Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives 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.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 826) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives 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.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker and members of the committee, I am pleased to join my colleagues in support of House Resolution 826, a resolution condemning the hanging of nooses for the purpose of intimidation, violence, and other criminal purposes.

Unfortunately, consideration of this resolution comes at a critical time for our Nation. Many of us had thought the hanging of a noose, a symbol of racial violence, hate, and intimidation down through history was a practice relegated to our past. Since September, however, there have been reports of approximately 50 noose-hanging incidents across this country. It's no coincidence that these disturbing incidents follow in the shadow of the Jena Six case, which documents continuing racial inequity in our Nation even into this century.

As we all know, a hanging noose symbolizes lynching, one of the most shameful, terror-ridden, racial crimes in our history and which, sadly, can be traced back to the very founding time of the United States.

First used to punish African slaves as early as the 17th century, the practice of lynching was commonplace until, I'm sorry to report, as late as 1968. Between 1882 and 1962, nearly 5,000 people, most of them African Americans, were lynched in our country.

There appears to be a resurgence in the hanging of nooses for intimidation or other racist purposes. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for example, has filed more than 30 lawsuits for hanging nooses in the workplace since the year 2001. The commission observed ``a disturbing national trend of increased racial harassment cases involving hangman's nooses in the workplace.''

In October, a noose was found hanging, of all places, in the Nassau County New York police headquarters locker room. Last month, hanging ropes were found in the United States Coast Guard Academy in the bag of an African American cadet and in the office of a diversity trainer.

Noose incidents are also occurring with disturbing frequency in schools throughout our country. At Louisiana's Jena High School, nooses were hung from a tree that white students had regarded as their exclusive domain for socializing after African Americans sat under the tree. This sparked similar incidents in schools across our Nation. In New York City, an African American professor at Columbia University found a noose hanging on her office door. In North Carolina, four nooses were found hanging at various locations at High Point Andrews High School. Universities in Maryland, Delaware and Indiana have reported noose incidents in recent months. In my own State of Michigan, nooses were hung on the Central Michigan University campus weeks after anti-Muslim pamphlets had been distributed.

As this resolution calls upon Federal authorities to investigate noose incidents, I am heartened to note the Justice Department's efforts to address this problem. At an oversight hearing on the Jena 6 incident held earlier by the Judiciary Committee, the Department stated it viewed such noose hangings as possible violations of Federal civil rights law.

I commend my colleague from the State of Texas, our new Member, Al Green, who for his leadership on this issue should be really commended as an important contribution that he has made. And I would like to acknowledge the Judiciary Committee's members on both sides of the aisle who helped advance this resolution with their active support. The Committee on the Constitution chairman, Jerrold Nadler; the Crime Committee chairman, Bobby Scott; also our stellar members from North Carolina, Mel Watt; and from Texas, Sheila Jackson-Lee; from California, Maxine Waters; Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin; Georgia, Hank Johnson; Tennessee, Steve Cohen; Wisconsin, James Sensenbrenner; and Texas, Louie Gohmert. These and many others have been very helpful in laying the groundwork for us to come together to hearten not just the people in this country but our law enforcement agencies, particularly the Department of Justice, in trying to reduce and indeed eliminate this unfortunate system of hate that is spreading, unfortunately, in our country.

I think we can head it off, and I hope with the passage of House Resolution 826 that will be, in fact, accomplished.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Could I ask my colleague, the floor manager (Mr. Forbes), I would like to ask unanimous consent for 5 minutes more on each side if that would be agreeable with the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that we have 5 additional minutes added to each side.

I thank my colleague the floor manager and my friends on the other side.

I am privileged now to recognize the gentleman from Texas, who came to

me with this idea, Mr. Al Green, and I will yield him 3\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to call my dear friend and newest member to the Congressional Black Caucus, Laura Richardson, to speak, and I recognize her for 2\1/2\ minutes.

