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