A resolution celebrating Black History Month.

III 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 45 Celebrating Black History Month. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 8, 2021 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BROWN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MENEN- DEZ, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. COONS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. WARNER, Mr. KAINE, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. SINEMA, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KING, Mr. BENNET, Ms. WARREN, Mr. OSSOFF, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. REED, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. WICKER, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. SHELBY, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. BURR) submitted the following reso- lution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Celebrating Black History Month. Whereas, in 1776, people envisioned the United States as a new nation dedicated to the proposition stated in the Declaration of Independence that ‘‘all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with cer- tain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Lib- erty and the pursuit of Happiness’’; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Feb 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR45.IS SR45 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 45 IS Whereas Africans were first brought involuntarily to the shores of the United States as early as the 17th century; Whereas African Americans suffered enslavement and subse- quently faced the injustices of lynch mobs, segregation, and denial of the basic and fundamental rights of citizen- ship; Whereas, in 2021, the vestiges of those injustices and in- equalities remain evident in the society of the United States; Whereas, in the face of injustices, people of good will and of all races in the United States have distinguished them- selves with a commitment to the noble ideals on which the United States was founded and have fought coura- geously for the rights and freedom of African Americans and others; Whereas African Americans, such as Lieutenant Colonel Allen Allensworth, Maya Angelou, Arthur Ashe, Jr., James Baldwin, James Beckwourth, Clara Brown, Blanche Bruce, Ralph Bunche, Shirley Chisholm, Holt Collier, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Larry Doby, Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ralph Ellison, Medgar Evers, Aretha Franklin, Alex Haley, Dorothy Height, Jon Hendricks, Olivia Hooker, Lena Horne, Charles Hamilton Houston, Mahalia Jackson, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, B.B. King, Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, Rosa Parks, Walter Payton, Bill Pickett, Homer Plessy, Bass Reeves, Hiram Revels, Amelia Platts Boynton Robinson, Jackie Robinson, Aaron Shirley, So- journer Truth, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, the Greensboro Four, the Tuskegee Airmen, Prince Rog- ers Nelson, Recy Taylor, Fred Shuttlesworth, Duke VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Feb 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR45.IS SR45 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 45 IS Ellington, Langston Hughes, Muhammad Ali, Elijah Cummings, Ella Fitzgerald, Mamie Till, Toni Morrison, Gwen Ifill, Diahann Carroll, Chadwick Boseman, John Lewis, Katherine Johnson, Rev. C.T. Vivian, Hank Aaron, Edith Savage-Jennings, Septima Clark, Mary Mcleod Bethune, Cicely Tyson, John Hope Franklin, and Chief Justice of South Carolina Ernest Finney, along with many others, worked against racism to achieve suc- cess and to make significant contributions to the eco- nomic, educational, political, artistic, athletic, literary, scientific, and technological advancement of the United States; Whereas the contributions of African Americans from all walks of life throughout the history of the United States reflect the greatness of the United States; Whereas many African Americans lived, toiled, and died in obscurity, never achieving the recognition those individ- uals deserved, and yet paved the way for future genera- tions to succeed; Whereas African Americans continue to serve the United States at the highest levels of business, government, and the military; Whereas the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass inspired the creation of Negro History Week, the precursor to Black History Month; Whereas Negro History Week represented the culmination of the efforts of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the ‘‘Father of Black History’’, to enhance knowledge of Black history through The Journal of Negro History, published by the Association for the Study of African American Life and VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Feb 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR45.IS SR45 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 45 IS History, which was founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland; Whereas Black History Month, celebrated during the month of February, originated in 1926 when Dr. Carter G. Woodson set aside a special period in February to recog- nize the heritage and achievements of Black people in the United States; Whereas Dr. Carter G. Woodson stated, ‘‘We have a wonder- ful history behind us. . . . If you are unable to dem- onstrate to the world that you have this record, the world will say to you, ‘You are not worthy to enjoy the bless- ings of democracy or anything else.’ ’’; Whereas, since its founding, the United States has imper- fectly progressed toward noble goals; Whereas the history of the United States is the story of peo- ple regularly affirming high ideals, striving to reach those ideals but often failing, and then struggling to come to terms with the disappointment of that failure, before committing to try again; Whereas, on November 4, 2008, the people of the United States elected Barack Obama, an African-American man, as President of the United States; and Whereas, on February 22, 2012, people across the United States celebrated the groundbreaking of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened to the public on September 24, 2016, on the Na- tional Mall in Washington, District of Columbia: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Feb 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR45.IS SR45 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 45 IS (1) acknowledges that all people of the United 1 States are the recipients of the wealth of history 2 provided by Black culture; 3 (2) recognizes the importance of Black History 4 Month as an opportunity to reflect on the complex 5 history of the United States, while remaining hope- 6 ful and confident about the path ahead; 7 (3) acknowledges the significance of Black His- 8 tory Month as an important opportunity to com- 9 memorate the tremendous contributions of African 10 Americans to the history of the United States; 11 (4) encourages the celebration of Black History 12 Month to provide a continuing opportunity for all 13 people in the United States to learn from the past 14 and understand the experiences that have shaped the 15 United States; and 16 (5) agrees that, while the United States began 17 as a divided country, the United States must— 18 (A) honor the contribution of all pioneers 19 in the United States who have helped to ensure 20 the legacy of the great United States; and 21 (B) move forward with purpose, united 22 tirelessly as a nation ‘‘indivisible, with liberty 23 and justice for all.’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Feb 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR45.IS SR45 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS