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COMMEMORATING 56TH ANNIVERSARY OF BLOODY SUNDAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Torres of New York). Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2021, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is my great honor that I will be introducing members of the Congressional Black Caucus for this Special Order, including the distinguished chair, who has led us to understand our power-hour message. I thank the distinguished CBC chair, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty.
As we begin to do a Special Order on Bloody Sunday and a tribute to the honorable late John Robert Lewis, who was and continues to be the conscience of the Congress, it is my privilege to yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great honor to thank our co-
chair, the gentlewoman from Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, the CBC's parliamentarian, a true constitutional scholar, and someone who is fighting for us every day to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, and her co-anchor, Congressman Ritchie Torres, from New York, but he would say the Bronx. Tonight, he is in the Speaker's chair.
I am very honored to have as our guest co-anchor today Congresswoman Terri Sewell, another scholar, another lawyer, a person who has led us every year across that bridge. She is known as a daughter of Selma.
Tonight is about Our Power, Our Message. As we also celebrate Women's History Month and International Women's Day, it is fitting that our anchors tonight are women.
I rise this evening for the Congressional Black Caucus' Special Order hour, the first-annual John Lewis Special Order hour, on the 56th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march, and to echo Our Power, Our Message. You will hear that a lot tonight.
This is a solemn moment and gives us the opportunity to speak directly, Mr. Speaker, to the American people and reflect on the critical importance of voting and voting rights in our country and on why we must do everything in our power to fight attempts to curb voting participation and continue to promote and advance voting rights.
Fifty-six years ago, our late colleague Congressman John Lewis, a true American hero, alongside hundreds of others, marched and risked his life to protect the voice of the many. His courage, and that of so many others, brought us the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a law passed by a bipartisan Congress whose conscience had been shocked awake.
These Members of the Congress, Republicans and Democrats, could no longer turn their eyes from the brutality that they witnessed on television at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. They knew it was time in history to come together for justice against all the injustices.
Without the Voting Rights Act, Mr. Speaker, our democracy would be in name only.
We are here tonight at another inflection point in this country, where we shall decide to follow the forces of partisanship, divisiveness, and anger, or we will do the right thing. I am so pleased to be here today for that right thing. That right thing is for us to do good and to make good trouble because history will judge all of us on our good trouble.
Let me end by saying, tonight, the Congressional Black Caucus stands here to remind you, as our late great brother, friend, and colleague John Lewis said:
I say to the people here today, we must be prepared because if you believe in something, if you believe in something, you have to go for it. As individuals, we may not live to see the end.
Tonight, through our message, the Congressional Black Caucus will continue his fight in his name and the names of all others who laid the foundation for the work we do. I call on all Members to do the right thing because it is always the right time to do what is right.
Let's pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and H.R. 1 for the people.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Ohio for setting just the right tone of why members of the Congressional Black Caucus are on the floor today.
Let me acknowledge the gentleman from New York, who is now Speaker pro tempore, who is my co-anchor. How appropriate for him to be presiding over this Special Order dealing with the deeply embedded segregationist, violent period when we were fighting for voting rights.
Isn't it interesting that we are now in the midst of fighting for the passage of H.R. 1, but we are in the midst of a battle to ensure the passage of H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act?
Let me just briefly set the tone, as my members continue to do, and to tell the story. Maybe many of us may not know the significance. I realize that there has been some discussion on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which I have crossed now for almost 30 years during Bloody Sunday, which was, in fact, yesterday, March 7.
It was named after Edmund Pettus. Isn't it interesting that it was named more than three decades after his death? They wanted to honor a symbol of the Confederacy. They wanted to honor someone who was soaked in the blood and the anguish of slavery.
This river, the Alabama River, was a key route for the slave plantation and cotton economy during slavery. That is what the Edmund Pettus Bridge was, a key route for the cotton economy during slavery and Reconstruction. The route for the slave plantation and cotton economy crossed this bridge during our darkest hour.
That is who the bridge is named after, and this is the bridge that the foot soldiers Martin King, Hosea Williams, Andy Young, John Robert Lewis, Albert Turner, and many others crossed.
This 56th commemoration is extremely important today, and it is to recognize that the fight and struggle still goes. It is to recognize that this was not, in fact, a simple process. This was not a circumstance where this was an easy task. This was a dark moment.
It was based on the courage of those who were willing to lose their life. It was based on the courage of these men and women and little children as young as 8 years old. It was based on the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, in 1964, who had gone to one of the meetings and was actually shot by a law enforcement officer.
Tonight, this is a serious moment in history. This is a moment in history that the Congressional Black Caucus is more than able to present to the American people. Listen to us over these 60 minutes as we tell the story of how imperative it is to ensure that the Voter Advancement Act named after John Robert Lewis is actually passed.
Let me just give you the words of John Robert Lewis as we also pay tribute to him. John Lewis said recently: ``My philosophy is very simple. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, say something, do something. Get in trouble, good trouble.''
Recently, of course, preceding his death, this is something we are always reminded of. We can see John Lewis, who gave all that he could so that we, in America, African Americans, Black Americans, and all people, could have the precious right to vote.
