IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 125 

Expressing the sense of Congress that Congress encourages people throughout 

the Nation to hold an annual commemorative event on or near August 

20th honoring Slavery Remembrance Day, featuring its Official Remembrance Program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 9, 2024 

Mr. GREEN of Texas submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that Congress encourages 

people throughout the Nation to hold an annual commemorative event on or near August 20th honoring Slavery Remembrance Day, featuring its Official Remembrance Program. 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Remembrance Day Commemorative Remembrance Pro6 gram Resolution’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SLAVERY REMEMBRANCE DAY COMMEMORATIVE 

2 EVENTS. 

3 (a) ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO HOLD EVENTS.— 

4 (1) CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

5 that Congress, in consultation with the Library of 

6 Congress and the Smithsonian Institution, encour7 ages the holding of an annual commemorative event 

8 on an appropriate day at a location in the United 

9 States Capitol Complex to revere, honor, and re10 member the victims of slavery. 

11 (2) OTHERS.—Congress encourages all people 

12 of good will throughout the Nation to hold an an13 nual commemorative event on an appropriate day to 

14 revere, honor, and remember the victims of slavery. 

15 (b) LOCATION OF EVENTS.—It is the sense of Con16 gress that the annual commemorative event described in 

17 this section should be held at a location that can provide 

18 an appropriate degree of solemnity and dignity for such 

19 an occasion. 

20 (c) FEATURED PROGRAM AT EVENT.—It is the sense 

21 of Congress that an annual commemorative event de22 scribed in this section should feature the Remembrance 

23 Program recommended in section 3 or a variation of such 

24 Program. 

25 (d) PURPOSE.—The commemorative event described 

26 in this section is designed to serve as a memorial to the 


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1 victims of slavery, to educate the public about the histor2 ical reality as well as the lasting impact of slavery, and 

3 to inspire continued commitment to not only fight contem4 porary racial injustice and inequality, but also to continue 

5 the struggle for reverence and justice for the enslaved 

6 whose lives were sacrificed to make America great. 

7 SEC. 3. REMEMBRANCE PROGRAM. 

8 (a) CONTENTS.—The Remembrance Program rec9 ommended in this section is as follows: 

10 ‘‘Friends, thank you for your participation. If 

11 you can, please join me by standing and placing 

12 your right hand over your heart to indicate heartfelt 

13 sorrow for the millions who suffered the horrors of 

14 slavery. 

15 ‘‘Over the next few minutes, we will recall var16 ious well documented aspects of the experiences of 

17 America’s enslaved. 

18 ‘‘At the end of each of these summarized expe19 riences, I will say the words ‘we must’: 

20 ‘‘Immediately after I say ‘we must’, I would like 

21 you (each of you) to, in unison, say ‘always remem22 ber’. 

23 ‘‘Let’s begin. 

24 ‘‘To prevent the evils of slavery from being re25 peated, we must: 


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1 ‘‘Always remember. 

2 ‘‘To commemorate the suffering and the lives 

3 lost because of slavery, we must: 

4 ‘‘Always remember. 

5 ‘‘For the first 20 enslaved Africans who arrived 

6 in the British colonies at Point Comfort near what 

7 is now Norfolk Virginia on August 20, 1619, we 

8 must: 

9 ‘‘Always remember. 

10 ‘‘For the 12 million humans from all walks of 

11 life whose lives were stolen from them when they 

12 were kidnapped from Africa and forced into slavery, 

13 we must: 

14 ‘‘Always remember. 

15 ‘‘For the Africans forced into slavery by other 

16 Africans, we must: 

17 ‘‘Always remember. 

18 ‘‘For the approximately 2 million human beings 

19 who suffered the deadly middle passage and did not 

20 survive the horrific voyage to America, we must: 

21 ‘‘Always remember. 

