Civil Rights
Mary Landrieu has long been recognized as a champion for Civil Rights across the country. From her early days in the State Legislature to her current role as the leader of Louisiana's Congressional Delegation, Senator Landrieu has fought for the protection of civil right, equal rights and equal opportunity for all Louisianans.
Sennator Landrieu believes that the protection and promotion of fundamental human rights is important throughout Louisiana and the country as a whole. For that reason Senator continues to work to ensure that every family has a right to a quality education, better jobs, and affordable and accessible health care. She has sponsored and supported countless pieces of legislation expanding opportunities for all Americans.
Senenator Landrieu also believes that in order to move forward, we must recognize and learn from mistakes of the past. Because of Senator Landrieu's vision, the United States Senate made history in 2005 when that body apologized to lynching victims and their families for the Senate's failure to enact federal anti-lynching legislation during the first part of the 20th century, when nearly 5,000 Americans were documented as having been lynched.
In 2008, the Senate passed as part of a package of bills that included the Servitude and Emancipation Archival Research Clearing House (SEARCH) Act, which was authored by Senator Landrieu. The legislation calls on the Archivist of the United States to establish an electronically searchable national database within the National Archives and Records Administration to house historic records of servitude, emancipation, and post-Civil War reconstruction. Because of slavery in the United States, this information is almost impossible to find in common registers and census records. Senator Landrieu first introduced the SEARCH Act in 2004.
Also in 2008, the Senate passed the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act. Senator Landrieu was a cosponsor of the legislation, which authorizes $13.5 million for the Justice Department’s prosecution of unsolved Civil Rights-era murders and strengthens the coordination between federal, state and local law enforcement to solve such crimes. The bill adds resources for the Justice Department to more effectively investigate and prosecute unsolved cases involving racially-motivated killings that took place before January 1, 1970. Senator Landrieu continues to support appropriations and funding for this vital program to ensure that the Department of Justice continues to investigate and prosecute these crimes.
In 2007, Congress passed a bill authored by Senator Landrieu and then-Senator Barack Obama to name the great hall in the Capitol Visitors Center (CVC) “Emancipation Hall.” The CVC is the Capitols new expansion space, and the Senators believed it was fitting to name the 22,000-square-foot CVC main hall in honor of the slaves who worked to build the Capitol.
Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Senator Landrieu has made it a priority to secure federal funding and low-interest loans for the recovery of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) along Gulf Coast. She included language in a 2006 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill to lower the interest rates and reduce loan fees for the Department of Education's HBCU Capital Financing Program. This measure removed a five-to-ten percent escrow requirement and cut the loan fee in half, from two percent to one percent. This language applied exclusively to Gulf Coast schools and lasted for a one-year period. Dillard University closed on a $160 million low-interest loan in May 2007, saving the school about $110 million over the 30-year life of the loan. Xavier University and Southern University at New Orleans also closed on low-interest loans. Senator Landrieu then secured $30 million in supplemental spending to help reconstruct Hurricane Katrina- and Rita-impacted higher education institutions. Dillard, Southern and Xavier universities each received direct appropriations. This funding was in addition to a $17.8 million appropriation she secured in 2006 for Katrina and Rita-impacted HBCUs.
In 2005, Congress passed a Landrieu bill to authorize a memorial in New Orleans for 19th Century African American Soldiers, or the Buffalo Soldiers, who served in the Army’s all-African American regiments in the years following the Civil War. It is believed the term was first coined by Native Americans out of respect for the soldiers' bravery and valor as well as their tireless marching across the American frontier. Two of the four regiments – the 9th Calvary Regiment and the 25th Infantry Regiment – were raised in New Orleans, with a majority of troops coming from the surrounding area. Despite suffering some of the worst deprivation known to the American military, Buffalo Soldiers had the lowest desertion rates in the Army. Senator Landrieu is currently working to fund the memorial though the Appropriations process.
Voter Rights and Protection
As a long time advocate for voting rights, Senator Landrieu, stood with her colleagues to introduce the Voting Rights Act Reauthorization, which extends the expiring provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for another 25 years. She also cosponsored an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Bill, which provides $30 million for Federal election assistance for those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, Congressman Davis introduced the Displaced Citizens Voter Protection Act of 2005 (H.R. 3437). Senator Russ Feingold introduced companion legislation in the Senate (S. 1867) soon thereafter, of which Senator Landrieu is a cosponsor. The bill allows displaced residents from the Gulf Coast region who are temporarily located in other states to maintain their voting privileges in their home state for federal elections through the 2008 election cycle.
Senator Landrieu has also taken this message to the Louisiana state legislature and urged lawmakers to help protect the state voting rights of residents displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the subsequent levee breaks.
Hate Crimes Legislation
In 2009, Senator Landrieu co-sponsored and subsequently voted for The Mathew Shepard Hate Crimes Act. This landmark legislation, passed in October 28, 2009, expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. In addition, the legislation provides Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes.
"In passing this bill, we have provided law enforcement officers with the tools and resources to help victims receive the justice they deserve. Hate crime offenders must be kept off our streets and out of our neighborhoods as we rebuild lives affected by heinous acts of physical violence."
As the face of Hate Crimes has changed throughout the 21st Century Senator Landrieu has continued to work to ensure that all persons feel safe and protected from crimes motivated by prejudice. "Violent crime based on race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation is one of the great ills facing American society and can often destroy the very fabric that holds our communities together.
Resolution Apologizing for Slavery
In 2009, in honor of Juneteenth or Freedom Day, Senator Landrieu co-sponsored a Senate resolution that apologized for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans. The resolution acknowledged the fundamental injustice and cruelty of slavery and Jim Crow laws; apologized to African-Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors; and called on all Americans to work toward eliminating racial prejudices, injustices and discrimination from our society.
"The enslavement and segregation of African Americans is a sad chapter in American history," Senator Landrieu said. "Although our society and government has made significant strides in advancing civil rights, our current progress does not correct the mistakes of our past. A full apology is not only necessary, but long overdue. This resolution helps ensure that we never again subject people of any race to the cruelty and brutality that African Americans endured throughout much of our nation's history."
Anti-Lynching Resolution
In more than 200 years, the United States Senate has rarely found an occasion to apologize. But through the work of Senator Landrieu, the body apologized to lynching victims and their families for the Senate's failure to enact federal anti-lynching legislation during the first part of the 20th century. Read More >>
Remembering Coretta Scott King
Joining an official Congressional Delegation, Senator Landrieu attended the funeral services of Civil Rights Leader Coretta Scott King in Lithonia, Ga. on February 7, 2006.
Remembering Rosa Parks
Senator Landrieu was one of more than 30,000 Americans who came to the Rotunda of the United States Capitol Building this morning to pay their final respects to the late Civil Rights heroine, Rosa Parks. Ms. Parks is the first woman and only second African American to be honored by lying in state in the Rotunda.