Tonight, you will hear these stories in tribute to him, in tribute to all those whose lives were lost in that battle, that their memory never be forgotten, their fight never be forgotten. The Congressional Black Caucus makes them a promise that it will not.
Mr. Speaker, fifty-six years ago, in Selma, Alabama, hundreds of heroic souls risked their lives for freedom and to secure the right to vote for all Americans by their participation in marches for voting rights on ``Bloody Sunday,'' ``Turnaround Tuesday,'' or the final, completed march from Selma to Montgomery.
Those ``foot soldiers'' of Selma, who were led by our beloved colleague, the late Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, were brave and determined men and women, boys and girls, persons of all races and creeds, who loved their country so much that they were willing to risk their lives to make it better, and to bring it even closer to its founding ideals.
The foot soldiers marched because they believed that all persons have dignity and the right to equal treatment under the law, and in the making of the laws, which is the fundamental essence of the right to vote.
On March 15, 1965, before a joint session of the Congress and the eyes of the nation, President Lyndon Johnson explained to the nation the significance of ``Bloody Sunday'':
I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy. . . .
At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom.
So it was at Lexington and Concord.
So it was a century ago at Appomattox.
So it was last week in Selma, Alabama.
The previous Sunday, March 7, 1965, more than 600 civil rights demonstrators, including our beloved colleague, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia whose skull was battered by police batons, were brutally attacked by state and local police at the Edmund Pettus Bridge as they marched from Selma to Montgomery in support of the right to vote.
``Bloody Sunday'' was a defining moment in American history because it crystallized for the nation the necessity of enacting a strong and effective federal law to protect the right to vote of every American.
No one who witnessed the violence and brutality suffered by the foot soldiers for justice who gathered at the Edmund Pettus Bridge will ever forget it; the images are deeply seared in the American memory and experience.
Mr. Speaker, what is so moving, heroic, and awe-inspiring is that the foot soldiers of Selma faced their heavily armed adversaries fortified only by their love for their country and for each other and their audacious faith in a righteous cause.
The example set by the foot soldiers of Selma showed everyone, here in America and around the world, that there is no force on earth as powerful as an idea whose time has come.
These great but nameless persons won the Battle of Selma and helped redeem the greatest nation on earth.
But we should not forget that the victory came at great cost and that many good and dear persons lost their lives to win for others the right to vote.
Men like Jimmy Lee Jackson, who was shot by Alabama state trooper as he tried to protect his mother and grandmother from being beaten for participating in a peaceful voting rights march in Marion, Alabama.
Women like Viola Liuzzo, a housewife and mother of five, who had journeyed to Selma from Detroit to join the protests after witnessing on television the events at Edmund Pettus Bridge on ``Bloody Sunday'' and who was shot and killed by Klansmen while driving back from a trip shuttling fellow voting rights marchers to the Montgomery airport.
Persons of faith, goodwill, and non-violence like the Reverend James Reeb of Boston, a minister from Boston who heeded the call of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to come to Selma and who succumbed to the head injuries he suffered at the hands of his white supremacists attackers on March 9, two days after
``Bloody Sunday.''
Mr. Speaker, in the face of unspeakable hostility, violence, brutality, and hatred, the foot soldiers of Selma would not be deterred--would not be moved--would not be turned around.
They kept their eyes on the prize and held on.
And help came the very next week when President Johnson announced to the Nation that he would send to Congress for immediate action a law designed to eliminate illegal barriers to the right to vote by striking down ``restrictions to voting in all elections--Federal, State, and local--which have been used to deny Negroes the right to vote.''
On August 6, 1965, that legislation--the Voting Rights Act of 1965--
was signed into law by President Johnson and for the next 48 years did more to expand our democracy and empower racial and language minorities than any act of government since the Emancipation Proclamation and adoption of the Civil War Amendments.
But our work is not done; the dreams of Dr. King and of all those who gave their lives in the struggle for justice are not behind us but still before us.
Mr. Speaker, in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, which severely crippled the Voting Rights Act, we have seen many states across our nation move to enact legislation designed to limit the ability of women, the elderly, and racial and language minorities to exercise their right to vote.
To honor the memory of the foot soldiers of Selma, we must rededicate ourselves to a great task remaining before us--to repair the damage done to the Voting Rights Act by working to pass legislation like H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019, introduced in the 116th Congress, which I was proud to be one of the original co-sponsors.
As I have stated many times, the 1965 Voting Rights Act is no ordinary piece of legislation.
For millions of Americans, and for many in Congress, it is sacred treasure, earned by the sweat and toil and tears and blood of ordinary Americans who showed the world it was possible to accomplish extraordinary things.
As we remember and honor the foot soldiers of Selma, let us resolve also to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965 so that the Voting Rights Act remains a lasting monument to their heroism and devotion to the country they loved.