22 ‘‘For the men, women, and children on slave 

23 ships, many of whom were kept naked, packed close 

24 together with many shackled and chained, we must: 

25 ‘‘Always remember. 


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1 ‘‘For enslaved human beings who often worked 

2 from sunup to after sundown, 6 to 7 days a week, 

3 often without food, we must: 

4 ‘‘Always remember. 

5 ‘‘For the mothers and fathers who were sepa6 rated from their children and sold on the auction 

7 blocks, we must: 

8 ‘‘Always remember. 

9 ‘‘For liberators such as Nat Turner, who fought 

10 to free enslaved people; who lost their lives in the 

11 fight for freedom and justice, we must: 

12 ‘‘Always remember. 

13 ‘‘For the tens of thousands of enslaved people 

14 who risked their lives in search of freedom on the 

15 Underground Railroad, we must: 

16 ‘‘Always remember. 

17 ‘‘For liberators such as Harriet Tubman, who 

18 escaped slavery and dedicated her life to returning 

19 to the South no less than 13 times liberating 

20 enslaved men women and children, we must: 

21 ‘‘Always remember. 

22 ‘‘For the liberators such as John Brown, Presi23 dent Abraham Lincoln, and countless others of all 

24 hues who lived and died combating the horrific insti25 tution of slavery, we must: 


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1 ‘‘Always remember. 

2 ‘‘To commemorate the centuries of suffering, 

3 the years of tears shed, the history of hearts broken, 

4 the brutality of blood spilled, and the grieving over 

5 lives lost because of slavery we must: 

6 ‘‘Always remember. 

7 ‘‘Yet, in the spirit of righteous remembrance 

8 imbued with love for our country that hasn’t always 

9 loved its brothers and sisters of African ancestry, we 

10 have to acknowledge that: 

11 ‘‘In spite of slavery and despite its invidious 

12 offsprings: mass lynchings, Black codes, convict leas13 ing, lawful segregation, and institutional racism, Af14 rican Americans have come a laudably long way. 

15 ‘‘From our arrival on slave ships to our ascen16 sion to judgeships, 

17 ‘‘From surviving the Middle Passage to thriving 

18 among the masses, 

19 ‘‘From shackled in chains to creating societal 

20 change, 

21 ‘‘From sitting in the back of buses to owning 

22 bus companies, 

23 ‘‘From having no house to residents in the 

24 White House, 


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1 ‘‘From painfully picking cotton, to proudly 

2 picking Presidents, 

3 ‘‘From adult males and females being dis4 respectfully called boy and girl to being respectfully 

5 presented as Mr. President and Madam Vice Presi6 dent. 

7 ‘‘Laudably, the truth be told, although we have 

8 come a long way, we still have a way to go. 

9 ‘‘In closing, let us resolve that as we forge for10 ward we will commemorate our past and embrace 

11 our destiny, always remembering the hardships peo12 ple of African heritage have endured in tandem with 

13 the victories won in spite of the seemingly invincible 

14 challenges emanating from insidious slavery and its 

15 invidious progenies! 

16 ‘‘Through it all, we must: 

17 ‘‘Always remember. 

18 ‘‘We must: 

19 ‘‘Always remember. 

20 ‘‘We must: 

21 ‘‘Always remember. 

22 ‘‘If you are able, I would ask that you partici23 pate in a moment of silent solemnity at noon on Au24 gust 20th wherever you may be. 


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1 ‘‘During this moment of silence, wherever you 

2 are, place your right hand over your heart and with 

3 a moment of silence, give thoughts to our economic 

4 foundational mothers and father, to the millions who 

5 toiled and lost their lives under slavery, and lovingly 

6 utter the phrase ‘Always remember’.’’. 

7 (b) RECITATION.—The Remembrance Program set 

8 forth in subsection (a), or some variation thereof, should 

9 be recited by the leader of the event, except that each in10 stance of ‘‘Always remember.’’ is to be recited by the audi11 ence. 

Æ 


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