Title: Establishing a task force to recommend an appropriate recognition of the historic life and career of Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina on the 150th anniversary of his becoming a Member of the House of Representatives.
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
This resolution establishes a task force in the House of Representatives to recommend an appropriate recognition for the life and career of Representative Joseph Rainey, the first African American to serve as a Member of the House of Representatives.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1254 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1254

 Establishing a task force to recommend an appropriate recognition of 
 the historic life and career of Representative Joseph Rainey of South 
Carolina on the 150th anniversary of his becoming a Member of the House 
                          of Representatives.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 9, 2020

Mr. McCarthy submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                 the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Establishing a task force to recommend an appropriate recognition of 
 the historic life and career of Representative Joseph Rainey of South 
Carolina on the 150th anniversary of his becoming a Member of the House 
                          of Representatives.

Whereas Joseph Hayne Rainey was born enslaved on June 21, 1832, in Georgetown, 
        South Carolina;
Whereas Joseph Rainey learned the barbering trade from his father, Edward 
        Rainey;
Whereas Edward Rainey used profits from his work as a barber to buy his and his 
        family's freedom in the 1840's;
Whereas Joseph Rainey eventually moved with his family to Charleston, South 
        Carolina;
Whereas in 1859, Joseph Rainey married his wife, Susan, with whom he had three 
        children, Joseph II, Herbert, and Olive;
Whereas during the Civil War, in 1862, Joseph Rainey and his wife and family 
        escaped to Bermuda, a British colony that had abolished slavery in 1834, 
        and undertook successful entrepreneurial endeavors together;
Whereas in 1866 the Rainey family moved back to Charleston, South Carolina, 
        after the Civil War had ended;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey co-founded the State Republican Party and represented 
        Georgetown, South Carolina, on the party's central committee in 1867;
Whereas Joseph Rainey participated in the South Carolina State constitutional 
        convention in 1868;
Whereas Joseph Rainey was first elected to public office in 1870, when he won a 
        seat in the State Senate;
Whereas Joseph Rainey won election to the House of Representatives in 1870, and 
        was the first African American to serve as a Member of the House of 
        Representatives;
Whereas Joseph Rainey was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives 
        on December 12, 1870, to represent the First District of South Carolina 
        in the Forty-First Congress;
Whereas Joseph Rainey became the first African American to preside over the 
        House of Representatives by taking the chair in April 1874;
Whereas Joseph Rainey was an active and effective member of Congress, serving 
        with distinction on a number of committees including the Committee on 
        Freedmen's Affairs, the committee handling all legislation concerning 
        people freed from slavery;
Whereas Joseph Rainey was a tireless advocate for civil rights and equality; and 
        a forceful proponent of desegregation in transportation, public 
        accommodations, and especially education; and
Whereas Joseph Rainey retired from the House of Representatives on March 3, 
        1879: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,

SECTION 1. TASK FORCE FOR RECOGNITION OF LIFE AND CAREER OF THE 
              HONORABLE JOSEPH RAINEY.

    (a) Establishment; Composition.--There is established in the House 
of Representatives a task force, to be composed of the Clerk and the 
Historian of the House of Representatives and the Architect of the 
Capitol, to recommend an appropriate recognition for the historic life 
and career of the Honorable Joseph Rainey of South Carolina, the first 
African American to serve as a Member of the House of Representatives.
    (b) Duties.--The task force established under this section shall--
            (1) produce a summary document of the achievements of the 
        Honorable Joseph Rainey and the Reconstruction-Era generation 
        of African-American Members of the House of Representatives; 
        and
            (2) recommend an appropriate recognition of those 
        achievements which could be displayed in a prominent location 
        in, or near, the House side of the United States Capitol.
    (c) Deadline.--The task force shall complete its duties under this 
section not later than 90 days after the adoption of this resolution.
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