The Chair is pleased to recognize the gentlelady from California, Barbara Lee, who has graced us with her presence in my district recently, and we yield her 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to recognize the former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, and we would grant him 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to call upon the Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Honorable Joe Baca of California, and I yield him 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to recognize the gentleman from Tennessee, a distinguished member of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Steve Cohen, 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to recognize the distinguished gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. William Jefferson, who has worked very hard on matters of racial justice across his career in the Congress, and I yield him 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to advise my colleague, the floor manager, that I have only one final speaker. We will be concluded. So if you would like to yield back, we would finish up.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia, and I yield finally to the Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio, a distinguished lawyer, prosecutor, judge, and now a chairman in the House of Representatives, to close for us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3845, introduced by my distinguished colleague from my home state of Texas, Representative Al Green. Through this important resolution, the House of Representatives will explicitly go on record against a form a racial hatred that has plagued this country for far too long.

As a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, I have been an outspoken advocate for civil rights and the vigorous prosecution of those who violate our Nation's laws that protect the most vulnerable amongst us. Though we cannot stop acts of racism, ignorance and intolerance, we must speak with a clear and loud voice and say the time has come for our Nation to no longer turn a blind eye to acts of hatred and intolerance.

This legislation comes at a time when the hanging of nooses is making a resurgence around the country. We all know about the case in Jena, LA, where a noose was hung in a school yard and resulted in the division of a town along racial lines, and where six black teenagers were arrested for beating a fellow white student after a series of racial disturbances. One of those students, Mychal Bell, just yesterday pled guilty to lesser charges after one of the largest civil rights protests in years and the largest march in the South since the 1960s.

This October, the Judiciary Committee held hearings on the matter, to address those responsible for administering the laws governing hate crimes. Unfortunately, as we have seen since the events of Jena, nooses are being hung in the halls of some our country's most distinguished institutions and businesses. At Columbia University's Teachers College, a noose was left on the doorknob of an African American female professor. In Chicago, a noose was found at a Home Depot construction site. In Queens, New York, a woman was arrested after hanging a noose in her yard and threatening to hang her African American neighbor's child from it. In my own home state of Texas, two students in Pearland hung a noose in their school parking lot.

It is unfortunate that this Congress is taking up this issue only after companies such as Home Depot and Verizon, as well as colleges and universities across the country and numerous other institutions, have already spoken against these acts with a loud and clear voice. The time has come for the United States Congress to speak just as loudly and say we will not tolerate these heinous acts.

The symbol of the noose is powerful and offensive. Thousands of African Americans have been lynched in this country simply for being the ``wrong'' color. The incident of noose hangings of Black America was not aberrational or occasional. At any moment in time, an African American could lose their life at the hands of an angry white mob, and the symbolism of the noose still hangs over this country like a black cloud. The noose has come to symbolize white supremacy and the subjugation of an entire race of people. It has been used as a weapon against those who dared to challenge their condition. It has been used as a weapon to silence the voice of those who dared to speak out. The ritualistic, brutal, and public murders that took place with a noose were done specifically to terrorize the African American community. The threat of lynching was used to prevent people from voting, marching, protesting, getting an education, and even starting a business. The noose as sign of intimidation dates back to 1896 as a means of voter suppression. Today, we see the noose used to intimidate educational and business institutions, teachers, workers, community leaders and now our children.

With the passage of this resolution, our country and this Chamber will say, in no unclear terms, that we will not be intimidated and we will not allow our children to be intimidated.

I applaud this important resolution for the message it sends to the country and the world, that we do not tolerate hatred and bigotry against anyone.

Let me remind those who regard the hanging of a noose from a tree in Jena, Louisiana or anywhere else in this country as a harmless act: it is not harmless and it is not just a juvenile prank. It is a frightening and symbolic play for power, as was captured so poignantly by Billie Holiday in her unforgettable rendition of Southern Fruit:

Southern trees bear strange fruit,

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,

Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

While the use of this racist tool continues, we must not forget that over 4,700 people were lynched between 1882 and 1959 in a campaign of terror led by the Ku Klux Klan. Nor should we forget that more people died at the hands of lynch mobs than died in the attack on Pearl Harbor (2,333) and died during Hurricane Katrina (1,836) combined.

Mr. Speaker, we must act now to stop the use of this racist and evil symbol of America's bitter waters. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 289) honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 99th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the concurrent resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Today I rise and join my colleague, the Honorable Al Green of Texas, in honoring the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 99th anniversary. As we celebrate Black History Month, it is only appropriate that we do so by recognizing our Nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.

The NAACP was founded on February 12, 1909, by Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, and William English Walling.

