IV 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 19 

Honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People on the occasion of its 102nd anniversary. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2011 

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. BACA, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. HASTINGS

of Florida, Mr. ROSS of Arkansas, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JACKSON

LEE of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. FILNER, Ms. 

MOORE, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. RANGEL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. HONDA, 

Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. COHEN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. DAVID SCOTT

of Georgia, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

WATT, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, 

Ms. FUDGE, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. HOLT, Mr. CLAY, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. 

RICHARDSON, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WATERS, and Ms. CHU) 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 102nd 

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 LinVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:43 Feb 18, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC19.IH HC19

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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 NAACP 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 NAACP National Headquarters is located in 

Baltimore, Maryland; 

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 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 


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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; 

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 


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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 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; and 

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: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 


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1 (1) recognizes the 102nd anniversary of the his2 toric founding of the National Association for the 

3 Advancement of Colored People; and 

4 (2) honors and praises the National Association 

5 for the Advancement of Colored People on the occa6 sion of its anniversary for its work to ensure the po7 litical, educational, social, and economic equality of 

8 all persons. 

Æ 


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