H.Res. 38 — Introduced in House

IV 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 38 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 18, 2013 Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Farr, Mr. Clay, Mr. Honda, Ms. Norton, Ms. Chu, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Cummings, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Speier, Mr. Grijalva, Mrs. Ellmers, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Moran, Mr. Rush, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Costa, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Moore, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Israel, Mr. Watt, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Polis, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Harris, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Clarke, Ms. Edwards, Ms. Waters, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Castor of Florida, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Peters of Michigan, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Chabot, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Michaud, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Terry, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. Payne, Mr. Higgins, Mr. Delaney, Mr. Fortenberry, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Bass, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Long, and Ms. Slaughter) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Recognizing National Emancipation Day, marking the 150th anniversary of the end of slavery in areas of rebellion, and the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation in the struggle for the equal rights and freedoms afforded to all United States citizens. Whereas in 1619, a ship flying the Dutch flag stopped at Old Point Comfort in the Virginia Colony with 20 Africans onboard; Whereas the arrival of these 20 Africans to the Virginia Peninsula marked the beginning of more than 200 years of captivity for Africans in the United States; Whereas President Abraham Lincoln, during the American Civil War and in accordance with the war powers vested to him issued a proclamation on September 22, 1862, declaring that on the first day of January, 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; Whereas the Emancipation Proclamation, as an Executive order, legally emancipated millions of slaves in the States of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, and North Carolina; Whereas for two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation became official, Texas slaves were held in bondage and only after June 19, 1865, when Union Soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, were African-American slaves in that State set free; Whereas, on December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction, was adopted and effectively outlawed slavery in the United States; Whereas the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation was a significant precursor to the adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, also known as the Reconstruction Amendments, adopted between 1865 and 1870, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the National Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 among others; and Whereas slaves and their descendants in the United States have contributed significantly to the foundation, growth, diversity, and leadership of the United States: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives recognizes National Emancipation Day, marking the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the end of slavery in areas of rebellion, and the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation in the struggle for the equal rights and freedoms afforded to all United States citizens.