IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 116 
Expressing the sense of Congress that a commemorative postage stamp should 
be issued by the United States Postal Service honoring Arthur Ashe, 
and that the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend 
to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 17, 2005 
Mr. RANGEL submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Government Reform 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of Congress that a commemorative 
postage stamp should be issued by the United States 
Postal Service honoring Arthur Ashe, and that the Citi-
zens Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to 
the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued. 
Whereas Arthur Ashe was born on July 10, 1943, in seg-
regated Richmond, Virginia, and was a United States 
hero and an international humanitarian who worked to-
ward ending racism, shedding light on the oppressive 
apartheid government in South Africa, and raising 
awareness of HIV/AIDS issues; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe dedicated his life to the causes of uni-
versal health care and increasing opportunities for the 
Nation’s youth, was the founder of the United States
•HCON 116 IH 
Tennis Association (USTA) National Junior Tennis 
League that was organized to train inner-city tennis play-
ers, and was a role model for the youth of this country 
and around the world; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe was a graduate of the University of 
California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he received a de-
gree in Business Administration, and was a men’s singles 
tennis champion of the National Collegiate Athletic Asso-
ciation (NCAA) and led the UCLA team to the NCAA 
men’s tennis championship; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe was the first African-American named 
to the United States Davis Cup team and, as a captain 
of the team, led it to 2 victories before he retired; 
Whereas in 1968 Arthur Ashe became the first and only Afri-
can-American man ever to win the U.S. Open and in 
1975 the first ever to win at Wimbledon; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe won three Grand Slam singles titles 
and became the top-ranked player in the world, winning 
818 career victories and 51 titles, and was inducted into 
the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe was an advocate and visionary who 
worked to increase the status and opportunities available 
to all tennis players; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe was a major figure in the anti-apart-
heid movement, drawing attention to the injustices of the 
apartheid government of South Africa by entering the 
country’s white-only tournament and, having been denied 
admission to travel into the country, calling for the Inter-
national Lawn Tennis Association to remove the country 
from the tennis tour;
•HCON 116 IH 
Whereas Arthur Ashe was the first African-American profes-
sional tennis player to play in the South Africa’s Na-
tional Championships in 1973, when, after drawing inter-
national attention to the anti-apartheid movement by his 
tireless activism, that country granted him a visa; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe, a founding member of TransAfrica, 
the African-American led international advocacy organi-
zation, actively participated in protesting human rights 
abuses; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe was arrested twice as a result of his 
activism, the first time while protesting outside the Em-
bassy of South Africa in Washington, D.C., to draw at-
tention to the oppressive practices of the apartheid South 
African government, and the second time while protesting 
against a repatriation of Haitian refugees by the United 
States Government to draw attention to the suffering and 
hardship faced by the Haitian people; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe, after retiring from professional tennis, 
became a journalist for HBO Sports, ABC Sports, the 
Washington Post, and Tennis Magazine, and continued 
to work in philanthropic endeavors; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe suffered his first heart attack in 1979 
while participating in a tennis clinic in New York, which 
required him to undergo a quadruple bypass surgery; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe contracted HIV/AIDS during heart 
surgery, was the founder of the Arthur Ashe Foundation 
for the Defeat of AIDS, and worked tirelessly to educate 
the public about HIV/AIDS before his death; 
Whereas Arthur Ashe addressed the United Nations General 
Assembly on World AIDS Day on December 1, 1992, 
and implored the world community to increase funding
•HCON 116 IH 
for research and educational programs associated with 
the prevention and alleviation of HIV/AIDS throughout 
the world; 
Whereas after Arthur Ashe died on February 6, 1993, in 
New York, his body laid in state at the Governors Man-
sion in Richmond, Virginia, the first time an African- 
American was given such an honor in the State of Vir-
ginia, and more than 5,000 people visited his coffin and 
more than 6,000 attended his funeral; and 
Whereas Arthur Ashe is among the most respected athletes, 
activists, and humanitarians of our time: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that— 
(1) a commemorative postage stamp should be 
issued by the United States Postal Service honoring 
Arthur Ashe; and 
(2) the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee 
should recommend to the Postmaster General that 
such a stamp be issued. 
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