Honoring the Life and Legacy of Congressman John Lewis

Text in the Record

(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Ms. McClellan of Virginia was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.)

General Leave

Ms. McCLELLAN. 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 Virginia? There was no objection. Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, this week's Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour is in honor of the life and legacy of civil rights leader and our former colleague, Congressman John R. Lewis, as we mark the sixth anniversary of his passing last week. Congressman Lewis led our community fearlessly through many pivotal moments in our Nation's history. From his time as a student organizer to marching in Montgomery alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., up until the end of his career in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Lewis was a beacon of light in our darkest times. His legacy continues to inspire not only this caucus but our country, serving as a blueprint for protecting and expanding democracy, defending the right to vote, advancing the unfinished work of justice and equal representation, the unfinished work of making liberty and justice for all apply to all. The Supreme Court's recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais underscores the enduring importance of safeguarding the Black vote. The Trump administration's efforts to prioritize the disenfranchisement of our communities and its efforts to roll back progress made in making equality apply to all

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galvanizes the Congressional Black Caucus to double down and further his life's legacy. Today, we commemorate the memory of Congressman John Lewis while we continue to hold the line against ongoing attacks to our right to representation. I want to reflect on what John Lewis meant to me. Born in 1972, I am the first generation, but hopefully not the last, to benefit from him literally putting his life on the line to extend the promises of our founding documents to all of us. I studied his history, and I was particularly inspired by how at a young age as a college student, John Lewis put his faith into action. He said in an op-ed he wrote toward the end of his life that Emmett Till was his George Floyd. When Emmett Till was killed at age 14, John Lewis was only 15 years old. He said: ``I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me. In those days, fear constrained us like an imaginary prison, and troubling thoughts of potential brutality committed for no understandable reason were the bars. ``Though I was surrounded by two loving parents, plenty of brothers, sisters, and cousins, their love could not protect me from the unholy oppression waiting just outside that family circle. Unchecked, unrestrained violence and government-sanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare. If we are to survive as one unified nation, we must discover what so readily takes root in our hearts that could rob Mother Emanuel Church in South Carolina of her brightest and best, shoot unwitting concertgoers in Las Vegas and choke to death the hopes and dreams of a gifted violinist like Elijah McClain.'' At 15 years old, John Lewis decided to do something about it. As a college student, he participated in the national sit-in, a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, where he and his fellow students targeted segregated lunch counters in downtown Nashville where my father was from. They were arrested, beaten, and jailed. My grandfather actually served as one of the members of the legal team to those students. This act of peaceful protest in the face of violent reaction led to the desegregation of the city stores in Nashville. I will never forget watching a video of Congressman Lewis sitting at the lunch counter, in an exhibit in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History, listening in the headsets to the recording of what the Greensboro Four heard at the Woolworth counter. As it triggered his own memory, he wept.

