial profiling experienced by individuals of color and 

communities of color; and 

Whereas in 2016, the NAACP led the charge in raising 

awareness about and challenging voter suppression laws 

in Federal court across the Nation: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That— 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Original NAACP 

5 Resolution of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HONORING AND PRAISING THE NATIONAL ASSOCIA7 TION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED 

8 PEOPLE. 

9 Congress— 

10 (1) recognizes the 108th anniversary of the his11 toric founding of the National Association for the 

12 Advancement of Colored People; and 

13 (2) honors and praises the National Association 

14 for the Advancement of Colored People on the occa15 sion of its anniversary for its work to ensure the poVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 Feb 02, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC17.IH HC17

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1 litical, educational, social, and economic rights of all 

2 persons. 

Æ 


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