Our leader on this, who has taken up the mantle, who has worked with John Robert Lewis, is, how should I say, a sister of the South, of Alabama, a scholar and a lawyer, but with a passion and a heart for voting rights, for justice. And, yes, as we both have said, our beloved brother, John Robert Lewis, has a special place in our hearts. I know that he has a special place in mine, and he has a special place in the heart of the distinguished gentlewoman from Alabama, Terri Sewell.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).
Ms. SEWELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Joyce Beatty.
I would like to thank the original anchors of tonight's and every CBC Special Order hour, the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) and the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres). I thank them for relinquishing to me, just for tonight's Special Order hour, the opportunity to be a guest anchor.
Yesterday, we commemorated the 56th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, an event in American history where ordinary Americans in my hometown of Selma, Alabama, brought about extraordinary social change as they peacefully demonstrated for the equal right to vote.
Each year, those foot soldiers would return to the Edmund Pettus Bridge to seek renewal, rededication, recommitment to the cause for which they fought, the cause of justice and equality. These heroes, known and unknown, risked their very lives for the opportunity of all Americans to vote.
{time} 2030
So many people got to read about it in their history books. I got to live it, being a native of Selma, Alabama, a daughter of Selma, but also a lifetime member of the historic Brown Chapel AME Church, where those marchers gathered peacefully before they walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Yesterday was a solemn day. I did so walking across that bridge without John Lewis. Congressman Lewis is known to so many as an icon. But when you grow up in Selma, Alabama, he is more than just that. He was our hero. Only in America could a little, Black girl grow up and watch her hero, year after year after year, always during Bloody Sunday, come back to Selma to remind the world that his cause, their cause, was not over yet.
We know that progress is elusive. We know that every generation must fight and fight again for the progress that was made by the previous generation, and they must advance it as well.
When I look at John Lewis on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, I can't help but be reminded of the very young John Lewis who, 56 years ago, carried a backpack.
Now, you know, madam co-anchor, that in that backpack, he had an apple, he had a toothbrush, and he had a Bible. He said that he wanted to be prepared to spend the night in jail.
He and Hosea Williams and 600 marchers peacefully marched for the right to vote. But they were met on that bridge by a sea of Alabama State Troopers who told them that they had 5 minutes to disperse--5 minutes to disperse. They wanted to gather and pray. They almost started to kneel, but they didn't have time to do that, because the very people whose job it was to protect and serve the people were the ones who beat them with billy clubs while riding horseback and gassed them.
When I think about John Lewis, it is this iconic picture of John being beaten at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
He wasn't alone. So many people that people don't know about, like Amelia Boynton Robinson, who I had the great fortune, during the 215th State of the Union, on the 100th anniversary, to be my special guest. Ms. Boynton, not quite as known as John Lewis, but nevertheless a foot soldier for justice, beaten and battered on a bridge. As John would say, he shed and they shed a little blood on a bridge for America to live up to its promise, its promise of equality and justice for all.
Old battles have become new again, and John knew that that progress was elusive. He started a pilgrimage, congressional bipartisan pilgrimage. He wanted his colleagues in Congress to experience walking in his footsteps through Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma. Year after year we would march; year after year we would march.
Faith in politics. I know so many people who will be speaking tonight will be pictured right here on this amazing photo. People like Steny Hoyer, Barbara Lee, Sheila Jackson Lee, so many would come year after year with John.
Why was it important for us to come? It was important, because as John said, we must never forget.
When I got the news that John passed--you know, we knew that pancreatic cancer, stage 4, was a kiss of death, but we also knew if anyone could fight it, it would be John. I can remember sitting in my bedroom, as I heard about John's death, having spoken to him only 2 weeks prior, my heart was heavy. But at the same time, my spirit soared, because I knew that we had an opportunity to walk among an angel right here on Earth, that he gave us the roadmap, he told us that we must never give up, that we must never give in, that we have to keep the faith.
He believed, more than anything, that America's best days were ahead of it. It is now incumbent upon us to pick up that baton and to carry it to the next leg.
Who would have ever thought when I was a child sitting in Brown Chapel, singing in the choir, singing in the choir on those commemorative Bloody Sundays, with Coretta Scott King there, Juanita Abernathy there, C. T. Vivian there, Joseph Lowery there, and John Lewis there--but one, by one, by one, they are now gone. And we, who are their beneficiaries, must pick up their cause. Their cause must become our cause, too.
I never would have thought that 56 years would pass, and I, as Alabama's first Black Congresswoman, would have to seek congressional action in order to enforce the very bill that John Lewis and so many unknown Americans bludgeoned on a bridge in Selma--that we, Congress Members, must stand up to the task.
The Shelby v. Holder decision struck down section 4. But H.R. 4, the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, would fully restore the protections of the Voting Rights Act.
What a befitting tribute to John Robert Lewis, the Boy from Troy, that we not only walk the walk and talk the talk, but that we pick up that mantle and we pass H.R. 4.
Now, I know we are going to get it through the House. I know that. I know that my colleagues are committed. I also know that the Biden-
Harris administration wants to sign a bill that will put section 4 back into the Voting Rights Act.
