Recognizing 50th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

RECOGNIZING 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT -- (House of Representatives - December 06, 2005)

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 273)

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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 273, introduced by the distinguished gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers). This bill would recognize the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott.

On December 1, 1955, a young woman named Rosa Parks took a small act of defiance and sparked a massive response that changed our society forever. The history bears retelling: Montgomery, Alabama enforced a policy of racial segregation on its public transit system, black passengers in the back, whites in the front. When the front of the bus reached full capacity, the driver could instruct African American passengers to yield their seats to white riders.

On that fateful day, Rosa Parks refused to yield. She was physically and emotionally drained of the decades of intimidation, harassment, and discrimination of Alabama's African American population.

From that moment on, encouraged by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., a city-wide boycott of the public transit system erupted. The boycott was extremely effective, drastically reducing ridership on the transit system. Instead of riding buses, boycotters walked, rode bicycles, or joined car pools to get to work and to other destinations. Across the Nation, African American churches raised money to buy new shoes to replace the tattered footwear of boycotters helping to fuel the fight against Jim Crow laws.

Finally, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Alabama's racial segregation laws for public transit were unconstitutional, a clear victory for the boycotters. This led to a new city ordinance that allowed African American bus passengers to sit anywhere they pleased on any bus in the city.

Rev. Martin Luther King capped off the news with a speech to encourage acceptance of the decision. The boycott resulted in the U.S. civil rights movement receiving one of its first accomplishments and gave Martin Luther King the national attention that would make him one of the prime civil rights leaders in our history.

I urge all Members to come together and recognize this momentous event in our Nation's history by adopting H. Con. Res. 273.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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