III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 520 

Commending the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 

on the occasion of its 103rd anniversary. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2012 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) submitted the following 

resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Commending the National Association for the Advancement 

of Colored People on the occasion of its 103rd anniversary. 

Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People (referred to in this preamble as the 

‘‘NAACP’’), originally known as the National Negro 

Committee, was founded in New York City on February 

12, 1909, the centennial of the date on which President 

Abraham Lincoln was born, 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; 


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•SRES 520 ATS 

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 

people 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 

on the press, the petition, the ballot, and the courts; 

Whereas the NAACP 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 decision issued by the Supreme Court 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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•SRES 520 ATS 

Whereas the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the passage of— 

(1) the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (Public Law 85– 

315; 71 Stat. 634); 

(2) the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (Public Law 86– 

449; 74 Stat. 86); 

(3) the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88– 

352; 78 Stat. 241); 

(4) the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 

et seq.); 

(5) 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 (Public Law 109–246; 120 Stat. 577); and 

(6) the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); 

Whereas in 2005, the NAACP launched the Disaster Relief 

Fund to help hurricane survivors rebuild their lives in the 

States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama; 

Whereas in the 110th Congress, the NAACP was prominent 

in lobbying for the passage of H. Res. 826, the resolved 

clause of which expresses that— 

(1) the hanging of nooses is a horrible act when 

used for the purpose of intimidation; 

(2) under certain circumstances, the hanging of 

nooses can be criminal; and 

(3) the hanging of nooses 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 


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•SRES 520 ATS 

of 2007 (28 U.S.C. 509 note), a law that puts additional 

Federal resources into solving the heinous crimes that occurred during the early days of the civil rights struggle 

that remain unsolved and brings those who perpetrated 

those crimes to justice; 

Whereas the NAACP has helped usher in the new millennium 

by charting a bold course, beginning with the appointment of the youngest President and Chief Executive Officer in the history of the organization, Benjamin Todd 

Jealous, and its youngest female Board Chair, Roslyn M. 

Brock; 

Whereas under the leadership of Benjamin Todd Jealous and 

Roslyn M. Brock, the NAACP has outlined a strategic 

plan to confront 21st century challenges in the critical 

areas of health, education, housing, criminal justice, and 

the 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 enactment 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, That the Senate— 


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1 (1) recognizes the 103rd anniversary of the his2 toric founding of the National Association for the 

3 Advancement of Colored People; and 

4 (2) commends the National Association for the 

5 Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of 

6 its anniversary for its work to ensure the political, 

7 educational, social, and economic equality of all peo8 ple. 

Æ 


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