IV 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 38 
Recognizing National Emancipation Day, marking the 150th anniversary of 
the end of slavery in areas of rebellion, and the significance of the 
Emancipation Proclamation in the struggle for the equal rights and 
freedoms afforded to all United States citizens. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 18, 2013 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. FARR, Mr. CLAY, Mr. 
HONDA, Ms. NORTON, Ms. CHU, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 
Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. EDDIE
BERNICE
JOHNSON
of Texas, Ms. 
BORDALLO, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. 
SPEIER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. ELLMERS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. 
MORAN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. NADLER, Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ, Mr. COSTA, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 
MEEKS, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. FATTAH, 
Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. WATT, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 
POLIS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. ROY-
BAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. COHEN, Ms. 
CLARKE, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. WATERS, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CASTOR of 
Florida, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. TONKO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. GUTIERREZ, 
Mr. PETERS of Michigan, Mr. PITTS, Mr. CHABOT, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. 
MICHAUD, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. TERRY, Mr. LARSEN of 
Washington, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. HIGGINS, 
Mr. DELANEY, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. BASS, 
Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. HORSFORD, 
Mr. LONG, and Ms. SLAUGHTER) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing National Emancipation Day, marking the 150th 
anniversary of the end of slavery in areas of rebellion, 
and the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
22:06 Jan 18, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\HR38.IH
HR38
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with
•HRES 38 IH 
in the struggle for the equal rights and freedoms af-
forded to all United States citizens. 
Whereas in 1619, a ship flying the Dutch flag stopped at Old 
Point Comfort in the Virginia Colony with 20 Africans 
onboard; 
Whereas the arrival of these 20 Africans to the Virginia Pe-
ninsula marked the beginning of more than 200 years of 
captivity for Africans in the United States; 
Whereas President Abraham Lincoln, during the American 
Civil War and in accordance with the war powers vested 
to him issued a proclamation on September 22, 1862, de-
claring that on the first day of January, 1863, ‘‘all per-
sons held as slaves within any State or designated part 
of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion 
against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, 
and forever free’’; 
Whereas the Emancipation Proclamation, as an Executive 
order, legally emancipated millions of slaves in the States 
of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Geor-
gia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, and North 
Carolina; 
Whereas for two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation 
Proclamation became official, Texas slaves were held in 
bondage and only after June 19, 1865, when Union Sol-
diers arrived in Galveston, Texas, were African-American 
slaves in that State set free; 
Whereas, on December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment 
to the United States Constitution, which reads ‘‘Neither 
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment 
for crime whereof the party shall have been duly con-
victed, shall exist within the United States, or any place 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:24 Jan 18, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR38.IH
HR38
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with
•HRES 38 IH 
subject to their jurisdiction’’, was adopted and effectively 
outlawed slavery in the United States; 
Whereas the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation was 
a significant precursor to the adoption of the Thirteenth, 
Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United 
States Constitution, also known as the Reconstruction 
Amendments, adopted between 1865 and 1870, as well as 
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the National Voting Rights 
Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 among 
others; and 
Whereas slaves and their descendants in the United States 
have contributed significantly to the foundation, growth, 
diversity, and leadership of the United States: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives recog-
nizes National Emancipation Day, marking the 150th an-
niversary of the beginning of the end of slavery in areas 
of rebellion, and the significance of the Emancipation 
Proclamation in the struggle for the equal rights and free-
doms afforded to all United States citizens. 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
22:06 Jan 18, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR38.IH
HR38
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with