What I am not sure is if we can get enough of our Republican colleagues--so many of whom came on those pilgrimages with John Lewis, walked side by side in a bipartisan effort to show the world that what happened on those sacred places in my district, Birmingham--to visit the 16th Street Baptist Church where the four little girls were killed, to see in Montgomery the very spot where Rosa Parks could not sit on a bus, to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. It was not just a photo op, I pray, but rather a call to action that now they, too, can pay it forward.
When we file H.R. 4, it will be after we have prepared, had an evidentiary hearing and all the evidence. We will be informed. That formula will be informed by the most egregious of actors, because we know it has to be narrowly tailored. We know that we can't just submit the same formula, and we won't. Because here is what is important: What is important is Federal oversight, as we have seen State after State recently impose more egregious, restrictive photo I.D. laws and restrictive barriers to voting.
I am honored today to be a part of this tribute to John Lewis. I know so many want to speak. I am just going to say in closing, John is always in our midst, because John's call to action was very familiar to all of us. He told us that ours was not a struggle of one day, not even one lifetime. He told us that ours was a struggle for a cause greater than us and that that beloved community was possible if people of goodwill, Black and White, Republican and Democrat, Christian and all the religions, if we would just do the right thing, that when we see such injustice, we have to stand up and fight it out.
Can't you hear him? I can. Never give up. Never give in. Get into some good trouble, necessary trouble, and we look forward to doing that for John Robert Lewis.
Mr. Speaker, I'm Congresswoman Terri Sewell and I proudly represent Alabama's Seventh District--the Civil Rights District--which includes the historic cities of Birmingham, Montgomery and my hometown of Selma.
It's an honor for me to guest anchor with Sheila Jackson Lee tonight. I am honored to participate in the First Annual John Lewis Good Trouble Special Order Hour on the heels of the 56th Anniversary of the Bloody Sunday March.
In 2020 we mourned the loss of a giant: the late, great Congressman John Lewis; my dear friend and mentor.
Though I am reminded daily of the sacrifices made by John and the known and unknown foot soldiers on that bridge 56 years ago, this commemoration feels unmistakably different.
Each year, John would lead a congressional delegation onto the bridge in my hometown where he was bludgeoned for the sacred right to vote. Every time, you felt like you were there with him, overwhelmed with emotion and grounded by courage as he stood before the brigade of police officers telling him and the rest to turn back.
In March 2020, John, battling cancer, surprised everyone, arriving at the 55th anniversary of the march to speak at the apex of the bridge.
That was John--relentless in the fight for what he believed in and willing to risk his life for the betterment of humanity.
The horrific events of Bloody Sunday brought the reality of the fight for voting rights to living rooms across our country. It was there, in my hometown of Selma, where ordinary Americans dared to follow through on their extraordinary commitment to justice and equality for all, that led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
For me, growing up in Selma, under the shadow of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the history of the voting rights movement was not something I had to learn in school.
The foot soldiers of the movement were not pictures or names in a history book, they were a vital and vibrant part of the community in Selma--they were my teachers, my church members, my piano teacher, our firefighters and even my babysitter.
Their valiant, collective efforts put Selma on the map in a way that no one could have imagined, so much so that we still celebrate and commemorate those efforts today.
The movement continues, because it must--because the fight for equity is as important now as it was in 1965. Selma is still now.
Old battles have become new again. Since the Supreme Court in Shelby v. Holder gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in 2013, state legislatures all across the Nation have passed restrictive voter laws making it harder for certain people to vote.
As a result of November's historic electoral victories, many Republican state legislators, Members of Congress, and far-right interest groups are working overtime to keep voters from the ballot box by introducing hundreds of new voting restrictions across the country.
Without federal protections against discrimination, States across the country have enacted new voter suppression tactics that subject voters to: longer lines; inaccessible polling places; strict voter ID requirements; broken voting machines; and more.
Twenty-eight states have enacted and implemented voter ID laws since 2010 and, in just two months, 250 restrictions have been introduced in 43 states.
Indeed, voter suppression is still alive and well.
Never did I think the cause for which John Lewis marched for 56 years ago--the VOTING RIGHTS ACT would require congressional action to restore its full protection.
It reminds us that progress is elusive and every generation must fight and fight again.
The legacy of my district requires that I pick up this baton of voter equality and continue the next leg--their cause is my cause too.
I look forward to introducing H.R. 4, The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, because the reality is--we have not yet achieved the America that John dreamed of.
John knew that our Country's best days lie ahead of us, but we must seize the opportunities to enact change every day.
He understood that democracy is not the whim or edict of one person; it is a constant, collective act of reinvention. We are a Nation founded on a call to action--to strive daily for a more perfect union.
Every one of us has a role to play. As leaders we must lead and as citizens we must vote.
May we all be renewed by the 56th Bloody Sunday anniversary and recommit ourselves to the ideals of equality and justice for which the foot soldiers marched. Let our words and actions stir the soul of our Nation.
John gave us his final call to action: John said, ``Never give up, never give in, keep the faith, keep your eyes on the prize.''