{time} 1950

In May of 1961, Congressman Lewis, then a student, was severely beaten by a White mob at a Greyhound bus terminal in Rock Hill, South Carolina, during the Freedom Rides. Fifty years later, one of his attackers, Elwin Wilson, came to Washington to ask for his forgiveness. Together, in a very emotional meeting in his office, they listened to another recording of the mob that beat John Lewis nearly to death that day. John Lewis forgave him. In August of 1963, he was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington, representing one of the Big Six civil rights group. Then, in March of 1965, he led another March, in Selma, where he was again beaten, along with 600 other peaceful protesters walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, who were brutally attacked by State troopers. Each of these actions galvanized change: the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and more. For me, the most memorable moment I got to witness: In 2019, he came to Richmond. He was the keynote speaker at a ceremony to rename the Boulevard after tennis great, Arthur Ashe. After his speech, I had the privilege of escorting him to an exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. In a former Confederate chapel, the exhibit included a recording of the speech that he gave in response when he opposed the impeachment of President Clinton. I sat in a pew next to John Lewis and watched him as he listened to that speech for the first time since he gave it. What stuck out to me were the following words: ``When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something, to do something. Our children and their children will ask us, What did you do? What did you say? For some, this vote may be hard, but we have a mission and a mandate to be on the right side of history.'' I watched with tears in my eyes as he listened and wept. He said that was the first time he had heard it but that the words were still true. Mr. Speaker, we take tough votes here. We take votes that sometimes are the difference between life and death. We take votes to try to stop the rollback of progress. We take votes to make ``liberty and justice for all'' apply to all. For me, my North Star are the words I just read from John Lewis: When you see something that is not right, say something. There is a lot I see that is not right. I see a President, in the name of a war on wokeness, dismantling the very civil rights protections that allowed me to be here. I see a President and his congressional enablers dismantling the right to vote, putting on the floor not once, not twice, not three times--at least four times a modern day poll tax that makes a mockery of the Voting Rights Act and the 15th Amendment that it was intended to enforce. I see a Secretary of Defense who is systematically firing very qualified, very distinguished, decorated generals and leaders, admirals, because they are Black or women. He thinks that, because of that, they must only be there because of DEI. I see that that is wrong, and I am saying something. I will continue to say something because that is what John Lewis would have me do. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I am Representative D. Yvette Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus for the 119th Session of Congress, proudly representing New York's Ninth Congressional District in central and southwest Brooklyn. I thank my dear colleague Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan for anchoring this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour and really setting the table for a conversation that we are having this evening. I rise tonight with my colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus to honor the life and legacy of our dear friend and former colleague, the conscience of this Congress, Congressman John Lewis. For more than 30 years in the United States House of Representatives and over the course of his life, Congressman John Lewis never stopped fighting for justice, equality, and the right to vote. Today, the very ideals that Congressman Lewis spent his life fighting to protect are under sustained and unprecedented attack. As we speak, extremist Republicans at the local, State, and national levels are using every tactic in their arsenal to disenfranchise Black and minority communities. To date, hundreds of bills to restrict voting access have been introduced in States around the country with the aim of closing polling locations, curbing early voting and mail-in ballots, and imposing stricter national voter ID requirements. Right now Republicans in the Congress are fighting to jam through voter suppression legislation, like the so-called SAVE America Act and the Voter ID Act, ushering in a national ID program. In the wake of the Callais decision, Black political power and representation has come under direct assault, with Republican-led legislatures and Governors moving to redraw congressional maps across the south ahead of the November election in a brazen effort to dilute Black voting strength and reverse decades of hard-fought civil rights progress secured through the Voting Rights Act. With these unprecedented assaults on our voting rights and the slow erosion of our constitutional and Democratic norms, each of us has a moral responsibility to speak out and act out as Congressman John Lewis did. Voting

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rights are and have always been the CBC's North Star. For generations, our communities have marched, fought, and even died for the right to vote. Congressman Lewis certainly knew this. At a time when our democracy is under constant siege by the Trump administration, we must do all that we can to protect those most fundamental and foundational rights. It is a shame that partisan politics has brought us to a point that we cannot agree that access to the ballot box should be a right afforded to every American. Congressman John Lewis devoted every day of his life to fighting to make our country live up to its highest ideals--to promise that we are all created equal. From the Edmund Pettus Bridge to the Halls of Congress, the boy from Troy never stopped making good trouble. As he would say: necessary trouble. It is in that spirit that the CBC and House Democrats will always fight back against the voter suppression that plagues our country and impedes access to the ballot box, particularly in Black communities. It is in light of that spirit that we will not stop until we pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore and modernize the protections of the Voting Rights Act to prevent States from erecting new barriers to the ballot box. Mr. Speaker, I will just say that we miss John Lewis. In this moment, it is up to all of us to pick up the mantle of his legacy and press forward, making good trouble, necessary trouble.

