[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 33 (Thursday, March 1, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H1104-H1113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 0910
DIRECTING OFFICE OF HISTORIAN TO COMPILE ORAL HISTORIES FROM MEMBERS
INVOLVED IN ALABAMA CIVIL RIGHTS MARCHES
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the
order of the House of February 29, 2012, I call up House Resolution 562
directing the Office of the Historian to compile oral histories from
current and former Members of the House of Representatives involved in
the historic and annual Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, marches, as well
as the civil rights movement in general, for the purposes of expanding
or augmenting the historic record and for public dissemination and
education, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H. Res. 562
Whereas in 1965, civil rights advocates participated in
three marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, marking a
watershed moment of the civil rights movement;
Whereas the first march took place on March 7, 1965, during
which 600 civil rights activists, led by now-Representative
John Lewis and Reverend Hosea Williams, began a march to
protest unfair voter registration practices and the shooting
death of Jimmie Lee Jackson during a voter registration
drive;
Whereas marchers progressed only six blocks from the Brown
Chapel A.M.E. Church to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where many
were tear-gassed and beaten;
Whereas two days later, on March 9, 1965, Reverend Martin
Luther King, Jr., led a symbolic march of 2,000 people to the
Edmund Pettus Bridge, all kneeling there to pray;
Whereas, on March 21, 1965, with protection from the
Alabama National Guard, more than 3,000 people set out from
Selma again led by Rev. King, marching an average of 12 miles
a day along Route 80 and sleeping in farm fields;
Whereas that group grew to 25,000 participants by the time
it reached Montgomery on March 25, 1965, where Rev. King
delivered one of his most venerated speeches;
Whereas as a result of this historic three-week period,
Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, five months
after the third march, as a recognition of the right of all
United States citizens to fully participate in the electoral
process;
Whereas in 1996, Congress created the 54-mile long Selma-
to-Montgomery National Historic Trail along the route of this
third march, starting at the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in
Selma, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and ending at the
Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery;
Whereas beginning in 1998, Members of Congress have
participated in an annual civil rights pilgrimage to the
Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Trail, to visit the
historic sites, participate in fellowship, and recognize the
achievements of the civil rights movement;
Whereas the Office of the Historian, first established in
1983, researches, preserves, and interprets the rich
institutional history of the House of Representatives in
order to share it with Members, staff, and the public, and
serves as the institutional memory to inspire greater
understanding of the House of Representatives' central role
in United States history;
Whereas Members of the House of Representatives have
included participants in the historic 1965 marches and in the
annual pilgrimages thereafter; and
Whereas the collection of oral memories of march
participants who have served in the House of Representatives,
and will continue to serve in the House of Representatives,
is essential to the preservation of the history of the
institution: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives directs the
Office of the Historian to compile oral histories from
current and former Members of the House of Representatives
involved in the historic and annual Selma to Montgomery,
Alabama, marches, as well as the civil rights movement in
general, for the purposes of expanding or augmenting the
historic record and for public dissemination and education.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of
Wednesday, February 29, 2012, the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel
E. Lungren) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) each will
control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous
consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and
extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such
time as I might consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 562, which directs
the Office of the Historian to compile and disseminate oral histories
from current and former Members of the House of Representatives
involved in the historic and annual Selma-to-Montgomery, Alabama,
marches, as well as the civil rights movement in general.
In March of 1965, a defining 3-week period of the civil rights
movement culminated with a historic 54-mile
[[Page H1105]]
march from Selma to Montgomery. Led by the Reverend Martin Luther King,
Jr., it was the last of three marches that resulted in the passage of
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 recognizing the right of all Americans to
participate in the electoral process.
On March 7, 1965, our colleague from Georgia, Mr. John Lewis, and the
Reverend Hosea Williams led 600 civil rights activists in the first
march from Selma to Montgomery to protest the shooting of Jimmie Lee
Jackson, killed just a few weeks earlier by State troopers while doing
nothing more than registering African Americans to vote. The march
lasted only six blocks before coming to a violent end on the Edmund
Pettus Bridge. In what has become known as Bloody Sunday, troopers used
tear gas and clubs to beat the protesters back from the bridge. The
upsetting, horrifying images of peaceful marchers being brutally
assaulted by authorities brought national attention to the plight of
African Americans in the South and greater resolve to those seeking
equality for all.