Let's get into good trouble.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her powerful message on good trouble and doing the right thing. I can hear John Lewis right now.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Johnson), the distinguished chairwoman of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, 56 years ago, our beloved colleague, the late Congressman John Lewis, and hundreds of other heroes marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
We now know this infamous day in American history as Bloody Sunday.
These warriors of justice were brutally harassed, beaten, and murdered by Alabama State Troopers and county citizens, all fellow Americans.
But it was because of their courage on that day, because of their unwavering commitment to finishing that march that inspired President Lyndon Johnson to sign into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
And it was because of their continued advocacy that the Voting Rights Act was reauthorized in 1970, 1975, 1982, 1992, and again in 2006.
When I was chair of the CBC in the 107th Congress, we worked diligently in a bicameral fashion to protect voting rights in this country.
I teamed up with former Senators Tom Daschle, Chris Dodd, and our current Senator Dick Durbin, to pass the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Specifically, this bill was signed into law by President Bush on October 29, 2002.
Help America Vote provided funds to our States to improve voting equipment and train workers at polling places.
But even with all of the policy work to level the playing field, why are we still advocating for our right to vote in 2021?
The answer is that there has been a widening gap of epic proportions between the ideals of the Voting Rights Act and the harsh reality that many Black and Brown Americans face; that is, blatant and recognizable acts of voter suppression.
Some of the ways it manifests itself is through partisan gerrymandering, obstructive voter I.D. laws, felony disenfranchisement, just to name a few.
{time} 2045
But, today, we have doors of opportunity open, and we still must refer back to Bloody Sunday and to John Lewis's leadership. Take this Special Order hour, hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus, and in the memory of John, as a prime example of our progress.
Mr. Speaker, it is in that spirit that I call upon Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. We must eliminate that type of discrimination, and we must protect and preserve widespread voting access for all Americans.
I thank Congresswoman Beatty and Congresswoman Sewell for hosting this Special Order tonight on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus. It is time.
My last question is: How long?
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for that question of how long. Now it is my privilege to yield to a distinguished leader of the House, the co-chair of the Steering and Policy Committee, a senior member on Appropriations, the Honorable Barbara Lee.
Ms. LEE of California. Thank you, Congresswoman Jackson Lee, for yielding, for your tremendous leadership on so many issues, and for once again bringing us together tonight. You and our Speaker pro tempore who is managing the floor tonight, Congressman Ritchie Torres, I thank you both so much for really continuing to beat the drum throughout the country about so many issues that are so important to not only the African-American community, but to our entire country.
Also, to our Chairwoman, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, I just want to salute you for your leadership and for really ensuring that the Congressional Black Caucus stays the conscience of the Congress in so many ways on so many issues, being such an inclusive caucus under your leadership, which is, I guess, the largest one ever now on our 50th anniversary. So thank you so much.
And to Congresswoman Terri Sewell, daughter of Selma, I know your mother is very proud of you, and I know that John Lewis is shining his light upon you and Selma and this 56th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
Congresswoman Sewell, I just have to say that I have been with her many times in Selma, in Alabama. She fights so hard for her constituents, but also to make sure that Selma gets the recognition, the credit, and also the resources that it so deserves as being that historical place where, had it not been for Bloody Sunday and Selma, we would not be here tonight as a strong Congressional Black Caucus leading the way on so many issues.
A year later, after John Lewis's passing, of course, we celebrate his life and his legacy, but also we honor him for really passing the baton to our young people, who he knew would take that baton and run this next lap of the race.
I had the privilege to attend the Faith & Politics pilgrimages for many, many years, at least 17 or 18 years. I took children, young people from my Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center on these pilgrimages. We crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge many times each year. John Lewis was so committed. Even with the 500, 600 people there, he took time to talk to young people, to explain to them not only the historical context upon which we were marching across that bridge, but he took time to encourage them and to empower them to take that baton and run this lap of the race for justice.
I just have to tell you now with what is going on in the country now with voter suppression efforts throughout, we cannot go back to the days of Jim Crow. I am thinking now, 56 years later after Bloody Sunday, the moment that we are in, because we must run this lap of the race and we must run it much faster now.
Bloody Sunday was just that. It was bloody. It was bloody. Those who were beaten and bloodied 56 years ago, they deserve our gratitude and our honor by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, H.R. 4. Because of those heroes and sheroes, we all stand here as Members of Congress.
Because of John Lewis, he believed in the promise of liberty and justice for all and the beloved community, which we all are fighting for and insisting that we come together to pass H.R. 4.
This is a moment--a defining moment, I believe, for our democracy because we shouldn't have to stand here 56 years later, after so many people were bloodied, and say we once again have to fight this battle again.
I hope tonight that those who are listening will really understand this defining moment we are in and help us pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. We owe it to John Lewis 56 years later. We owe it to those foot soldiers, those heroes and sheroes who marched across that bridge. We owe it to those who are still helping us. We owe it to those seniors, those elders in Selma and in Alabama, who are still out there fighting to make sure that liberty and justice for all prevails.
