[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1253 Engrossed in House (EH)]

<DOC>
H. Res. 1253

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                     December 10, 2020.
Whereas Joseph Hayne Rainey was born enslaved on June 21, 1832, in Georgetown, 
        South Carolina;
Whereas South Carolina prohibited the education of Black Americans, and instead 
        of a formal education, Joseph H. Rainey learned the barbering trade from 
        his father, Edward Rainey;
Whereas Edward Rainey used profits from his work as a barber to buy his and his 
        family's freedom in the early 1840's;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey eventually moved with his family to Charleston, South 
        Carolina;
Whereas in 1859, Joseph H. Rainey married his wife, Susan, with whom he had 
        three children, Joseph, Herbert, and Olive;
Whereas in 1861, Joseph H. Rainey was conscripted by the Confederate Army and 
        worked as a ship's steward aboard a Confederate vessel which secretly 
        carried goods to the Union Navy;
Whereas during the Civil War, in 1862, Joseph H. Rainey and his wife and family 
        escaped to Bermuda, a British colony that had abolished slavery in 1834, 
        where he undertook successful entrepreneurial endeavors with his wife;
Whereas in 1866 Joseph Rainey and his family moved back to Charleston, South 
        Carolina after the Civil War had ended;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey co-founded the state Republican Party and represented 
        Georgetown, South Carolina on the Party's central committee;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey participated in the South Carolina State constitutional 
        convention in 1868;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey won election to the House of Representatives in 1870 
        and was the first African American to serve in the House of 
        Representatives;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey was sworn in as a member of the House of 
        Representatives on December 12, 1870, to represent the 1st District of 
        South Carolina in the Forty-First Congress;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey became the first African American to preside over the 
        House of Representatives on April 29, 1874;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey served with distinction on several committees, 
        including the Committee on Freedmen's Affairs, the committee handling 
        all legislation concerning formerly enslaved people;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey implored Congress to provide more resources for 
        education, calling for a federal, publicly funded school system to 
        develop the ``future lawmakers and rulers of our country'';
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey spoke on the House floor in support of a $1 million 
        appropriation to protect voting rights in the South, which was later 
        approved;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey called for decisive federal action to end widespread 
        violence in the former Confederacy, advocating for passage of the Ku 
        Klux Klan Act of 1871;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey spoke extensively on the floor of the House of 
        Representatives about discrimination he faced as a sitting Member of 
        Congress, advocating for a civil rights act to end discrimination on 
        juries, in schools, on transportation, and in public accommodations;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey departed the House of Representatives on March 3, 1879, 
        following electoral backlash against Reconstruction;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey was the longest-serving African American Member of 
        Congress during the Reconstruction period;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey was appointed a special agent of the United States 
        Department of the Treasury in South Carolina in 1879 following his 
        Congressional service;
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey is now commemorated in the United States Capitol in an 
        exhibit unveiled on December 4, 2020, by the Speaker of the House, 
        highlighting his legacy and the foundation he laid for generations of 
        lawmakers; and
Whereas the Historian and the Clerk of the House of Representatives published a 
        historical record in September 2020 entitled ```We Are in Earnest for 
        Our Rights': Rainey and the Struggle for Reconstruction'', chronicling 
        the legacy of Representative Joseph Rainey: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That room H-150 of the United States Capitol is designated as 
``The Joseph H. Rainey Room'' to honor the historic life, career, and legacy of 
Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina on the 150th anniversary of his 
seating as a member of the House of Representatives.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.