Two days later, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., led a second
symbolic march where 2,000 participants returned to the Edmund Pettus
Bridge and proceeded to kneel and pray.
On March 21, this time with protection from Federal authorities and
the Alabama National Guard, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., led a
54-mile march to the State capitol building. Three days later, the
group that started with 3,000 participants and grew to 25,000 strong,
arrived in Montgomery, where Dr. King proclaimed:
We are on the move now. Like an idea whose time has come,
not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are
moving to the land of freedom.
Mr. Speaker, the magnitude and importance of this historic event is
undeniable, and its significance to American history must never be
forgotten.
To commemorate these marches, Congress in 1996 created the 54-mile-
long Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail along the route of Dr.
King's march, starting at the Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma and
ending at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.
Since 1998, Members of Congress have participated in an annual civil
rights pilgrimage on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail.
In March of 2009, I had the privilege of participating with my wife in
this event. We marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and we were
inspired by those with firsthand experiences from the events of 1965.
Documenting and sharing the experiences of Members who participated
in historic and annual marches from Selma to Montgomery is critically
important to the recognition and preservation of the achievements of
the American civil rights movement. As I understand it, Mr. Lewis from
Georgia and the majority leader whip, Mr. McCarthy, will lead the 2012
congressional civil rights pilgrimage starting tomorrow. It is fitting
that we are here today with this resolution as another group of Members
begin their journey.
I want to thank my colleagues from Alabama, Ms. Sewell and Mrs. Roby,
for introducing this important resolution.
I strongly urge all of my colleagues not only to support the
resolution but also to take part in the annual congressional Selma to
Montgomery march.
I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 0920
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I want to thank my colleagues, Majority Leader Eric Cantor,
Congresswomen Terri Sewell and Martha Roby, for offering this
resolution today.
I am so pleased that this resolution will preserve the oral histories
of current and former Members of Congress who participated in the civil
rights movement, and it will also preserve the experiences of Members
who have come on the Faith & Politics Civil Rights Pilgrimage to
Alabama.
Together, we have retraced the steps that were walked so many years
ago and have spent time with some of the people who shaped the civil
rights movement. Some of the Members who have gone on this pilgrimage
were not even born during the civil rights movement, and they come to
learn about our Nation's history. Many Members have come away changed
by this experience forever.
This resolution will help us preserve a powerful and transformative
period in American history. Without the brave and courageous souls who
shed blood, sweat, and tears in Alabama and throughout the South, this
would be a very different Nation today.
It is very important that Members of Congress understand and
acknowledge the debt we owe to ordinary people with extraordinary
vision, who, as Dr. Martin Luther King once said, ``injected new
meaning into the very veins of our democracy.''
Mr. Speaker, on March 7, 1965, 600 peaceful, nonviolent protesters
attempted to march from Selma, Alabama, to the State capitol in
Montgomery to dramatize to the world that people of color wanted to
register to vote.
We left Brown Chapel AME Church that morning on a sacred mission,
prepared to defy the dictates of man to demonstrate the truth of a
higher law. Ordinary citizens with extraordinary vision walked shoulder
to shoulder, two by two, in a silent, peaceful protest against
injustice in the American South. We were met at the foot of the Edmund
Pettus Bridge by a sea of blue--Alabama State troopers. Some were
mounted on horseback, but all of them were armed with guns, tear gas,
and billy clubs, and beyond them were deputized citizens who were
waving any weapons they could find.
Then we heard:
I am Major John Cloud. This is an unlawful march. You
cannot continue. You have 3 minutes to go home or return to
your church.
We were preparing to kneel and pray when the major said, ``Troopers
advance.''
The troopers came toward us, beating us and spraying tear gas. That
brutal confrontation became known as Bloody Sunday.
It produced a sense of righteous indignation around the country and
around the world that led this Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act
of 1965. Eight days after Bloody Sunday, President Lyndon Johnson
addressed a joint session of Congress and made what I believe is the
greatest statement any President has ever made on the importance of
voting rights in America.
He said:
I speak tonight for the dignity of man and for 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.
