Honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

Madam Speaker, from February 3, 2009, to March 4, 2009, I missed Roll Call votes 47-96. Unfortunately, I underwent a surgical procedure and was in California recuperating. Had I been here, I would have voted the following:

Roll Call Vote 47: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 82, raising awareness and encouraging prevention of stalking by establishing January 2009 as National Stalking Awareness Month;

Roll Call Vote 48: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 103, supporting the goals and ideals of National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week;

Roll Call Vote 49: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 559, The Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely (FAST) Redress Act of 2009;

Roll Call Vote 50: No on the motion to concur in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009;

Roll Call Vote 51: Yes on the motion to commit with instructions S. 352, the DTV Delay Act;

Roll Call Vote 52: No on passage of S. 352, the DTV Delay Act;

Roll Call Vote 53: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 738, the Death in Custody Reporting Act;

Roll Call Vote 54: Yes on the motion to instruct conferees on H. R. 1, Making Supplemental Appropriations for Fiscal Year Ending 2009;

Roll Call Vote 55: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 114, Supporting the Goals and Ideals of National Girls and Women in Sports Day;

Roll Call Vote 56: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 60, Recognizing and commending University of Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford for winning the 2008 Heisman Trophy and for his academic and athletic accomplishments;

Roll Call Vote 57: No on the motion to table H. Res. 143, Raising a Question of the Privileges of the House;

Roll Call Vote 58: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 128, Honoring Miami University for its 200 years of commitment to extraordinary higher education;

Roll Call Vote 59: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 134, Recognizing the 50th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s visit to India and the positive influence that the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi had on Dr. King's work during the Civil Rights Movement;

Roll Call Vote 60: No on agreeing to H. Con. Res. 47, Providing for an adjournment or recess of the two Houses;

Roll Call Vote 61: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 154, Honoring John D. Dingell for holding the record as the longest serving member of the House of Representatives;

Roll Call Vote 62: No on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 448, the Elder Abuse Victims Act;

Roll Call Vote 63: No on the motion to agree to H. Res. 157, providing for the consideration of motions to suspend the rules, and for other purposes;

Roll Call Vote 64: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 117, Supporting the goals and ideals of National Engineers Week;

Roll Call Vote 65: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Con. Res. 35, Honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 100th anniversary;

Roll Call Vote 66: No on ordering the previous question on H. Res. 168, providing for consideration of the conference report to H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;

Roll Call Vote 67: No on H. Res. 168, providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;

Roll Call Vote 68: No on the question of consideration of the conference report to H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;

Roll Call Vote 69: Yes on the motion to recommit the conference report to H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;

Roll Call Vote 70: No on agreeing to the conference report to H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;

Roll Call Vote 71: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules agree to H. Res. 139, Commemorating the life and legacy of President Abraham Lincoln on the bicentennial of his birth;

Roll Call Vote 72: No on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 911, the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act;

Roll Call Vote 73: No on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 44, the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act;

Roll Call Vote 74: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 601, the Box Elder Utah Land Conveyance Act;

Roll Call Vote 75: No on approving the journal;

Roll Call Vote 76: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and H.R. 80, the Captive Primate Safety Act;

Roll Call Vote 77: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 637, the South Orange County Recycled Water Enhancement Act;

Roll Call Vote 78: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H. Res. 83, Recognizing the significance of Black History Month;

Roll Call Vote 79: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass S. 234, the Colonel John H. Wilson, Jr. Post Office Building;

Roll Call Vote 80: Yes on approving the journal;

Roll Call Vote 81: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 47, Supporting the goals and ideals of Peace Officers Memorial Day;

Roll Call Vote 82: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 180, Supporting the goals and ideals of the third annual America Saves Week;

Roll Call Vote 83: No on the consideration of H. Res. 184, providing for consideration of H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations for 2009;

Roll Call Vote 84: Yes on ordering the previous question on H. Res. 184, providing for consideration of H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations for 2009;

Roll Call Vote 85: Yes on H. Res. 184, providing for the consideration of H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations of 2009;

Roll Call Vote 86: No on passage of H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations of 2009;

Roll Call Vote 87: No on the motion to table H. Res. 189, raising a question of the privileges of the House;

Roll Call Vote 88: No on ordering the previous question on H. Res. 190, providing for consideration of H.R. 1106 to prevent mortgage foreclosures and enhance mortgage credit availability;

Roll Call Vote 89: No on H. Res. 190, Providing for consideration of H.R. 1106 to prevent mortgage foreclosures and enhance mortgage credit availability;

