IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 115 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States Postal Service 

should issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner, and the 

‘‘Freedom Summer’’ of 1964, and that the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory 

Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a 

stamp be issued. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia (for himself, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. LEE

of California, Mr. HINOJOSA, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. CHU, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, 

Mr. MEEKS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mr. JEFFRIES, and Mr. VEASEY) submitted the 

following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Oversight and Government Reform 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States 

Postal Service should issue a commemorative postage 

stamp honoring civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, 

James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner, and the ‘‘Freedom Summer’’ of 1964, and that the Citizens’ Stamp 

Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued. 


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•HCON 115 IH 

Whereas ‘‘Freedom Summer’’ was a campaign in Mississippi 

to register African-American voters during the summer of 

1964; 

Whereas in 1964, most Black voters were disenfranchised by 

law or practice in Mississippi; 

Whereas this voting rights initiative was led by the Student 

Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), with the 

support of the Council of Federated Organizations 

(COFO), which included the National Association for the 

Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Congress 

of Racial Equality (CORE), and the Southern Christian 

Leadership Conference (SCLC); 

Whereas thousands of students and activists participated in 

two-week orientation sessions in preparation for the voter 

registration drive in Mississippi; 

Whereas in 1962, at 6.7 percent of the State’s Black population, Mississippi had one of the lowest percentages of 

Black registered voters in the country; 

Whereas three civil rights volunteers lost their lives in their 

attempts to secure voting rights for Blacks; 

Whereas Andrew Goodman was a White 20-year-old anthropology major from Queens College who volunteered for 

the ‘‘Freedom Summer’’ project; 

Whereas James Chaney was a 21-year-old African-American 

from Meridian, Mississippi, who became a civil rights activist, joining the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 

1963 to work on voter registration and education; 

Whereas Michael ‘‘Mickey’’ Schwerner was a 24-year-old 

White man from Brooklyn, New York, who was a CORE 

field secretary in Mississippi and a veteran of the civil 

rights movement; 


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•HCON 115 IH 

Whereas on the morning of June 21, 1964, the three men left 

the CORE office in Meridian, Mississippi, and set out for 

Longdale, Mississippi, where they were to investigate the 

recent burning of the Mount Zion Methodist Church, a 

Black church that had been functioning as a Freedom 

School for education and voter registration; 

Whereas the three civil rights workers were beaten, shot, and 

killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan; 

Whereas the national uproar in response to these brave men’s 

deaths helped raise the political capital necessary to bring 

about passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and 

Whereas Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael 

Schwerner’s story will be told to millions of Americans 

and their bravery will continue to inspire generations to 

come through the issuance of a commemorative postage 

stamp: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) a commemorative postage stamp should be 

4 issued by the United States Postal Service honoring 

5 civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, James 

6 Chaney, and Michael Schwerner, and the ‘‘Freedom 

7 Summer’’ of 1964; 

8 (2) the stamp honoring these three men should 

9 be based upon the Congress of Racial Equality 

10 (CORE) poster from 1964, which was created by 

11 Danny Lyon, a prominent photographer of the Civil 

12 Rights movement; and 


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•HCON 115 IH 

1 (3) the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee 

2 should recommend to the Postmaster General that 

3 such a stamp be issued. 

Æ 


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