During that speech, President Johnson condemned the violence in Selma
and called on Congress to enact the Voting Rights Act. He closed his
speech by echoing the words of the civil rights movement, saying over
and over, ``And we shall overcome . . . And we shall overcome.''
Congress did pass the Voting Rights Act, and on August 6, 1965, it
was signed into law.
This weekend, starting tomorrow, is the 12th congressional pilgrimage
to civil rights sites in Birmingham, Montgomery, and in Selma with the
Faith & Politics Institute. We will remember the distance we have come
and the progress we have made. We will end our time together in Selma
by crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
During this trip, we see ourselves not as Democrats or Republicans or
as adversaries. We see ourselves as Americans on a journey to discover
our history. We all come away from this pilgrimage with a deeper
appreciation of our democracy and the power of people to make a
difference in our society. I am so pleased that this story will be
told.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure
to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri), a
distinguished member of the Committees on Education and the Workforce
and Transportation and Infrastructure.
Mr. PETRI. I thank my colleague from California for yielding.
I support House Resolution 562, which recognizes the importance of
preserving the oral histories of current and former Representatives'
personal
[[Page H1106]]
experiences regarding the historic Selma to Montgomery, Alabama,
marches and the civil rights movement.
As a student during the civil rights movement, I had the opportunity
to witness the impact the Selma to Montgomery marches had on shifting
public opinions. An example of the influence the marches wielded is the
fact that, 2 days after witnessing the images of the initial march in
the media, President Johnson presented a bill to a joint session of
Congress, which became the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Like so many others, I tried to play my own small part in support of
the civil rights movement. As a member of the NAACP and as a college
student, I participated in a boycott of a Woolworth's store in support
of the desegregation of the chain's lunch counters in the South. During
that time, Dr. King came to our college, and I had the honor to very
briefly meet him.
While my direct involvement in the civil rights movement may have
been limited, there are many former and current Members who have unique
and inspirational stories to share about the historic 1965 marches and
the civil rights movement.
We have the honor of serving with Representative John Lewis, for
example, who just spoke, who is an icon of the civil rights movement. I
have been lucky enough to hear him speak movingly to student groups and
others about his experiences as he led the fight for racial and voter
equality. It is important that accounts such as his be preserved in the
historic record so that they can be shared for years to come. I believe
it is important to keep the history and heritage of the civil rights
movement alive by collecting and sharing these oral histories with the
American public.
Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution, and I urge its passage by the
House today.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to
the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott).
Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Thank you very much, my distinguished
colleague, John Lewis, for inviting me to be a part of this resolution
presentation.
I think it is very important as we commemorate this event that we
realize those were some dark and dangerous days and that there were
both black and white people who gave their lives so that black people
could have the right to vote.
There was Ms. Viola Gregg Liuzzo from Detroit, Michigan, a white lady
who came down to Selma to help African Americans get the right to vote.
She was shot and killed on Highway 80 in Selma, Alabama. We need not
forget Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, along with James Chaney,
two young white men and one black man, who were shot and killed.
When we tell this story about the civil rights movement, it is
important that we tell this story right so that this is a true story of
the greatness of America. It is not just a black story. It is America's
story. White and black people lost their lives, gave their lives for us
to have the right to vote. This is the greatness of this.
I just want to say what a privilege it is for us to have a man like
John Lewis to serve with. Let us not even begin to underestimate the
significant contribution of this young man--and I call him a young
man--whom I serve with and you serve with. I, personally, appreciate
John Lewis for taking me with him when I was a student, traveling
through the South, and I saw firsthand with him what we had to go for.
John, I want to say to you, thank you for taking me through that
baptism of fire for it has truly made me the man I am today. I want to
thank you for that, and the entire Nation thanks you and all of those.
As I said, I want everybody to remember Ms. Viola Gregg Liuzzo from
Detroit, who came down, and Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, these
people who gave their lives.
{time} 0930
I want to also thank Ms. Terri Sewell, who represents the area in
Alabama where so much of this sacrifice took place.
This is an extraordinary pilgrimage. I was on it, have been on it,
and I encourage everybody that can to go on this pilgrimage and see and
experience what I call the greatness of America.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege
to yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from Alabama (Mrs. Roby), a member
of the Committees on Armed Services, Agriculture, Education and the
Workforce, and she cosponsored this resolution.