Roll Call Vote 90: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 183, expressing condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of the victims of the crash of Continental Connection flight 3407;

Roll Call Vote 91: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 146, the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act;

Roll Call Vote 92: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 548, the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act;

Roll Call Vote 93: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H. Res. 77, congratulating the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA for more than 100 years of service and leadership to the United States;

Roll Call Vote 94: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H. Res. 201, recognizing Beverly Eckerts service to the nation and particularly to the survivors and families of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Roll Call Vote 95: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H. Res. 195, recognizing and honoring the employees of the Department of Homeland Security on its sixth anniversary for their continuous efforts to keep the nation safe; and

Roll Call Vote 96: Yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H. Res. 45, raising awareness and promoting education on the criminal justice system by establishing March as National Criminal Justice Month.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H. Con. Res 35 ``Honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.''

Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res 35 recognizes the 100th anniversary of the historic founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and 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. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Con. Res 35 because of the impact that the NAACP has had on me and other minorities across this great nation.

First organized in 1905, the group came to be known as the Niagara Movement when it began meeting at hotel situated on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls. The group first met in Canada because the U.S. hotels were segregated. Under the leadership of Harvard scholar W.E.B. DuBois, the group later went on to become known as the National Negro Committee. It was not the date of the organization's second conference in 1910 that it formally adopted the name the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The mission of the association was clearly delineated in its charter:

To promote equality of rights and to eradicate caste or race prejudice among the citizens of the United States; to advance the interest of colored citizens; to secure for them impartial suffrage; and to increase their opportunities for securing justice in the courts, education for the children, employment according to their ability and complete equality before law.

Since its inception, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has upheld its mission to fight social injustice and give a voice to the voiceless. The NAACP is among the largest and most prominent mass-membership, civil rights organizations in America.

Founded with a mandate to secure equal political, economic and social rights for African Americans, the NAACP has been in the forefront of every major civil rights struggle of the twentieth century. Using a combination of tactics including legal challenges, demonstrations and economic boycotts, the NAACP played an important role in helping end segregation in the United States.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., (NAACP LDF) a leading civil rights organization based in New York City, began as the legal wing of the NAACP under the leadership of Charles Hamilton Houston, a former professor at Howard University Law School. In 1938, Thurgood Marshall, Houston's student and future Supreme Court justice, succeeded him as NAACP LDF counsel.

Marshall further developed the strategies and goals of the legal department, establishing the Legal Defense Fund as an organization totally independent of the NAACP.

Among its most significant achievements was the NAACP LDF's challenge to end segregation in public schools. In the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Justices unanimously ruled that separate educational facilities for black

and white students were ``inherently unequal.'' That ruling and the Court's subsequent order that public schools be desegregated with ``all deliberate speed'' touched off a firestorm of protest in the South and contributed substantially to the growth of the modern-day civil rights movement. Today, the NAACP has over 500,000 members standing in unity with all who support protecting our constitutionally guaranteed civil rights against all who would oppose protecting these freedoms.

Even in my district in Houston, the NAACP seeks to be a voice against injustice for all minorities. The NAACP Houston Branch has a long and rich history championing civil rights in Houston on vital issues such as the desegregation of Houston schools, combating the spread of HIV/ AIDS, and improved access to education and information technology.

The NAACP Houston Branch has played an instrumental role in breaking new ground on the path to freedom and equality for Houston's minority community. The branch has been experiencing tremendous growth in recent years while serving the Harris County area through its programs and myriad committees made up of its dedicated staff and volunteer members. Led by an Executive Committee of approximately 25 volunteers, there are approximately 800 members in the Houston Branch.

Some of the Houston Branch's programs include collaborations with the City of Houston Health Department in STD prevention and awareness programs, legal assistance in the form of legal consultation and educational seminars, a year-long enrichment program designed to recruit, stimulate, improve and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African American high school students, and other programs beneficial to minorities across the city of Houston.

As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I truly appreciate the support from the NAACP in fighting for the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. We all know that without the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, the voting rights of many U.S. citizens would be in jeopardy. When I authored H.R. 745 in the 110th Congress, I am proud to say that with the NAACP's support, my colleagues and I were able to rename the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Cesar E. Chavez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Velasquez, and Dr. Hector P. Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006. This bill renamed the Voting Rights Act to demonstrate the many faces of the Civil Rights Movement. The bill was renamed to recognize the Hispanics and other persons of color who labored in the vineyards to insure that all receive equal treatment in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res 35 provides for a tribute to celebrate the impact and achievements of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in their efforts to better the lives of minorities and the community. There is still a need for justice and equal treatment for minorities in our country. I am grateful for the many fights for equality that he organization has won, and thankful that the NAACP will be there in the future to champion the cause of justice wherever and whenever it needs a spokesman.

