•HRES 1090 EH 
Whereas, from 1964 to 1982, Nelson Mandela was incarcer-
ated at Robben Island Prison, off the coast of Cape 
Town, and thereafter at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the 
mainland; 
Whereas Nelson Mandela consistently refused to compromise 
his political demands for freedom and equality for all 
South Africans to obtain his freedom while in prison; 
Whereas Nelson Mandela became widely accepted around the 
world as one of the most significant leaders of the 20th 
century and became a potent symbol of resistance as the 
anti-apartheid movement gathered strength; 
Whereas the Congressional Black Caucus and other Members 
of Congress actively engaged in efforts to bring about an 
end to South Africa’s apartheid system and played a key 
role in raising public awareness in the United States 
about South Africa’s racist regime; 
Whereas, after nearly 14 years of opposition, the Comprehen-
sive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 was finally agreed to by 
both Houses of Congress, calling for sanctions against 
South Africa and establishing conditions for the lifting of 
such sanctions, including the release of all political pris-
oners including Nelson Mandela; 
Whereas the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 
withstood a veto by President Ronald Reagan making it 
the first time in the 20th century that a President had 
a foreign policy veto overridden by Congress; 
Whereas Nelson Mandela was released from prison on Feb-
ruary 11, 1990, after the apartheid Government of South 
Africa agreed to his terms for release;
•HRES 1090 EH 
Whereas, after his release, he plunged himself wholeheartedly 
into his life’s work, striving to attain the goals he and 
others had set out almost 4 decades earlier; 
Whereas, in 1991, at the first national conference of the 
ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had 
been banned in 1960, Nelson Mandela was elected Presi-
dent of the ANC; 
Whereas Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Af-
rica in that country’s first democratic elections with full 
enfranchisement was granted were held on April 27, 
1994, and was inaugurated on May 10, 1994, as the 
country’s first indigenous African President; 
Whereas, as President from May 1994 until June 1999, Nel-
son Mandela presided over the transition from minority 
rule and apartheid to a participatory democracy, winning 
international respect for his advocacy of national rec-
onciliation and international peace; and 
Whereas Nelson Mandela has received numerous prestigious 
honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, which 
was shared with Frederik Willem de Klerk, the Order of 
Merit and the Order of St. John from Great Britain’s 
Queen Elizabeth II, and the Presidential Medal of Free-
dom from George W. Bush: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the United States House of Representa-
tives— 
(1) honors former President Nelson Rolihlahla 
Mandela on the occasion of his 90th birthday on July 
18, 2008, and extends best wishes to him and his family; 
(2) honors his many accomplishments on behalf of 
all South Africans;
•HRES 1090 EH 
(3) congratulates him for his efforts to promote dia-
logue to peacefully resolve conflicts between people in Af-
rica and around the world; and 
(4) celebrates his contributions to South Africa, the 
United States, and the international community. 
Attest: 
Clerk.