Since its inception, the NAACP has united students, laborers, professionals, scholars, officials, and others of all races to advance its vision of ``a society in which all individuals have equal rights and there is no racial hatred or racial discrimination.''

Historically, the NAACP is probably best known for its role and that of Thurgood Marshall in the seminal case of Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court held in 1954 that ``separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.'' Yet we must not forget that the NAACP has been at the forefront of all efforts to secure equality and justice for every American throughout the 20th century and now into the 21st century.

The NAACP spoke out against lynching, challenged racially biased Supreme Court Justice nominees as early as 1930, and pursued nondiscrimination policies in the military, war-related industries, and the Federal Government during the world wars.

At the height of the civil rights era, the NAACP fought battles on the ground, in the courtroom, and in Congress, where it lobbied for passage of civil rights legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Since then and during our current session, NAACP has lobbied for hate crimes legislation and other legislation that protects minorities, not necessarily based on race, but based on discrimination.

Today, on the shoulders of distinguished members and leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Merlie Evers-Williams, Benjamin Hooks, Julian Bond, Jesse Turner, Jr., Maxine Vasco Smith, and Kweisi Mfume, the NAACP continues to fight the good fight.

Most recently the NAACP is promoting African American graduation and college readiness, protecting and advancing voting rights, and identifying solutions to the subprime mortgage foreclosure crisis. I have the privilege of working with the association to further those important efforts.

So in recognizing the NAACP's past and present, I again salute the organization on its near centennial anniversary. I am confident the NAACP will remain an integral part of our Nation's efforts to protect and promote civil rights in the future and move society forward in a progressive manner on a wide array of issues.

I urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 289.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green).

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the words Mr. Chabot expressed and Mr. Green. The NAACP is an outstanding organization, and I would submit that during my time here in Congress, I don't know of another group that has had a more effective lobbying force on issues concerning human rights and civil rights and rights of people who are underrepresented and need the help of government and need it in a fair and just way.

In my community of Memphis, the president of NAACP is Mrs. Johnnie Turner. We have had a great NAACP chapter. Ben Hooks, who is a former head of the agency, is a resident of my community, an outstanding individual who recently was honored by President Bush with a Medal of Freedom. And Maxine Vasco Smith and Jesse Turner who have been national officers of the NAACP are residents of my community as well.

The NAACP has been very important to Memphis but very important to this country. I thank Mr. Green for bringing the resolution to the floor, and I appreciate the remarks made here on the floor. I urge final passage.

I yield back the remainder of my time.

I thank the gentleman for the time.

I would like to thank Chairman Conyers for being there and making this resolution possible and bringing it to the floor. I also would like to remember Mr. Sensenbrenner, who at the time we first introduced this piece of legislation was the chairperson of the Judiciary Committee. And I recall how he made a great effort to get this legislation to the floor and to get it passed. I am grateful to the Honorable Steve Cohen who is our floor leader today, a lawyer par excellence who does an outstanding job on the Judiciary Committee. Thank you so much. I am grateful to Mr. Steve Chabot. Thank you for your very kind words. What you said about the NAACP is entirely correct, but it is also something that means a lot to a lot of people. And I think the people across the length and breadth of this country appreciate what you have said and how you have made it clear that the NAACP is important to us in the United States Congress.

I also want to thank the many persons, about 45 of whom signed on to this piece of legislation so that we could bring it to the floor this year. This is the 99th anniversary of the NAACP, having been founded February 12, 1909. The NAACP has always been an integrated organization. It has fought for integration. But it has from its genesis been an organization that has been integrated. And while we remember many of the names of the great NAACPers, James Weldon Johnson, of course, who was one of the great executive secretaries of the organization, we will remember always the name Roy Wilkins, who was a labor leader and executive secretary of the NAACP, W.E.B. DuBois, who was one of the great intellectuals of his time and of all time. We remember Julian Bond who today is the chairperson of the organization, and Dr. Benjamin Hooks who was an FCC board member but also a lawyer and executive director of the NAACP.

But some of the names we don't always remember are names of persons who are not African Americans who were there at the genesis of this organization. Mary White Ovington, this lady held one of the very first organizational meetings of the NAACP in her living room at a time when it was not popular to host a meeting for an organization like the NAACP. I also would remember, if we would, William English Walling and Oswald Garrison Villiard. These persons were not African Americans, but they literally put their lives on the line so that African Americans could have the types of rights and privileges that we enjoy today.