{time} 2000

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath), from the Sixth District. Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, I thank so much, once again, our esteemed colleague Representative Jennifer McClellan from Virginia who consistently, over and over again, has always been steadfast in holding Special Order hours for the Congressional Black Caucus. She understands the relevance and the importance of our history and all that this means to communities of color that we make sure that we have our say here on the House floor and all these words are kept in the record for perpetuity. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues and the CBC for hosting tonight's CBC Special Order hour to honor what we all know is a really, really great man. I think everyone, whether you are Republican or Democrat, has always understood the importance of having John Lewis as our esteemed colleague. It is hard to believe that it has been 6 years since the passing of our dear friend and colleague Congressman John Lewis, or as he would always say, ``I am the boy from Troy.'' Despite years lacking his presence, his spirit and his soul still fill this Chamber every single day. There are so many of my colleagues that continue to use his words and his phrases and his thoughts every single day as they want to be able to emulate the work that he has done for democracy, the work that he has done for the United States of America on behalf of every community in America. Renowned as the conscience of Congress--and I don't think there will be anyone else ever to come along in this esteemed body, for years to come, long after we are all gone, that can ever be revered as the conscience of Congress--John leaves behind a legacy that serves as a guiding light toward what is right and what is just in America. In a world where Federal protections for communities indeed are under constant attack every single day, where the Voting Rights Act is being systematically dismantled, and where some children born today have fewer protections than their parents had, it has never been more important to let his words guide our actions. As John would often say, and it has been quoted a million times over, 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. John was probably one of the only politicians that I truly believe lived by those words and was absolutely unafraid to do what was necessary to realize them, no matter if he was marching for freedom in Selma or sitting in on the House floor in support of safer gun laws. I remember that night so distinctly because at that time, I was the national spokesperson for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. While all of my now colleagues were sitting on the House floor asking for background checks for all gun sales, asking for safer communities, legislation that would keep our families safe, I was on the outside leading the rally, leading the charge for the very same thing. John reminded each of us of the importance of getting into good, necessary trouble. You will hear that said by my colleagues again and again because the trouble is absolutely necessary. John's story is one of faith. It is one of resilience and perpetual belief that it is our responsibility--especially those of us who serve in this body--to fight for the change that we wish to see, that our constituents and our communities are crying out for. From the son of Alabama sharecroppers to a renowned civil rights activist to a Member of Congress, John's life was a true testament to the American Dream. He embraced a country that did not always embrace him because he believed in the promise of a better tomorrow and was willing to fight for it. He was willing to even die for it. He fought for it on the streets of Montgomery. He fought for it while bruised and bloodied on a bridge in Selma. He fought for it for 33 years representing his community in the Halls of Congress. He was a mentor to me when I first came to this Chamber ready to make life better for families in Georgia. In fact, I remember the very first day I was here, after I was sworn in. The Democratic Caucus always welcomes the brand-new Members. It was John, who was the leader of our delegation, who introduced me to the entire Democratic Caucus. That moment was so monumental for me, so monumental for me that I had the John Lewis, our civil rights icon, introduce me to the Democratic Caucus as one of his very own. It takes my breath away even to this day. I will never forget the day that he accompanied me and other survivors of gun violence and those who have lost loved ones as we marched our way over to Senator Mitch McConnell's office. We were demanding that he pay heed to our stories, that he pay attention to the hundreds of thousands of people in this country that are dying unnecessarily to gun violence every single day. I remember dancing with John Lewis. He loved to dance. Despite everything that happened to him in his life, he believed in the good of man. He believed in the best of man. That joy came through whenever he was with organizations and people that had come to celebrate all the work that he had done. He would celebrate and give them love through dance. I remember even before I came to Congress, I asked John, when I was national spokesperson for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America in Atlanta, I was holding a rally and asked him if he would be my keynote speaker, never imagining he would say yes. Never in a million years did I believe that John Lewis would listen to me, just an average mom who had lost her own son to gun violence, but just asking for a little bit of his time. He came and spoke at my rally. One thing I know about John is he always showed up for people, the people. They were his cause. Democracy was his cause. Freedom was his cause. At this moment in our Nation's history, we draw upon the wisdom of his words and look to his legacy for strength and guidance as we carry the torch that he lit for civil and human rights, for not only people of color but for everyone in America. Because even today, we painfully have to be reminded that our work is still unfinished and not everybody in this country has been set free. Before we mourn the death of John Lewis, we grieve the loss of the Federal protections the Voting Rights Act once afforded every American in this country, rights that John nearly gave his life for long before he ever had the chance to even serve in Congress.

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