The struggles of the NACCP have helped pave the way for the election this country's first African-American President Barack Obama. During a speech celebrating the NAACP, President Obama declared that ``serving as . . . [P]resident, 100 years after the founding of the NAACP, I will stand up for you the same way that earlier generations of Americans stood up for me--by fighting to ensure that every single one of us has the chance to make it if we try.''

I thank my colleague, Representative Al Green, of Texas, for introducing this important legislation, to ensure that we celebrate, treasure and recognize the African American spiritual as a national treasure and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 35) honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, on the occasion of its 100th 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 resolution under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, today we honor the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary, for a century of unwavering commitment to justice and equality for all.

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

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 may be best known for Thurgood Marshall's successful advocacy leading to the watershed 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which the Supreme Court held that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

The NAACP is also known for the work of its chief advocate for more than 30 years, Clarence Mitchell, who worked to secure the 1957, 1960 and 1964 Civil Rights Acts, as well as the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Fair Housing Act.

But we salute the NAACP not only for these better-known accomplishments, but for all of its efforts to promote justice and equality for every American, throughout the past 100 years.

And the NAACP spoke out against lynching, challenged racially biased Supreme Court justice nominees as early as 1930, and pursued nondiscrimination policies in the military, in war-related industries, and the rest of the Federal Government during the world wars. At the height of the Civil Rights era, NAACP fought battles everywhere, on the ground, in the courtroom, and in the United States Congress.

Finally, in commemorating the 100th anniversary of the NAACP, we draw inspiration as we look to the continued work that lies ahead. From Dr. King and Coretta Scott King, from Rosa Parks, from Medgar Evers and Merlie Evers-Williams, from Julian Bond, from Kweisi Mfume and from so many others who have gone before, and from the current leadership of President Benjamin Todd Jealous, Washington Bureau Directory, Hilary Shelton, and Legal Defense Fund President John Payton, through whom the NAACP has been promoting African American graduation and college readiness, protecting and advancing voting rights and identifying solutions to our current fiscal crisis.

As we celebrate the NAACP's centennial anniversary, I am confident that the organization will remain an integral part of our Nation's efforts to protect and promote civil rights for all Americans.

I urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 35.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas, Congressman Al Green.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee--the Chair of the Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, my good friend, Mr. Steve Cohen.

Mr. Speaker, I would yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr).

Mr. Speaker, I would yield 4 minutes to the honorable gentleman from the great State of Virginia, Mr. Bobby Scott, who is also the Chair of the Crime Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I will yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois, the honorable Danny Davis.

Mr. Speaker, I would yield 1 minute at this time to the honorable gentleman from the State of Virginia, Mr. Tom Perriello.

Mr. Speaker, we have no additional speakers at this time, and if the gentleman yields back the balance of his time, I will do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to commend Congressman Green for his efforts in introducing this legislation, and I look forward to its passage.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, today I stand here to honor the NAACP. We all honor the NAACP in this House. It has been at the forefront of the civil rights struggle in this country for 100 years, and though 100 years have passed since the founding of the NAACP, there still remains great work to be done.

Mr. Speaker, last summer dozens of black pastors and black mothers attended the 99th annual NAACP conference in Cincinnati to call on the NAACP to help expose one of the least known and yet one of the most pervasive forms of racism at work still in this country, the targeting of the black community by abortion providers. Many of these advocates who gathered at the NAACP I have the privilege to call precious friends. Dr. Alveda King, who leads King for America, is the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Bishop Harry Jackson; Reverend Johnny Hunter, the founder of LEARN, America's largest African American pro-life organization; the Reverend Clenard Childress of LEARN Northeast; Catherine Davis with the Georgia Right to Life; Lawson Lipford-Cruz, the president of Black Students for Life; and David Owens, among many, many others. Their goal was simply to fulfill the mission of the NAACP, and that is to ensure equality and, most importantly, equal protection of the law for all.

Mr. Speaker, I want to quote Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, who helped lead the rally outside the NAACP conference.

``Racism lives at Planned Parenthood. I say to my fellow NAACP members: It's time to tell the government to stop funding racism. Planned Parenthood will gladly accept donations for the specific purpose of aborting only black babies,'' King said. ``It locates its clinics in or near minority neighborhoods. It has led the way in eliminating African Americans to the point where one quarter of the black population is now missing because of abortion.''

