Declares that the House of Representatives honors the life and accomplishments of Rosa Parks and expresses its condolences on her passing.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 512 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 512
Honoring the life and accomplishments of Rosa Parks and expressing
condolences on her passing.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 26, 2005
Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan (for herself, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Cooper, Mr.
McDermott, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Lee, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Murphy,
Mr. Holt, Mrs. Maloney, Ms. McCollum of Minnesota, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Van
Hollen, Ms. Harman, Ms. Watson, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Moran of Virginia,
Mr. Sanders, Mr. Higgins, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr.
Sherman, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Honda,
Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Davis of Alabama, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Blumenauer,
Mr. Rothman, Ms. Berkley, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr.
Case, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Scott of Georgia, Mr. Dingell, Mr.
Farr, and Ms. Carson) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Honoring the life and accomplishments of Rosa Parks and expressing
condolences on her passing.
Whereas Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, as Rosa Louise McCauley, to
James and Leona McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama;
Whereas her moral clarity and quiet dignity shaped and inspired the Civil Rights
Movement in the United States over the last half-century;
Whereas Rosa Parks was educated in Pine Level, Alabama, until the age of 11,
when she enrolled in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls and then
went on to attend the Alabama State Teachers College High School;
Whereas on December 18, 1932, Rosa Louise McCauley married Raymond Parks and
settled in Montgomery, Alabama;
Whereas together, Raymond and Rosa Parks worked in the Montgomery, Alabama,
branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), where Raymond Parks served as an active member and Rosa Parks
served as a secretary and youth leader;
Whereas on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her
seat in the ``colored'' section of the bus to a white man on the orders
of the bus driver because the ``white'' section was full;
Whereas the arrest of Rosa Parks led African Americans and others to boycott the
Montgomery city bus line until the buses in Montgomery were
desegregated;
Whereas the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott encouraged other courageous people
across the United States to organize in protest and demand equal rights
for all;
Whereas most historians date the beginning of the modern-day Civil Rights
Movement in the United States to December 1, 1955;
Whereas the fearless acts of civil disobedience displayed by Rosa Louise Parks
and others resulted in a legal action challenging Montgomery's
segregated public transportation system, which subsequently led to the
United States Supreme Court, on November 13, 1956, affirming a district
court decision that held that Montgomery segregation codes deny and
deprive African Americans of the equal protection of the laws (352 U.S.
903);
Whereas in 1957, Rosa Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan;
Whereas in 1965, United States Representative John Conyers hired Rosa Parks as a
member of his staff, where she worked in various administrative jobs for
23 years and retired in 1988 at age 75;
Whereas Rosa Parks continued her civil rights work by starting the Rosa and
Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in 1987, a nonprofit
501(c)(3) that motivates youth to reach their highest potential;
Whereas the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development offers
educational programs for young people including two signature programs:
first, Pathways to Freedom, a 21-day program that introduces students to
the Underground Railroad and the civil rights movement with a freedom
ride across the United States and Canada, tracing the underground
railroad into civil rights and second, Learning Centers and Senior
Citizens, a program that partners young people with senior citizens
where the young help the senior citizens develop their computer skills
and senior citizens mentor the young;
Whereas Rosa Parks has been commended for her work in the realm of civil rights
with such recognitions as the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, the Martin Luther
King, Jr., Nonviolent Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
and the Congressional Gold Medal;
Whereas Time magazine named Rosa Parks one of the ``100 most influential people
of the 20th century'', The Henry Ford Museum in Michigan bought and
exhibited the bus on which she was arrested, and the Rosa Parks Library
and Museum opened in Montgomery in 2000;
Whereas in 2005, the year marking the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks' refusal to
give up her seat on the bus, we recognize the courage, dignity, and
determination displayed by Rosa Louise Parks as she confronted injustice
and inequality; and
Whereas in 1988 Rosa Parks said: ``I am leaving this legacy to all of you. . .
to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our
lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without
courage and inspiration, dreams will die--the dream of freedom and
peace.'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives honors the life and
accomplishments of Rosa Parks and expresses its condolences on her
passing.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Government Reform.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line