New York J 489: Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma-to-Montgomery march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, which served as a catalyst for passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act

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J00489 Summary:

BILL NOJ00489 

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SAME ASNo Same As

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SPONSORSTEWART-COUSINS

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COSPNSRADDABBO, ASHBY, BAILEY, BASKIN, BORRELLO, BRISPORT, BROUK, BYNOE, CANZONERI-FITZPATRICK, CHAN,
 CLEARE, COMRIE, COONEY, FAHY, FELDER, FERNANDEZ, GALLIVAN, GIANARIS, GONZALEZ, GOUNARDES, GRIFFO,
 HARCKHAM, HELMING, HINCHEY, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, KRUEGER, LANZA, LIU, MARTINEZ,
 MARTINS, MATTERA, MAY, MAYER, MURRAY, MYRIE, OBERACKER, O'MARA, ORTT, PALUMBO, PARKER, PERSAUD,
 RAMOS, RHOADS, RIVERA, ROLISON, RYAN C, RYAN S, SALAZAR, SANDERS, SCARCELLA-SPANTON, SEPULVEDA,
 SERRANO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY, STEC, TEDISCO, WALCZYK, WEBB, WEBER, WEIK

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MLTSPNSR

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Go to top J00489 Actions:

BILL NOJ00489 

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03/11/2025REFERRED TO FINANCE

03/11/2025ADOPTED

Go to topJ00489 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topJ00489 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topJ00489 Text:

Senate Resolution No. 489

BY: Senator STEWART-COUSINS

 COMMEMORATING the 60th Anniversary of Bloody
 Sunday and the Selma-to-Montgomery march across the
 Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, which served
 as a catalyst for passage of the 1965 Voting Rights
 Act

 WHEREAS, The Selma to Montgomery march was part of a series of civil
rights protests that occurred in 1965 in Alabama, a state which was
deeply entrenched in racist policies, in an effort to register black
voters in the South; and

 WHEREAS, On March 7, 1965, some 600 people assembled at a downtown
church, knelt briefly in prayer, and began walking silently, two-by-two
through the city streets; protestors marching the 54-mile route from
Selma to the state capital of Montgomery were confronted with deadly
violence; and

 WHEREAS, With Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) leading the demonstration, and John Lewis, Chairman of
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), at his side, the
marchers were stopped as they were leaving Selma, at the end of the
Edmund Pettus Bridge, by some 150 Alabama state troopers, sheriff 's
deputies, and white vigilante groups, who ordered the demonstrators to
disperse; and

 WHEREAS, One minute and five seconds after a two-minute warning was
announced, the troops advanced, wielding clubs, bullwhips, and tear gas;
John Lewis was one of 58 people treated for injuries at the local
hospital; less than one week later, John Lewis recounted the attack on
the marchers during a Federal hearing at which the demonstrators sought
protection for a full-scale march to Montgomery; and

 WHEREAS, The day is remembered in history as "Bloody Sunday," when
footage of the violence collectively shocked the nation and galvanized
the fight against racial injustice; and

 WHEREAS, As the world watched, the protesters under the protection
of federalized National Guard troops finally achieved their goal,
walking around the clock for three days to reach Montgomery, Alabama;
the historic march, and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s participation in it,
raised awareness of the difficulties faced by black voters, and the need
for a national Voting Rights Act; and

 WHEREAS, Even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbade
discrimination in voting on the basis of race, efforts by civil rights
organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC)
and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to register
black voters were met with fierce resistance in southern states such as
Alabama; and

 WHEREAS, On March 17, 1965, as the Selma-to-Montgomery marchers
fought for the right to carry out their protest, President Lyndon
Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress, calling for federal

voting rights legislation to protect African Americans from barriers
that prevented them from voting; and

 WHEREAS, That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
which guaranteed the right to vote, first awarded by the 15th Amendment,
to all African Americans; and

 WHEREAS, Specifically, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy
tests as a requirement for voting, mandated federal oversight of voter
registration in areas where tests had previously been used and gave the
U.S. attorney general the duty of challenging the use of poll taxes for
state and local elections; an