Tonight, I just want to thank the Congressional Black Caucus for honoring Congressman John Lewis, for lifting up Selma and Bloody Sunday. I missed being there this weekend. This is quite a moment for me because I miss seeing John sitting right over there, getting into some good trouble, talking to all of us, saying, ``Okay, now, this is what we have got to do tomorrow. This is what we have got to do today. Are you coming down?'' You know, talking about votes on the floor.
I mean, John was such a mentor to all of us and he encouraged us. Tonight is just very powerful for all of us to be able to recognize him, thank him, and say we must pass H.R. 4 in his honor. This is our power and this is our message.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks.
Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining, please?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman has 25 minutes remaining.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure now to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from Detroit, the co-chair of the Women's Caucus, and an officer with the Congressional Black Caucus. That is the Honorable Brenda Lawrence.
Mrs. LAWRENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of a legend and the conscience of this Congress, a civil rights hero and a dear friend, the late Representative John Lewis.
I stand here today also to give honor to the facilitator for this hour, and that is Sheila Jackson Lee; and also to honor the current chair of the Black Caucus because we in the Black Caucus remind ourselves that we are the conscience of Congress. We could never forget that with John Lewis and his guidance because the pictures that you saw displayed by Terri Sewell are the things that when we looked at John Lewis, we have flashbacks of the sacrifices he made so that we could enjoy the freedoms that we have.
Yesterday marked the 56th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the first of which was commemorated without John standing there welcoming all of us. Although he is not with us, his life serves as a blueprint of how we can make this country a better place. Every single day John was committed to justice, equality, and a little bit of good trouble. We must carry on this legacy by working to restore the Voting Rights Act.
I remember one time being challenged by John. He said, ``Why do you think they worked so hard? Why do you think they worked so hard to take away your right to vote?'' He said that we have to stand up, and we can't allow that freedom and the right in our democracy to vote.
We passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act once before. And I stand with my colleague, Terri Sewell. We will pass it again. In honor of John's memory and the hundreds of civil rights activists who were beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the countless others who have fought for voting rights, we must pass this bill again.
As John famously said, ``Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get into good trouble.''
He reminded us that that good trouble was necessary trouble for the rights and freedoms of Americans--all Americans.
While we say we miss John, he has not left because of the memories, the blood he shed, the example he led, and his constant voice in our ears to never, ever give up. I stand here today to honor him.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks. She reminded us that his sacrifice was not a simple one. He shed blood. John Robert Lewis shed blood because of his beliefs and his commitment.
Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to be able to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman, the chair and founder of the Historically Black College Caucus, a longtime academician and professor at a historically Black college, and that is the gentlewoman from North Carolina, Alma Adams.
Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas and our co-anchors. I want to thank our Chairwoman, Congresswoman Beatty; Congresswoman Sewell, as well; and to all who have participated tonight. Thank you, Brother Torres, as well.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor of my colleague and friend, my hero, a hero to all of us, John Lewis, and to mark the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march.
When our country was founded almost 250 years ago, African Americans were denied full access and participation in society, and we have been fighting to rectify these wrongs ever since. Among the most important influential agents of this mission was John Lewis, the conscience of this Congress; a mastermind of good, good, good trouble; a courageous and compassionate man who gave everything, including his blood and his body, to the civil rights movement.
From Selma to the U.S. House, John wasn't afraid to put everything on the line for what he believed in. Fifty-six years ago, he marched so that people who look like me could be full participants in our society. Fifty-six years later, we are still fighting to be seen, to be heard, to be counted in our democracy, a democracy that we helped to build.
For centuries, this country has made promises to marginalized communities that have gone mostly unmet, promises of freedom, equality, and access to opportunity.
In my home State of North Carolina, discriminatory voter regulations plague our past and even our present. Most recently, we have experienced a decade of voter suppression laws that target minority voters with surgical precision and illegally gerrymandered maps that have thrown our election into chaos. Voting in North Carolina has never been treated as it should be, as a fundamental right for all citizens. The For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act will address this by cleaning up corruption in Washington and returning us to a government of, by, and for the people.
H.R. 1 will protect and expand voting rights, restore integrity to government, and put the priorities of the American people ahead of special interests. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act provides the tools to address discriminatory election practices and will protect all Americans' right to vote.
These important bills are critical first steps toward healing our democracy. I won't allow voter suppression to continue to be the norm in North Carolina or in our Nation. That is why we must honor our friend John's legacy by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and sending both of these bills to the President's desk.
Our power, our message.
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Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Adams for saying what our power is all about.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford), the first vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and a leader in the fight for labor rights that brought him to the United States Congress.
Congressman Horsford is the distinguished gentleman from Nevada, and I hope I have gotten that right because I have been there many times, and I know that I have to get it right.
Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the designees for this Special Order hour, Congresswoman Sewell and, of course, our chair Joyce Beatty and all of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Today I rise to honor my friend, my mentor, my colleague, the late Congressman John Lewis and all of those who marched for justice across the Edmund Pettus Bridge 56 years ago.
