Congratulating the National Urban League on its 100th year of service to the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 1157, ``Congratulating the National Urban League on its 100th year of service to the United States.''

As a member of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, I take great pleasure in thanking my colleague, Representative Alcee L. Hastings, for introducing this important piece of legislation that honors this historic civil rights organization.

Mr. Speaker, today I join my colleagues in recognizing and congratulating the National Urban League for its 100 years of service to historically underserved urban communities across the United States. The National Urban League was originally known as the National League of Black Men and Women. Created in 1910 as a civil rights organization, the National Urban League has since made tremendous gains in equality and empowerment for the African-American community. Throughout the League's 100 years of service the organization has assisted millions of Americans and especially African-Americans in combating poverty, inequality and social injustice.

The National Urban League saw tremendous growth in its partnership with the Federal Government throughout the 1970s. During this time the League began delivering aid to urban areas and making improvements in housing, education, health and minority-owned small businesses. This partnership between the League and the Federal Government revolutionized how the country viewed race relations, challenged the deep discrimination within America's social structure and established the League's reputation as a premier social justice organization.

Since that time, the League has expanded to include 25 national programs, with more than 100 local affiliates in 36 states as well as the District of Columbia.

In my home district in Houston, Texas, the National Urban League has played a strong role in helping the community through outreach programs. The League has sponsored hundreds of such programs over the years from job fairs to Computer Technology courses. These types of educational and community empowerment programs help to improve the quality of life for communities across the United States.

The National Urban League in Houston has also played a strong role in the clean-up and reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. In September 2008, a massive Category 4 Hurricane named Hurricane Ike came ashore and slammed the Texas coastline near my home district of Houston. The National Urban League of Houston has since provided assistance to children, families and senior citizens in the community. I thank the League for its continued support of our community.

Over the past several years, National Urban League has also helped thousands of people weather through one of the worst economic disasters in recent memory. Through the League's Housing and Community Development division the League was able to assist over 50,000 people with mortgage, foreclosure and other similar economic problems in 2009. Furthermore, from this assistance provided by the League's ``Foreclosure Prevention'' program, 3,000 people were able to avoid filing foreclosure in 2009.

The National Urban League also helps out youth across our nation and promotes childhood education through programs like the League's Education and Youth Development division. Also, programs like the League's ``Project Ready'' ensure that students will be prepared for the transition from high school to college, or joining the workforce.

The League has also created and outlined 4 new aspirational goals to mark its centennial

anniversary as part of its I AM EMPOWERED campaign. The League has pledged to help achieve the following goals by 2025: Ensure that every American child is ready for college, work and life; ensure that every American has access to jobs with a living wage and good benefits; ensure that every American lives in safe, decent, affordable and energy-efficient housing on fair terms; and ensure that every American has access to quality and affordable health care solutions.

Altogether the work of the National Urban League has been pivotal in improving the lives of millions of Americans through community-oriented programs, civil rights, and leadership opportunities. I stand with my colleagues today in appreciation for the service the League has provided our citizens over the last l00 years and look forward to working alongside the League for the next 100 years.

Since its inception, the National Urban League has been known as an historic civil rights organization dedicated to elevating the standard of living in historically underserved urban communities. The League continues in that legacy today and continuously seeks to empower the citizens of urban and inner-city communities.

I would like to thank and praise the thousands of volunteers, workers and community advocates with the National Urban League who have worked towards the empowerment of their respective communities and the creation of new opportunities.

I ask my colleagues for their support of H. Res. 1157, as well as for their continued support for the National Urban League. Through the continuation of the League's programs over the next 100 years, I am confident that the United States will continue to be a more fair, just and equitable society for all Americans.

I would like to again thank my colleague Representative Alcee L. Hastings for his leadership in introducing this bill as well as for his support of the National Urban League.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 1157.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1157, to congratulate the National Urban League on its 100 year of service to the United States.

The National Urban League can look back with great pride on its extraordinary accomplishments, as we mark the organization's centennial anniversary. Since its inception in 1910, the National Urban League has made tremendous gains in equality and economic empowerment in the African-American community throughout the United States. Today,

the League has become an essential tool in economic advancement, as it has expanded to 25 national programs, with more than 100 local affiliates in 36 states as well as the District of Columbia.

