[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 90 (Wednesday, July 12, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H5054-H5055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   VOTING RIGHTS ACT REAUTHORIZATION

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. John Lewis, you bring tears to my eyes.

[[Page H5055]]

Fannie Lou Hamer, Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks, all who have made 
the ultimate sacrifice and yes, exhibited enormous courage. And today I 
ask this House to exhibit courage, to vote for a bill that gives 
credence to America's dream. We all are created equal.
  The Voting Rights Act is not an act of color. It is an act of 
reputation and integrity of America to allow all Americans to vote. The 
honorable Barbara Jordan, whose words were ``we the people,'' would not 
have been elected to the United States Congress as the first holder of 
this seat had it not been for the 1965 Voter Rights Act.
  And Lyndon Baines Johnson, a southern Democrat President, called upon 
all of his colleagues, all of the Members of Congress, whether they 
were from the South, from the North, stand up for what is right.
  And so today, we will be on the steps of the United States Congress, 
on the East steps, to join us for a vigil of petitioning to say to this 
Congress, be of good courage.
  John Lewis, you bring tears to our eyes, for ``Bloody Sunday'' will 
be always in our minds, the sacrifices that have been made for the 
Voter Rights Act. Don't give up on us now. Pass the Voter Rights Act. 
Show us courage. Have a shining moment of history today. Yes, America 
can do it.

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