IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 319
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a commemorative
postage stamp should be issued in honor of Thurgood Marshall.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 1, 1999
Mr. CUMMINGS (for himself, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Ms.
PELOSI, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. FROST, Ms.
STABENOW, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. ENGLISH,
Mr. SABO, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO´, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr.
BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mrs. MINK of
Hawaii, Ms. BERKLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr.
MCNULTY, Mrs. MALONEY
of New York, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr.
MCDERMOTT, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. FOLEY, Mr.
BERMAN, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. BROWN
of Ohio, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. NADLER, Mr. HOYER, Mr.
SHOWS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. HILL-
IARD, Mr. CLAY, Mr. DIXON, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. JEF-
FERSON, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. THOMPSON of Mis-
sissippi, Mr. FATTAH, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CON-
YERS, Ms. CARSON, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms.
KILPATRICK, Mr. OWENS, Ms. WATERS, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mrs.
CHRISTENSEN, Mr. WATT of North Carolina, Mr. WYNN, Mr. PAYNE,
Mr. BISHOP, Mr. FORD, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. CLYBURN, Ms. LEE, Mr.
RANGEL, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. CLAY-
TON, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of
Texas, Mr. FRANK
of Massachusetts, Mr. COSTELLO, and Mrs.
TAUSCHER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Government Reform
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
• HRES 319 IH
a commemorative postage stamp should be issued in
honor of Thurgood Marshall.
Whereas Thurgood Marshall, through his knowledge, advo-
cacy, and devotion to the cause of civil rights, made a
significant contribution to the battle in the United States
courts to eradicate the legacy of slavery;
Whereas Thurgood Marshall graduated from Lincoln Univer-
sity (cum laude) in Chester, Pennsylvania, and, although
he sought admission to the University of Maryland Law
School, received his law degree from Howard University
(magna cum laude);
Whereas Thurgood Marshall’s first major court case came
when he successfully sued the University of Maryland
Law School to admit a young African-American student
in 1933;
Whereas Thurgood Marshall’s Supreme Court victories broke
the color line in housing, transportation, and voting, all
of which overturned the ‘‘separate but equal’’ apartheid
of American life in the first half of the century;
Whereas Thurgood Marshall won the most important legal
case of the century, Brown v. Board of Education, ending
the legal separation of African-American and white chil-
dren in public schools;
Whereas Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the United
States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1961
by President John F. Kennedy, and, 4 years later, was
appointed Solicitor General of the United States by
President Lyndon B. Johnson;
Whereas Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the Supreme
Court of the United States on June 13, 1967, by Presi-
• HRES 319 IH
dent Johnson, making Marshall the first African-Amer-
ican Justice to sit on the Court;
Whereas Thurgood Marshall served 23 years on the Supreme
Court, retiring on June 27, 1991, at the age of 82;
Whereas Thurgood Marshall, as an Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court, wrote over 150 decisions, including deci-
sions supporting the rights of minorities and immigrants;
limiting government intrusion in cases involving illegal
search and seizure, double jeopardy, and the right to pri-
vacy; and creating new protections under the law for
women, children, prisoners, and the homeless;
Whereas Thurgood Marshall was not only instrumental in as-
sisting in the United States legal and justice systems, but
was asked by the United Nations and the United King-
dom to assist in drafting the constitutions of the African
nations of Ghana and what is now Tanzania;
Whereas the legacy of Thurgood Marshall has inspired Amer-
icans to name educational institutions, Federal buildings,
legal societies, libraries, and numerous academic achieve-
ment awards in his honor; and
Whereas Thurgood Marshall worked on behalf of African-
Americans, but built a structure of individual rights that
became the cornerstone of protections for all Americans:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) a commemorative postage stamp should be
issued by the United States Postal Service in honor
of Thurgood Marshall; and