The NAACP, the Nation's oldest civil rights organization, has been there at times of need when it came to issues like the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960 and 1964. It was there for us when we were lobbying for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Brown v. Board of Education is always mentioned when we think of the NAACP, for it was Thurgood Marshall who took this case to the Supreme Court and won it, integrating the schools across this country.

But the NAACP was also there in the case of Shelley v. Kramer, and the case of Borrows v. Jackson. These cases outlawed restrictive covenants, racially restrictive covenants that barred African Americans from living in certain communities. The NAACP took these cases to the Supreme Court and won them as well.

If the truth be told, we live where we live, we sleep where we sleep and we eat where we eat because of the NAACP. It has made a difference in the lives of all Americans. And I am so grateful that this Congress has seen fit to honor it today for its 99 years of service.

As of late, the NAACP was a party to the legislation that we put before Congress to deal with noose intimidation. Noose intimidation, one of the latest means by which persons are having civil rights violated, and the NAACP was there to help us push this legislation through Congress, so as to make it very clear, transpicuously so, that this country will not tolerate noose intimidation. In fact, the President of the United States, as late as yesterday, made it clear that noose intimidation is unacceptable in this country.

The NAACP has been a part of the fiber and fabric of the human rights, civil rights movement in this country. If we did not have the NAACP, we would have to create the NAACP. It has been there for us. Today we are there for the NAACP.

Mr. President, earlier this year this Nation marked the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. That landmark legislation was Congress's first civil rights bill since the end of Reconstruction. It established the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department and empowered Federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference with the right to vote. It also established a Federal Commission on Civil Rights with authority to investigate discriminatory conditions and recommend corrective measures.

In the Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of my distinguished colleague, the senior Senator from

Vermont, we held a hearing to commemorate this milestone, to talk about our Nation's progress over the past half century, and how we must move forward if we are to live up to the ideals enumerated in the Constitution. My former colleague from the House and an American hero, Representative John Lewis, shared his recollections and his hopes for the future with us.

Today, however, it is with great sadness that I come to the Senate floor to talk about a rash of incidents involving the hanging of nooses in this country. These incidents are a painful reminder of just how far we have to go. I am introducing a Senate resolution that expresses the sense of the Senate 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 it should be thoroughly investigated by Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities; and that any criminal violations should be vigorously prosecuted. The House of Representatives unanimously passed a similar resolution, H. Res. 826, on December 5, and I ask the Senate to take the same action.

American students are being targeted by this epidemic of hate crimes, many of which have occurred after the Jena Six incident arose. Just this year, nooses were discovered hung on the campuses of the University of Maryland, Indiana State University, the United States Coast Guard Academy, East Carolina University, North Carolina State, Columbia University, Louisiana State University, and Purdue.

Nooses are being found in elementary and high schools, in Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and New York. And so we have a new generation of children who are growing up with the same symbols of hate that proliferated more than 100 years ago.

Our Nation's first responders are targeted with these symbols of hate: firefighters in Jacksonville, FL, and police departments in Hempstead and Brooklyn, NY. Nooses have been displayed in hospitals in Pittsburgh, PA, and Orangeburg, NY. Finally, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed more than 30 lawsuits for hanging nooses in the workplace since 2001, and stated that it observed ``a disturbing national trend of increased racial harassment cases involving hangman's nooses in the workplace.''

Let us remember the chilling history of the United States on this subject. The hanging of nooses and lynching was first used to punish African slaves as early as the 17th century and was still commonplace in the United States until the 1960s civil rights movement. An estimated 5,000 people were lynched in the United States--roughly 70 percent of whom were African-Americans--between the 1880s and 1960s.

Mr. President, the situation is even more dire than most Americans imagine. The Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project counted 844 active hate groups in the United States in 2006.

Hate crimes' tentacles reach far beyond the intended targets. They bring a chill to entire neighborhoods and create a sense of fear, vulnerability, and insecurity in our communities. They poison the well of our democracy and strike at the very heart of the American spirit.

Hate crimes are un-American. They cannot be tolerated. When individuals are targeted and attacked because of who they are, entire communities suffer, we are all diminished by it. I call on the Senate today to condemn the recent spate of noose hangings and urge vigorous Federal, State, and local investigation and prosecution of criminal violations.