Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HR307 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	IV
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. RES. 307
5	5	Honoring the life and legacy of Henry Louis Aaron.
6	6	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
7	7	APRIL8, 2025
8	8	Mr. D
9	9	AVIDSCOTTof Georgia (for himself, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia, Mr. CAR-
10	10	TERof Georgia, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. LOUDERMILK, and Mr. THOMPSONof
11	11	Mississippi) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
12	12	Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
13	13	RESOLUTION
14	14	Honoring the life and legacy of Henry Louis Aaron.
15	15	Whereas Henry Louis ‘‘Hank’’ Aaron was born 1 of 8 chil-
16	16	dren on February 5, 1934, to Herbert Aaron, Sr., and
17	17	Estella (Pritchett) Aaron in Mobile, Alabama;
18	18	Whereas Mr. Aaron grew up during the height of Jim Crow
19	19	and segregation and faced racism and discrimination
20	20	from a young age, including from the stands while play-
21	21	ing in the South as a minor league baseball player early
22	22	in his baseball career;
23	23	Whereas Mr. Aaron began his baseball career as a teenager
24	24	in the Negro leagues, first playing for the Prichard Ath-
25	25	letics, then the Mobile Black Bears, before being signed
26	26	by the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American
27	27	League;
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31	31	Whereas, in 1952, Mr. Aaron was signed by the Boston
32	32	Braves, who assigned him to play in the minor league for
33	33	their Northern League farm team, the Eau Claire Bears,
34	34	where he made the Northern League’s All-Star team and
35	35	was unanimously named Rookie of the Year;
36	36	Whereas, in 1953, Mr. Aaron was promoted to play for the
37	37	South Atlantic League affiliate of the Braves, the Jack-
38	38	sonville Braves, as one of the league’s first Black players,
39	39	where he immediately helped the team win the league
40	40	championship and won the South Atlantic League’s Most
41	41	Valuable Player Award;
42	42	Whereas, in 1954, Mr. Aaron was invited to attend spring
43	43	training with the Milwaukee Braves and signed his first
44	44	Major League Baseball contract on the final day of
45	45	Braves spring training, making his Major League Base-
46	46	ball debut against the Cincinnati Reds and hitting his
47	47	first Major League Baseball home run on April 23, 1954;
48	48	Whereas Mr. Aaron won his first batting title in 1956 and
49	49	was voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player in
50	50	1957, helping the Braves win their first pennant in Mil-
51	51	waukee and leading the Braves to a 1957 World Series
52	52	victory against the New York Yankees;
53	53	Whereas, in 1966, Mr. Aaron moved with the Braves to At-
54	54	lanta, Georgia, and went on to play 23 seasons in Major
55	55	League Baseball, all but his final 2 seasons with the
56	56	Braves in Milwaukee and then Atlanta;
57	57	Whereas, on April 4, 1974, Mr. Aaron tied Babe Ruth’s
58	58	home run record by hitting home run number 714 in a
59	59	game against the Cincinnati Reds on his first swing of
60	60	the season;
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64	64	Whereas, on the evening of April 8, 1974, Mr. Aaron made
65	65	history by breaking Babe Ruth’s record when he hit
66	66	home run number 715 against the Los Angeles Dodgers
67	67	at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia,
68	68	cementing his place in history as the Nation’s home run
69	69	king;
70	70	Whereas, during the historic moment, veteran baseball broad-
71	71	caster Vin Scully announced, ‘‘What a marvelous moment
72	72	for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and
73	73	the State of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the
74	74	country and the world. A Black man is getting a stand-
75	75	ing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of
76	76	an all-time baseball idol.’’;
77	77	Whereas Mr. Aaron went on to hit 755 home runs in his ca-
78	78	reer, a home run record that went unbroken for more
79	79	than 30 years, with his final home run coming on July
80	80	20, 1976;
81	81	Whereas, at the time of his passing, Mr. Aaron held the
82	82	Major League Baseball records for the most career runs
83	83	batted in (2,297), extra base hits (1,477), and total bases
84	84	(6,856);
85	85	Whereas, at the time of his passing, Mr. Aaron was 1 of only
86	86	4 players to have at least 17 seasons with 150 or more
87	87	hits, was in second place for most in home runs and at-
88	88	bats (12,364), and was in third place for most games
89	89	played (3,298) and hits (3,771);
90	90	Whereas, in addition to his records, Mr. Aaron achieved nu-
91	91	merous career highlights and awards, including—
92	92	(1) becoming the ninth player to achieve the 3,000
93	93	hit milestone and the first player to achieve both 500
94	94	home runs and 3,000 hits;
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98	98	(2) being a 2-time National League batting cham-
99	99	pion;