King called on the Nation's oldest civil rights organization to remember its mission statement: ``To ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.''

Day Gardner, the president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, said, ``As a child, I thought the NAACP to be a superhero organization, an organization that would fight racism right down to its very core.'' She stressed that the NAACP leaders need to have their eyes opened to the agenda of government-supported abortion providers and to what she believes is their strategic marketing to the black community.

According to reported statistics, Mr. Speaker, a black child is nearly five times more likely to be aborted than a white child.

Gardner continued. ``We are here to rally the NAACP, to make our voices heard as we shout in unison `all across this great Nation the struggle is not yet over. The evil hand of racism is still at work.' ''

Gardner also spoke about the Federal tax dollars that go to Planned Parenthood. She said it was time for Congress to end that funding. She asked, ``Why are we forced to pay well over $300 million to an organization that is overtly racist? We are calling on the NAACP to stand boldly with us to defund Planned Parenthood and even lead the way in this, the greatest struggle for civil rights.''

Mr. Speaker, I just want to echo and agree with the words of Dr. King and of Day Gardner, that for the NAACP to fully advance the cause of the black community, it must take a stand and fight on behalf of the most helpless, voiceless, politically unempowered members of the black community--those being the unborn.

Today, one out of every two black babies conceived in this country is lost to abortion. That is an astonishing reality that I cannot find the words to describe. I just want to thank those courageous members of the NAACP for their fight against this unspeakable tragedy. We must all open our eyes to the racist history of abortion-on-demand movements in this country and its devastating impact on black America. It is past time to defund such a movement in this country.

To that end, I will also be reintroducing the PreNDA bill, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, to end sex-selection abortion and race- selection abortion in this country. It is the duty of all of us to come together and to eliminate this deadly form of discrimination in this generation.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People--the NAACP--and thank my colleagues for unanimously adopting H. Con. Res. 35, introduced by my friend, Congressman Al Green, of Texas. I was honored to introduce companion legislation in the Senate.

Yesterday we were reminded once again of the historic nature of the work the NAACP has done over the last century as our Nation's first African-American President came to the United States Capitol to pay tribute to President Abraham Lincoln on his 200th birthday.

When we reflect on how far we have come in this country, we must acknowledge the crucial role the NAACP has played in making so many of those steps possible.

Founded on February 12, 1909, in New York City by a small multiracial group of activists that included Ida Wells-Barnett and W. E. B. Dubois, the NAACP spent decades working to eliminate discrimination in schools and throughout our society at the grassroots. Nearly a half century later, it would make itself known to the world with one of our Nation's greatest legal victories, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.

In 1955, the Secretary of the NAACP's Montgomery, AL, branch suffered humiliation and unwarranted arrest for refusing to give up her front seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, AL. Rosa Parks' simple yet powerful action would ignite the largest civil rights grassroots movement in the history of this country, reminding us once again of the difference that even one American can make to change the course of history.

The NAACP also played an essential role in ensuring the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964.

Though the right to vote was declared to be a basic human right under the U.S. Constitution, persons of color, especially African Americans, were historically--and shamefully--denied this fundamental right. The NAACP played a substantial role pushing for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, partnering with the likes of Cesar Chavez.

While the NAACP's political work is extraordinary, its community service efforts deserve recognition as well. In

2005, it created the Disaster Relief Fund to provide assistance for Hurricane Katrina victims in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama at a time when they needed it most.

As President Obama said, ``A nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.'' The NAACP has reminded us of those words for a century.

For all this achievement symbolizes to Americans and the world, the NAACP still recognizes the importance of remaining vigilant in our fight for equality, never allowing the past to be forgotten. I am honored that it has supported the passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act that I introduced last Congress, in commemoration of the unspeakably brutal and unjustified murder of an African-American youth, ensuring that criminals of the unsolved hate crimes of the civil rights struggle are brought to justice and that its victims can finally find peace. And I am pleased that this legislation has become law.

Much progress has been made in the lives of persons of color because of the NAACP and its tireless, life-risking, and never-ending work.

As Thurgood Marshall, who a dozen years after arguing Brown v. the Board of Education before the Supreme Court would become the first African American to serve on our nation's highest court, said:

In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay

ourselves the highest tribute.

Today, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives return that tribute to the NAACP and everyone who has been associated with its achievements and advocacy for this last century.

May its work to ensure equality for all American citizens continue as each of us in this institution and across our country commit to diminishing its necessity.