[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 208 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]


        H.Con.Res.208
                                     Agreed to November 18, 2005        

                       One Hundred Ninth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
            the fourth day of January, two thousand and five


                          Concurrent Resolution

Whereas most historians date the beginning of the modern-day Civil 
  Rights Movement in the United States to December 1, 1955;

Whereas December 1, 1955, is the date of Rosa Louise Parks' refusal to 
  give up her bus seat to a white man and her subsequent arrest;

Whereas Rosa Louise Parks was born on February 4, 1913, as Rosa Louise 
  McCauley to James and Leona McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama;

Whereas Rosa Louise 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's High School;

Whereas on December 18, 1932, Rosa Louise McCauley married Raymond 
  Parks and the two 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 served as an active member and 
  Rosa served as a secretary and youth leader;

Whereas on December 1, 1955, Rosa Louise 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 Louise 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 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 the years following the Montgomery bus boycott, Rosa Louise 
  Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1957, and continued her civil 
  rights work through efforts that included working in the office of 
  Congressman John Conyers, Jr., from 1965 until 1988, and starting the 
  Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, a nonprofit 
  501(c)(3) that motivates youth to reach their highest potential, in 
  1987;

Whereas Rosa Louise Parks has been commended for her work in the realm 
  of civil rights with such recognitions as the NAACP's Springarn Medal 
  in 1979, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Nonviolent Peace Prize in 1980, 
  the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, and the Congressional Gold 
  Medal in 1999; and

Whereas in 2005, the year marking the 50th anniversary of Rosa Louise 
  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: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
        (1) recognizes and celebrates the 50th anniversary of Rosa 
    Louise Parks' refusal to give up her seat on the bus and the 
    subsequent desegregation of American society;
        (2) encourages the people of the United States to recognize and 
    celebrate this anniversary and the subsequent legal victories that 
    sought to eradicate segregation in all of American society; and
        (3) endeavors to work with the same courage, dignity, and 
    determination exemplified by civil rights pioneer, Rosa Louise 
    Parks, to address modern-day inequalities and injustice.
  Attest:

                                 Clerk of the House of Representatives.

  Attest:

                                               Secretary of the Senate.