100	100	(3) winning the National League’s single-season
101	101	home run title 4 times;
102	102	(4) achieving a career batting average of .305;
103	103	(5) being voted an All-Star in all but his first and
104	104	last seasons; and
105	105	(6) winning 3 Gold Glove awards for his play as a
106	106	right fielder;
107	107	Whereas Mr. Aaron achieved these milestones while bravely
108	108	facing racism at every stage of his historic career, includ-
109	109	ing being barred from hotels where his minor league
110	110	White teammates stayed, receiving many racist letters
111	111	and threats, and even needing protection from law en-
112	112	forcement at games to protect against racist violence or
113	113	harassment;
114	114	Whereas Mr. Aaron accomplished a stellar career without the
115	115	use of steroids or other performance enhancing drugs,
116	116	and played the game of baseball with the highest stand-
117	117	ard of integrity;
118	118	Whereas during his career, Mr. Aaron became a national
119	119	symbol for perseverance by demonstrating athletic great-
120	120	ness and strength while enduring vicious racism and
121	121	hate, helping advance the cause for civil rights and be-
122	122	coming a civic leader in the Black community;
123	123	Whereas, Mr. Aaron became the first Black American to hold
124	124	a senior management position in Major League Baseball
125	125	as a front office executive with the Atlanta Braves, sup-
126	126	ported the National Association for the Advancement of
127	127	Colored People (‘‘NAACP’’), and founded the Chasing
128	128	the Dream Foundation to support underprivileged youth
129	129	through mentorship and financial support;
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133	133	Whereas, in April 1977, the Atlanta Braves retired Mr. Aar-
134	134	on’s Number 44, erected a statue in his honor in 1982,
135	135	and named the address of their second home, Turner
136	136	Field, as 755 Hank Aaron Drive;
137	137	Whereas Mr. Aaron is an integral part of Mobile, Alabama,
138	138	history and has been recognized by the city through the
139	139	construction of a stadium, opening of a museum, and
140	140	naming of a park, in his honor;
141	141	Whereas, in 1982, his first year of eligibility, Mr. Aaron was
142	142	elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 97.8 per-
143	143	cent of the vote, the second-highest tally at the time only
144	144	to Ty Cobb;
145	145	Whereas, on the 25th anniversary of Mr. Aaron’s 715th home
146	146	run, Major League Baseball created the Hank Aaron
147	147	Award, given annually to the players with the best overall
148	148	offensive performances in each league;
149	149	Whereas, in 2002, Mr. Aaron received the Presidential Medal
150	150	of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian award, from
151	151	President George W. Bush, with the citation noting that
152	152	Mr. Aaron ‘‘embodies the true spirit of our Nation’’;
153	153	Whereas, in 2015, Mr. Aaron was an inaugural recipient of
154	154	the Portrait of a Nation Prize from the National Portrait
155	155	Gallery commemorating ‘‘exemplary achievements in the
156	156	fields of civil rights, business, entertainment, science, and
157	157	sports’’;
158	158	Whereas, in 2022, the Library of Congress elected to pre-
159	159	serve the television broadcast of Mr. Aaron’s 715th home
160	160	run within the National Recording Registry as an event
161	161	of great cultural, historical, or aesthetic importance in
162	162	the history of the United States; and
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166	166	Whereas, at the time of his passing, Mr. Aaron was long re-
167	167	nowned for having uplifted the Black community and im-
168	168	proved human relations over his career through his tre-
169	169	mendous display of dignity and long record of achieve-
170	170	ment in the face of racism and hate, cementing his legacy
171	171	as a leading figure for civil rights: Now, therefore, be it
172	172	Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1
173	173	(1) honors the life and legacy of Henry Louis 2
174	174	Aaron for his accomplishments on and off the base-3
175	175	ball field, and for defying racism and breaking down 4
176	176	racial barriers in the fight for equality as one of the 5
177	177	last Major League Baseball All-Stars to have played 6
178	178	in the Negro leagues; 7
179	179	(2) proclaims that Henry Louis Aaron indeed 8
180	180	embodied the true spirit and promise of the Nation, 9
181	181	reflected the best of the determination and persever-10
182	182	ance of the people of the United States, and exem-11
183	183	plified the indomitable will of Black Americans to 12
184	184	overcome impossible odds to achieve greatness in the 13
185	185	face of relentless adversity and racism; and 14
186	186	(3) recognizes the life and legacy of Henry 15
187	187	Louis Aaron as an important figure in the fight for 16
188	188	civil rights, as well as one of the greatest and most 17
189	189	prolific baseball players and professional athletes of 18
190	190	the United States, of all time. 19
191	191	Æ
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