[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 81 (Friday, June 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1254-E1255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO NAME THE ``JOHN LEWIS CIVIL RIGHTS 
                              INSTITUTE''

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAVID SCOTT

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 16, 2005

  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to introduce 
legislation to honor the senior Member from the state of Georgia and my 
friend, John Lewis, for his work as an engineer of the civil rights 
movement. Along with my colleague in the other body, Senator Saxby 
Chambliss, I proudly put my name as the original sponsor of this bill 
to name a historic building near the center of the struggle for 
equality--Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia--as the ``John Lewis Civil 
Rights Institute.''
  Without question, Congressman Lewis' work in the civil rights 
movement was crucial to the success of that struggle. He grew up in 
Alabama, and was inspired to get involved after hearing reports of the 
Montgomery bus boycott, orchestrated by the young Rev. Martin Luther 
King, Jr. As a student at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, 
Congressman Lewis began organizing sit-ins at segregated lunch 
counters. He also participated in the freedom rides, challenging 
segregated bus stations across the South. For these simple acts of non-
violent resistance, John Lewis was often violently physically attacked. 
But his resolve did not waver.
  Congressman Lewis served as Chairnan of the Student Non-Violent 
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which students of history recall as the 
central group working to organize and publicize the demonstrations by 
young people which were occurring across the region. This increasingly 
high-profile work lead him to be named as one of the ``Big Six'' 
leaders of the movement, and brought about his role as a speaker at the 
March on Washington in August 1963, a political and cultural event that 
changed the course of the nation.
  But Congressman Lewis' life-threatening commitment to change did not 
end there. In 1965, Congressman Lewis led over 600 nonviolent 
protesters in the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, 
Alabama. Through the gripping media coverage of this disturbing event, 
the rest of America was finally forced to confront the violence and 
injustice being perpetrated against African Americans.
  And his work for civil rights continues to this day. From his work 
during the height of the

[[Page E1255]]

civil rights movement, to his time as a Presidential appointee during 
the Carter Administration, to his service as an elected official first 
on the Atlanta City Council and finally as a Member of Congress, John 
Lewis has never wavered.
  The victories our country can claim in this fight are in no small 
part due to the selfless sacrifices of John Lewis. For his humble 
service, for his commitment to justice and equality for all people, he 
deserves to be honored in this small way. I call on my colleagues in 
the House of Representatives to join me in working for the swift 
passage of this legislation.

                          ____________________