As they marched, each of those heroes carried an unshakeable belief that America would answer their call for racial equality. But at the end of that bridge they were met with a violent mob that was determined to preserve the status quo of brutality against Black Americans. Bloody Sunday shocked the world, and it shamed our government into action.
Just days after Bloody Sunday, President Johnson sent a voting rights bill to Congress. By August of 1965, the Voting Rights Act had passed the House and Senate with bipartisan majorities.
For decades, the Voting Rights Act protected the right to vote and was reauthorized. But 8 years ago, a conservative majority on the Supreme Court turned their back on decades of progress and struck down critical sections of the law.
After the Supreme Court's decision, State governments began to immediately purge voter rolls and institute burdensome requirements on voting to block communities of color from the ballot box.
In the last election, many States refused to expand vote-by-mail options that would have kept voters safe. Instead of using billy clubs and dogs, they used the pandemic's deadly toll on communities of color to try and suppress the vote.
In the face of this cruelty, we fought back with record setting voter turnout. But voter suppression continues to be a stain on our democracy.
So we must restore every inch of the Voting Rights Act, and we must do it now.
Two years ago, House Democrats introduced and passed H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act. This bill, which is now named for Congressman John Lewis, would restore the protections that were eliminated in Shelby v. Holder and end voter suppression.
Last Congress, this bill passed with just one Republican vote. This session, I am calling on all of my colleagues to follow the example that our predecessors set back in 1965 and to come together for the American people. Because the right to vote is fundamental.
I wanted to share in closing this picture that I treasure in my office. As a freshman Member, I had the honor to stand with Congressman John Lewis and Steny Hoyer, the minority leader at the time, when we introduced the Voting Rights Act.
And the picture captured me in the middle as we were talking about the Voting Rights Act, and its importance, and it is something that I look at for inspiration. And so to Congressman John Lewis I say to you my friend, We will carry on your baton. We will carry on your legacy. And we will carry on the fundamental right to protect the vote for all Americans. That is our message. That is our power.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman. We will carry on the fight. Thank you for challenging us tonight. I think that everyone knows that we will not rest until the Voter Rights Act, H.R. 4, the John Robert Lewis bill is passed.
Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans), who stood at this podium some years ago as the leader of the Special Order. And I am delighted to seek to grow as tall as he is in this job, because he is now a leading member of the Ways and Means Committee.
Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the great State of Texas for that introduction and along with my colleague from the great State of Alabama.
When I had my first visit ever in my life to Alabama it was because of Terri Sewell who got me down there, and to the chairwoman of our fantastic caucus, Congresswoman Beatty.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues from the Congressional Black Caucus in honoring the memory of Congressman John Lewis and renewing his call for good trouble.
I was 10 years old when I first saw Congressman Lewis on television walking across the Pettus Bridge. And I had to be here to stand at this anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma when Congressman Lewis and so many others risked their lives for the right to vote.
This year we have seen more than 250 State-level bills that will restrict voting. Members of the Pennsylvania legislature have introduced at least 14 restrictive voting measures, 14 bills including some that would require a State-approved excuse to vote absentee. That would be a rollback of the vote-by-mail law.
It is important to stand, Mr. Speaker, to stand tall and for us to learn from the great John Lewis that if you see something, do something. There is no way that I could not add my voice to this effort. I must stand because I see something, and I plan to do something.
It is important to understand that we need to keep working on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by getting into good trouble. We need to all be prepared, Mr. Speaker, to continue this fight.
Although Congressman Lewis is physically not with us, his spirit is with us, and we all must recognize that only through the collective effort in the spirit that he has imparted upon us that we must continue this effort.
So I wanted to make sure that my voice is added to the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and I want to do everything that I can to ensure that it takes place because it is for these types of efforts that we need a constant reminder.
Mr. Speaker, I say to Congresswoman Sewell, yes, we must continue our journey to Alabama, to Selma. We must continue these discussions and raise our voice. We must continue to show people that until this happens, we are not going to stop. It is important to all of us.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Beatty for showing the leadership, along with Congresswoman Jackson Lee, for us showing this collective effort, for us working together to pass this act today.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, who has provided our road map that we are going to use to take this long journey, and we are not going to stop until we finish the job.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath). This distinguished Congresswoman has a voice of passion for an issue that John Lewis had a voice of passion for, and I believe that it clearly was before she came, if I am not mistaken, that John Lewis led a floor boycott so that gun legislation could be passed.
You see, he is and was the conscience of the Congress. I think he must have known that Congresswoman McBath was coming to Congress.
Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague Representative Sheila Jackson Lee for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the 56th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march, but for the first time we observed the solemn anniversary feeling the tremendous absence of our colleague, our friend, our brother, John Lewis.
Though John is no longer with us, his spirit and his soul still fill this Chamber. And even amidst the noise and the bitter rancor, one can still hear his words ringing so loudly that they cannot be ignored.
``Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.''
John Lewis was widely known as the conscience of Congress, and I can't think of a more fitting description of our friend, a man who nearly lost his life on that bridge in Selma in the struggle for voting rights.
