III 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 289 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
FEBRUARY 25, 2008 
Received and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Honoring and praising the National Association for the Ad-
vancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 99th 
anniversary. 
Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of 
Colored People (NAACP), originally known as the Na-
tional Negro Committee, was founded in New York City 
on February 12, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lin-
coln’s birth, by a multiracial group of activists who an-
swered ‘The Call’ for a national conference to discuss the 
civil and political rights of African-Americans; 
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Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of 
Colored People was founded by a distinguished group of 
leaders in the struggle for civil and political liberty, in-
cluding 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 or-
ganization in the United States; 
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 dis-
crimination; 
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 per-
suasion, even in the face of overt and violent racial hos-
tility; 
Whereas the NAACP has used political pressure, marches, 
demonstrations, and effective lobbying to serve as the 
voice, as well as the shield, for minority Americans; 
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 1954 decision in Brown v. Board 
of Education; 
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 
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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 pas-
sage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964, 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fannie Lou Hamer, 
Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act 
Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, and the 
Fair Housing Act, laws which ensured Government pro-
tection for legal victories achieved; 
Whereas in 2005, the National Association for the Advance-
ment of Colored People launched the Disaster Relief 
Fund to help survivors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, 
Florida, and Alabama to rebuild their lives; and 
Whereas in 2007, the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for 
the passage of H. Res. 826, ‘‘The Noose Intimidation 
Bill’’, which expresses ‘‘that the hanging of nooses is a 
horrible act when used for the purpose of intimidation 
and which under certain circumstances can be a criminal 
act that should be thoroughly investigated by Federal law 
enforcement authorities and that any criminal violations 
should be vigorously prosecuted’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress— 
(1) recognizes the 99th anniversary of the his-
toric founding of the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People; and 
(2) honors and praises the National Association 
for the Advancement of Colored People on the occa-
sion of its anniversary for its work to ensure the po-
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litical, educational, social, and economic equality of 
all persons. 
Passed the House of Representatives February 14, 
2008. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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