IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 108 

Honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People on the occasion of its 109th anniversary. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2018 

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas 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 109th 

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 

on February 12, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’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; 


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•HCON 108 IH 

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

Whereas the NAACP has branches in all 50 States and approximately a dozen prison chapters; 

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 including negotiation, litigation, and 

protestation; 

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); 

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; 


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•HCON 108 IH 

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, a resolution 

with resolving clauses that express that the hanging of 

nooses is a horrible act when used for the purpose of intimidation, that under certain circumstances such an act 

can be criminal, and that such acts should be investigated thoroughly by Federal authorities and any criminal violations arising from such acts 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; 

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 


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

Whereas, in 2010, the NAACP, an advocate for sentencing 

reform, applauded the passage of the Fair Sentencing 

Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–220; 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 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; 


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•HCON 108 IH 

Whereas, in 2016, the NAACP led the charge in raising 

awareness about and challenging voter suppression laws 

in Federal court across the Nation; and 

Whereas, in 2017, the NAACP board unanimously elected 

Derrick Johnson as President and CEO as the organization re-envisions itself to take on a tumultuous and contentious social and political climate: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This concurrent resolution may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Original NAACP Resolution of 2018’’. 

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

8 PEOPLE. 

9 Congress— 

10 (1) recognizes the 109th 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 po16 litical, educational, social, and economic rights of all 

17 persons. 

Æ 


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