119-sres99

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 99 Agreed to Senate

    (ATS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
S. RES. 99

 Celebrating Black History Month.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 26, 2025

Mr. Booker (for himself, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Warnock, Mr. 
 Cramer, Mr. Coons, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Reed, Mr. Sullivan, Mrs. Shaheen, 
Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Tillis, Ms. Duckworth, Mrs. Britt, 
 Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Moran, Mr. Kaine, 
 Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Lujan, Mr. King, Ms. Hassan, Ms. Cortez 
 Masto, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Cantwell, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
 Schatz, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Ossoff, Mrs. 
 Gillibrand, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Warner, Mrs. 
 Murray, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Peters, and Ms. Alsobrooks) 
 submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

 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 
 certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the 
 pursuit of Happiness'';
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 subsequently faced the 
 injustices of lynch mobs, segregation, and denial of the basic and 
 fundamental rights of citizenship;
Whereas, in 2025, the vestiges of those injustices and inequalities 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 themselves with a commitment to the 
 noble ideals on which the United States was founded and have fought 
 courageously 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, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, 
 the Greensboro Four, the Tuskegee Airmen, Prince Rogers Nelson, Recy 
 Taylor, Fred Shuttlesworth, Duke 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, Colin Powell, bell 
 hooks, Bob Moses, Sidney Poitier, Bill Russell, Chief Justice of South 
 Carolina Ernest Finney, Willie Mays, Jr., and James Earl Jones, along 
 with many others, worked against racism to achieve success and to make 
 significant contributions to the economic, 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 individuals deserved, and yet paved the 
 way for future generations 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 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 recognize the heritage and achievements of Black people in 
 the United States;
Whereas Dr. Carter G. Woodson stated, ``We have a wonderful history behind us. . 
 . . If you are unable to demonstrate to the world that you have this 
 record, the world will say to you, `You are not worthy to enjoy the 
 blessings of democracy or anything else.''';
Whereas, since its founding, the United States has imperfectly progressed toward 
 noble goals;
Whereas the history of the United States is the story of people 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 
 National Mall in Washington, District of Columbia: Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the Senate--

    (1) acknowledges that all people of the United States are 
 the recipients of the wealth of history provided by Black 
 culture;

    (2) recognizes the importance of Black History Month as an 
 opportunity to reflect on the complex history of the United 
 States, while remaining hopeful and confident about the path 
 ahead;

    (3) acknowledges the significance of Black History Month as 
 an important opportunity to commemorate the tremendous 
 contributions of African Americans to the history of the United 
 States;

    (4) encourages the celebration of Black History Month to 
 provide a continuing opportunity for all people in the United 
 States to learn from the past and understand the experiences 
 that have shaped the United States; and

    (5) agrees that, while the United States began as a divided 
 country, the United States must--
        (A) honor the contribution of all pioneers in the 
 United States who have helped to ensure the legacy of 
 the great United States; and
        (B) move forward with purpose, united tirelessly as 
 a nation ``indivisible, with liberty and justice for 
 all.''.
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