The beginnings of this organization can be traced to two remarkable individuals, Mrs. Ruth Standish Baldwin and Dr. George Edmund Haynes, who founded the League as a multiracial and diverse grassroots campaign. Their efforts in forming the National League of Black Men and Women, later to be known as the National Urban League, began as a civil rights organization dedicated to elevating the standard of living in historically underserved urban communities. The fledgling organization counseled black migrants from the South, helped train black social workers, and worked in various other ways to bring educational and employment opportunities to African Americans.

Under the leadership of Whitney M. Young, Jr., the League substantially expanded its fundraising ability, and, most critically, made the League a full-time partner in the Civil Rights Movement. Lending its resources to the pursuit of equality, it hosted at its New York headquarters the meetings of A. Philip Randolph, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights leaders to plan the 1963 March on Washington. Furthermore, Young was a forceful advocate for greater government and private sector efforts to eradicate poverty. His call for a domestic Marshall Program, a ten-point program designed to close the huge social and economic gap between black and white Americans, significantly influenced the discussion of the Johnson Administration's War on Poverty legislation.

My district of Dallas, Texas, has benefited greatly by the community oriented services provided by the Urban League of Greater Dallas. Under the leadership of chapter president, Dr. Beverly Mitchell-Brooks, the Urban League's facility provides an environment where education and training are chosen as paths to self-reliance. Dallas residents are prepared for the world of work, home ownership, and health education through classes and training seminars. In addition to job training, scholarship programs are in place to help students realize their dream of earning a college degree that may otherwise be blocked by a families' limited income.

As we stand in the aftermath of this economic downturn, the role of the National Urban League has become vital as entire communities seek guidance and relief from current economic conditions. Through the League's Housing and Community Development Division, programs such as ``Foreclosure Prevention'', ``Homeownership Preparation,'' and through ``Financial Literacy'' were able to aid over 50,000 people in 2009. Furthermore, with assistance provided by the League's ``Foreclosure Prevention'' program, 3,000 people were able to avoid filing foreclosure in 2009.

Mr. Speaker, if past is prologue, then the National Urban League's exemplarily 100-year history of empowering the lives of millions of African Americans gives me great confidence in the organization's ability to address the challenges of the 21st century.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from California.

My good friend Al Green, whom I am pleased to serve with in the House of Representatives, and I introduced this legislation to congratulate the National Urban League on celebrating its 100th anniversary. I believe he and I also speak not only for substantial numbers of House Members but certainly for all of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus in this congratulatory set of remarks.

As was said, since its founding in 1910 by George Haynes and Ruth Baldwin, this organization has grown from one small housing department into a comprehensive national organization.

I am immensely proud of my own affiliation with the Urban League going back over 35 years now. In 1974, I was one of the founding members of the National Urban League of Broward County, the 104th affiliate chapter in the United States. Our goal then was to help alleviate some of the racial tensions felt throughout the community during desegregation.

I went on to serve on the original board of directors under a tremendous executive director named Leonard Gainey for the local chapter, and we worked to empower the community, increase educational opportunities for our children, and change lives through strong advocacy for essential public services.

The League has made great advances in the realm of civil rights. I knew Whitney Young, who has no peer in this area, who worked closely with leaders such as A. Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King. The League assisted in planning the 1963 March on Washington and carried on the hard work of advocating for equality and opportunity in that tumultuous era. The magnitude of these accomplishments, and countless others, cannot be understated.

The right to an equal education for black Americans has developed into a program aimed at helping these students use their education to propel themselves into leadership roles in their respective communities. Through workshops, summer programs, hands-on learning opportunities, and other endeavors, the League enriches the quality of life for black Americans of all ages and, by that, enriches our country.

With over 100 field offices around the country, League leaders are pillars of their communities, helping to organize campaigns to, in the League's own words, ``enable African Americans to

secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights.''

Under the outstanding guidance of extraordinary leaders and everyday men and women, the National Urban League has been at the forefront of the great social efforts of the last century.

