[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 289 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.Con.Res.289
                                                 Agreed to March 5, 2008

                       One Hundred Tenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and eight


                          Concurrent Resolution

Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
  (NAACP), originally known as the National Negro Committee, was 
  founded in New York City on February 12, 1909, the centennial of 
  Abraham Lincoln's birth, by a multiracial group of activists who 
  answered `The Call' for a national conference to discuss the civil 
  and political rights of African-Americans;

Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
  was founded by a distinguished group of leaders in the struggle for 
  civil and political liberty, including Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. 
  DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison 
  Villard, and William English Walling;

Whereas the NAACP is the oldest and largest civil rights organization 
  in the United States;

Whereas the mission of the NAACP is to ensure the political, 
  educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons 
  and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination;

Whereas the NAACP is committed to achieving its goals through 
  nonviolence;

Whereas the NAACP advances its mission through reliance upon the press, 
  the petition, the ballot, and the courts, and has been persistent in 
  the use of legal and moral persuasion, even in the face of overt and 
  violent racial hostility;

Whereas the NAACP has used political pressure, marches, demonstrations, 
  and effective lobbying to serve as the voice, as well as the shield, 
  for minority Americans;

Whereas after years of fighting segregation in public schools, the 
  NAACP, under the leadership of Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall, won 
  one of its greatest legal victories in the Supreme Court's 1954 
  decision in Brown v. Board of Education;

Whereas in 1955, NAACP member Rosa Parks was arrested and fined for 
  refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, 
  Alabama--an act of courage that would serve as the catalyst for the 
  largest grassroots civil rights movement in the history of the United 
  States;

Whereas the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the passage of the 
  Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 
  1965, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting 
  Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, and the Fair 
  Housing Act, laws which ensured Government protection for legal 
  victories achieved;

Whereas in 2005, the National Association for the Advancement of 
  Colored People launched the Disaster Relief Fund to help survivors in 
  Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama to rebuild their 
  lives; and

Whereas in 2007, the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the passage of 
  H. Res. 826, ``The Noose Intimidation Bill'', which expresses ``that 
  the hanging of nooses is a horrible act when used for the purpose of 
  intimidation and which under certain circumstances can be a criminal 
  act that should be thoroughly investigated by Federal law enforcement 
  authorities and that any criminal violations should be vigorously 
  prosecuted'': Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
        (1) recognizes the 99th anniversary of the historic founding of 
    the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and
        (2) honors and praises the National Association for the 
    Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its anniversary 
    for its work to ensure the political, educational, social, and 
    economic equality of all persons.
Attest:

                                 Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Attest:

                                               Secretary of the Senate.