; Whereas the NAACP has used political pressure, marches, demonstrations, and effective lobbying to serve as the voice, as well as the shield, for minorities in the United States; Whereas after years of fighting segregation in public schools, the NAACP, under the leadership of Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall, won one of its greatest legal victories in the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954); Whereas, in 1955, NAACP member Rosa Parks was arrested and fined for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, an act of courage that would serve as the catalyst for the largest grassroots civil rights movement in the history of the United States; Whereas the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1991; the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the 1993 Motor-Voter Act; the 2002 Help America Vote Act; the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, César E. Chávez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Velásquez, and Dr. Hector P. Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006; and the Fair Housing Act, laws that ensured Government protection for legal victories achieved; Whereas, in 2005, the NAACP launched the Disaster Relief Fund to help hurricane survivors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama to rebuild their lives; Whereas, in the 110th Congress, the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the passage of H. Res. 826, a resolution with resolving clauses that express that the hanging of nooses is a horrible act when used for the purpose of intimidation, that under certain circumstances such an act can be criminal, and that such acts should be investigated thoroughly by Federal authorities and any criminal violations arising from such acts should be vigorously prosecuted