I would be terribly remiss if I did not mention the leadership of Vernon Jordan, who was a classmate of mine in law school; Percy Lee, who was a classmate of mine in high school; T. Willard Fair, who I was not a classmate with, but learned to know, learned from and loved through the years; as well as John Jacobs, who I do share fraternity membership with and good friendship; and the new leader now, Marc Morial, as well.

Although we can take great pride in the many exceptional accomplishments of the National Urban League, its work is far from over. With 100 years of experience behind them, the hard-working and dedicated men and women of the National Urban League are well-poised to carry forth its important mission through the next century of progress.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation congratulating the National Urban League for its 100 outstanding years of service to our great Nation, and I again thank the gentlelady from California for the time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1157) congratulating the National Urban League on its 100th year of service to the United States, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 1157 into the Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor and privilege that I rise in support of House Resolution 1157 in commemoration and recognition of the National Urban League's 110th anniversary and their pursuit of civil rights and economic empowerment for all people.

Founded in 1910 and headquartered in New York City, the National Urban League is a preeminent voice for the civil rights of African Americans and for improving the quality of life in our urban communities. Through their programs, the League provides direct services to more than 2 million people nationwide through more than 100 local affiliates in 36 States and the District of Columbia.

With its 100th anniversary, the League commemorates a rich history of service and advocacy. In what started as a grassroots movement for equality, Mrs. Ruth Standish Baldwin and Dr. George Edmund Haynes provided crucial support to African Americans moving to urban centers in the early 1900s. The League worked tirelessly to reduce the discrimination and pervasive inequality in our Nation's cities.

The League grew in size and influence with our Nation's civil rights movement in the 1960s. They expanded their advocacy operations and established social service initiatives in housing, health, education, and minority business development.

This national organization exemplifies the ideals of service and outreach and has been a tremendous force in enhancing opportunities for education, economic empowerment, health, and quality of life, civic engagement, and civil rights and social justice.

I would like to extend my congratulations and appreciation to the National Urban League for their 100 years of exceptional dedication and service, and I wish this organization continued success in the great work that they do for years to come.

I would also like to thank and congratulate the countless volunteers and staff of the National Urban League for their commitment to furthering the organization's mission of equality, and I join with them in celebrating the League's historic milestone.

I thank Representative Hastings for introducing this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) for 5 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green) for 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Sutton) for 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I urge passage of House Resolution 1157, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady for the time, and I want to thank the Honorable Alcee Hastings, a most respected Member of this House. I am honored that he would present this resolution honoring a most respected organization in this country, the National Urban League.

The Honorable Alcee Hastings has been a part of the avant-garde when it comes to human rights and civil rights and protecting those who are among the least, the last and the lost in society, which is what the Urban League seeks to do. One hundred years of service to the United States of America, and indirectly to the planet Earth because indirectly what you do for one, you do for all.

I am honored to mention that the honorable Marc Morial has continued the great tradition of leadership established in the Urban League. He is the current president and CEO. In Houston, we have the honorable Judson Robinson, who is the president and CEO of the Houston Area Urban League, and he has done a stellar job as well.

The Urban League is now and has always been an integrated organization, founded by two persons of different hues, and continues that legacy, that heritage, if you will, of representing all persons, but making sure that those who have been left behind have the opportunity to catch up.

I am honored to tell you that the Urban League has this goal of self- reliance, and it perfects the goal of self-reliance by way of political parity, by way of making real the great and noble American ideal expressed in Baker v. Carr: one person, one vote. The Urban League seeks to cause those who were locked out of the process to have the opportunity to not only participate, but to have their votes mean something.

The Urban League seeks to have self-reliance through economic empowerment, the notion that equality of opportunity ought to exist for all within this great country. Equality of opportunity. Not give me something for nothing but give the opportunity to succeed on merits or fail on demerits, the opportunity to participate in the process.

One hundred years of service. One hundred years of combating poverty, inequality, and social injustice.

I close with this reminder, a cliche, a phrase, if you will, that is worn out, and it is worn because of a good reason, because it means something. That phrase is this: if we did not have the National Urban League, we would surely have to create it.