John went on to represent his community in Congress for 33 years. Whether marching for freedom in Selma or sitting on the House floor in support of safer gun laws, while I was on the outside leading a rally for the very same thing, John reminded each of us of the importance of getting into good, necessary trouble. It was one of the greatest honors of my life to be his colleague and fellow Member of Georgia's congressional delegation.
As Americans we owe a great debt of gratitude to those who were on that bridge in Selma, for sacrificing their blood in pursuit of a more perfect Union. We honor the legacies those men and women left behind by picking up the mantle of equality and justice for all and supporting the fight for what is right and for what is just.
Because even in this moment we are painfully reminded that the work remains unfinished. For many years before we mourned the death of John Lewis, we grieved the loss of the Federal protections which the Voting Rights Act once afforded all Americans, rights for which John Lewis nearly gave his life long before he ever had the chance to serve his community in Congress. And 56 years later the struggle to protect voting rights continues back home in my State of Georgia and in State legislatures all across this country.
As John would often say, we have a moral obligation, a mission, and a mandate to do what we can to make our country and our world a better place and to help usher in a loving community where no one is left out or left behind.
Those words ring louder and louder for every day that goes by without the sacred protections of the Voting Rights Act. And so today, we must again step forward with a renewed unity of purpose to do what is necessary to restore and protect the right to vote for all Americans and to fulfill the vision laid forth by those heroes who marched before us. Heroes like our John Lewis.
And it is more important than ever now to pass H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for reminding us of how broad Congressman Lewis' civil rights fight was. And he was the conscience to change all that was bad to make it good.
Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Texas has 3\1/2\ minutes remaining.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege now to yield to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Jones), who has come with a storied history on fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves.
Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, 56 years ago, 600 peaceful protesters, led by the late John Lewis, prepared to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the right to vote. On the other side stood Sheriff Jim Clark and his armed patrolmen ready to stop them.
The protesters marched on. Clark and his troopers put on their gas masks, blasted the marchers with teargas, and then brutally beat them with billy clubs and cattle prods.
Some of Clark's men mounted their horses and charged into the crowd trampling protesters while unleashing a rebel yell. They beat John Lewis so hard, they broke his skull. He and dozens of his fellow marchers were hospitalized.
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Mr. Speaker, 5 months after Bloody Sunday, Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act. As we remember Bloody Sunday, let us also recognize the Jim Clarks who blocked the bridge to democracy today.
Five decades after Bloody Sunday, the Supreme Court struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act in a decision in 2013 called Shelby. As we commemorate our first Bloody Sunday without John Lewis, Republicans in Georgia have passed a new law cracking down on the right to vote.
Today, as we answer John's call to cross the bridge to democracy once again, let us hope that no Supreme Court Justices stand in our way on the other side. If they do, may we, like our ancestors, march on.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much. Concise but powerful. We know what our guidepost is.
Mr. Speaker, I don't think that the history of the United States has had a more civil rights activist as Speaker, one who is a fighter for justice. We are delighted to have her joining us this evening. Her voice has been alongside John Robert Lewis.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), our distinguished Speaker of the House, joining us on the commemoration of Bloody Sunday.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I will take a few seconds to say thank you to the Congressional Black Caucus, to Congresswoman Jackson Lee; Congresswoman Terri Sewell; the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Joyce Beatty; and so many members.
Mr. Speaker, I have been watching the presentation. It is so heartwarming, but I did not want to miss the chance to say thank you to all of you for this commemoration of this 56th anniversary. For so many of us who have gone there many times over, it is a hole in our heart not to be able to be there for our precious John Lewis, who gave us so much.
In the next couple of days, we are going to be talking about justice, jobs, healthcare, and all the things that he stood for. And we are going to pass H.R. 1 and H.R. 4 and have the John Lewis language become law.
Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank the Congressional Black Caucus.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Congressman John Lewis on the 56th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday March.
Congressman Lewis spent more than 30 years in Congress, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and fought for racial equality across the country during his storied and historic life. The civil rights icon died on July 17, 2020, after a tragic fight with cancer.
It was a devastating loss for me and our entire country. Congressman Lewis was such a great fighter for the right thing in our nation. With his passing, I lost one of my fathers on the floor of the House. He was a colleague of my father, Congressman Donald M. Payne, Sr. and one of the men who inspired me to run for office. I was in awe of how he could convey such power and strength with a gentle demeanor. His passion and love for his country and people brought out a ferociousness in such a mild-mannered man. He didn't just speak for civil rights, he stood up against abuse and suffered for it to make this country better for all Americans.
I learned so much from him and his leadership was evident in hundreds of actions in and out of the U.S. House of Representatives. One of my greatest honors happened when we held a `sit-in' on the floor of the House in 2016 to try and get a vote on gun control legislation after 49 people died during a shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, FL. It was his drive and dedication that inspired me and so many of my colleagues to join him that day. There were so many situations like that I could mention. Congressman Lewis always said it was important to `get into good trouble' and those words have inspired me to this day. He was a hero, a mentor, a leader, and a great, great friend.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 43
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