•HCON 23 IH 
PLASKETT) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred 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 stamp hon-
oring the 50th anniversary of the three civil rights 
marches from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama 
that took place over the course of several weeks in March 
1965. 
Whereas, on March 7, 1965 ‘‘Bloody Sunday’’, approximately 
600 civil rights marchers, led by now-Representative 
John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Com-
mittee and Reverend Hosea Williams of the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference, headed east out of 
Selma, Alabama, to the State Capitol in Montgomery, 
Alabama; 
Whereas the civil rights activists sought to protest discrimi-
natory voter registration practices, and the shooting of 
Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was shot after protecting his 
mother and grandfather in a civil rights demonstration 
on February 18, 1965, in a restaurant in Marion, Ala-
bama, and died eight days later on February 26, 1965; 
Whereas the nonviolent marchers were met and attacked with 
clubs, whips, police dogs, and tear gas carried by State 
troopers, local lawmen, and townspeople at the Edmund 
Pettus Bridge as they were leaving Selma; 
Whereas dozens of peaceful marchers were injured in the 
forced retreat by State troopers, local lawmen, and 
townspeople; 
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•HCON 23 IH 
Whereas images of innocent protestors brutally beaten and 
severely injured on March 7, 1965, remembered as 
‘‘Bloody Sunday’’, were depicted in television screens and 
in newspaper articles across the country; 
Whereas Bloody Sunday galvanized a generation of civil 
rights activists, and heightened support and awareness 
for the civil rights movement; 
Whereas, on March 9, 1965, two days later, Reverend Martin 
Luther King, Jr., led a nonviolent protest reportedly as 
many as 2,500 people before turning around after cross-
ing the Edmund Pettus Bridge due to a barricade of 
State troopers; 
Whereas, on March 15, 1965, despite pressure from political 
figures, U.S. District Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., 
issued an injunction allowing the voting rights march 
from Selma to Montgomery to proceed, overturning then- 
Alabama Governor George Wallace’s prohibition of the 
protest; 
Whereas, on March 21, 1965, with the protection of U.S. 
Army troops and the Alabama National Guard, more 
than 3,000 people, led by Reverend Martin Luther King, 
Jr., set out from Selma to Montgomery, a 54-mile jour-
ney, marching an average of twelve miles a day along 
Route 80 and sleeping in fields; 
Whereas the nonviolent protestors safely reached the steps of 
the Alabama State Capitol on March 25, 1965, by which 
point their numbers had grown to 25,000, including 
many religious and community leaders of all denomina-
tions, races, and backgrounds; 
Whereas during these pivotal weeks, on March 15, 1965, and 
with the Selma protestors at the forefront, President 
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•HCON 23 IH 
Lyndon Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress, 
calling for Federal voting rights legislation to protect Af-
rican-Americans from barriers that prevented them from 
voting; 
Whereas with the Nation captivated by the courage and con-
viction displayed by the civil rights activists, the United 
States Congress passed and President Lyndon B. John-
son enacted into law the landmark Voting Rights Act of 
1965 on August 6, 1965; and 
Whereas issuing a postage stamp honoring the fiftieth anni-
versary of the civil rights marches is fitting and proper 
because the marches united our country and helped af-
firm the principle that all Americans shall be treated 
equally at the voting booths as guaranteed under the 
United States Constitution: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the Postmaster General should issue a com-
memorative postage stamp honoring the 50th anni-
versary of the three civil rights marches from Selma, 
Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama; and 
(2) such stamp should— 
(A) be issued in the denomination used for 
first-class mail up to 1 ounce in weight; 
(B) bear such illustration or picture as the 
Postmaster General determines; and 
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•HCON 23 IH 
(C) be placed in sale at such time and for 
such period as the Postmaster General deter-
mines. 
Æ 
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