(Mrs. ROBY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Mrs. ROBY. Thank you for yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, today I'm so proud to join with Terri Sewell, another
Alabama freshman Member, to offer House Resolution 562, an initiative
that will preserve a collection of accounts from Members involved in
the historic and annual marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
The oral histories preserved through this resolution will memorialize
the symbolic events that changed the direction of the civil rights
movement. What took place during three historic marches in Alabama over
a 3-week period in 1965 proved to be a powerful transformation in
American history. The courageous actions of so many moved our country
out of an era of misguided actions.
Participants marched towards a unified goal to provide equal voting
rights for all Americans. The first march, on March 7, 1965, remains,
without a doubt, one of the worst demonstrations of racial violence.
Participants peacefully marching were met by a brutal and aggressive
police force.
This violence was captured by the news and broadcast to family rooms
all over this Nation. It quickly delivered a message to a racially
divided country of unforeseen consequences caused by segregation.
Such shameless violent actions unleashed on nonviolent marchers
revealed the immediate need for equal rights for citizens. Without a
doubt, the days that racial voting laws were enforced for our country
were among the darkest and least honorable for this Nation.
Even today, our country is still repairing from the wrongs inflicted
decades ago by racial segregation. If it were not for the unwavering
courage of those marching for civil freedoms, our country would be very
different than the way we know it today. Their brave actions will be
forever memorialized by the Selma To Montgomery Voting Rights Trail.
Our younger generations today did not witness firsthand the historic
demonstrations that forged a unified Nation, myself included.
Therefore, it is so important to record the testimonies in order to
reveal the scope and the relevance of these civil rights events.
I am proud to introduce this resolution with Representative Sewell to
preserve the history of our democracy.
The resolution instructs the Office of the Historian to compile
testimonies from current and former Members of Congress who have
participated in historic or commemorative civil rights movement
actions. It will tell every generation a detailed timeline of these
historic moments in the civil rights movement.
Those marching for equality were among the many patriots that
envisioned a better America, one free from racial discrimination.
The marches proved not only to be successful in granting equal voting
rights, but an illustrative account of citizens attaining freedom from
harsh discrimination. Though such intolerable actions can never be
reversed, there is still dignity knowing that the participants of these
marches permanently changed the course of American history.
I urge all of my colleagues to vote in support of this bicameral
resolution.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from California, the Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi.
Ms. PELOSI. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation and commend
Congresswoman Sewell and Congresswoman Roby for their leadership in
bringing this to the floor and giving us the opportunity to speak about
the heroes amongst us.
In some of the darkest hours of our Nation's history, as we all know,
there are stories of great courage. By preserving these stories, which
this legislation enables us to do, we ensure that
[[Page H1107]]
those who come after us will know that the cause of equality is both
our Nation's heritage and our hope.
Unsurpassed in courage in our midst is our colleague, the conscience
of the Congress, Congressman John Lewis.
On March 7, 1965, as many of us all know, Congressman John Lewis was
the leader of 600 peaceful, orderly Americans crossing the Edmund
Pettus Bridge. He was met by State troopers, tear gas, bullwhips, and
nightsticks. Though he faced great prejudice and discrimination, he was
not embittered; he was emboldened to dedicate his life to the cause of
justice and equality.
It is a great privilege for each of us to serve with John Lewis in
Congress, an honor to call him colleague. I want to speak about his
leadership in taking so many Members of Congress and their families and
friends across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in recent years.
I had the privilege to join him in the year 2001. After the visit, I
said to him, of the 3 days we were in your district, Congresswoman
Roby, in Montgomery, Selma, and in Birmingham, and the course of the
weekend, that the experience was one that every schoolchild in America
should experience. We talked about Washington, DC; Philadelphia and
Independence Hall; Baltimore and Fort McHenry; Boston with all of that
history; New York and the rest, but this is a very important part of
who we are as a country. If you want to learn about America, it's
important to visit these sites to see the courage, to see the
commitment to the values of our Founders that were so courageously
defended and advocated for.
At this sad time, and for many of us it was in our lifetimes that
this disaster was happening in our country, this ongoing disaster, the
culmination of it took so many people a longer time to see. We always
talk about the inevitable in the minds of some and the inconceivable in
the minds of others, and how our work is to shorten the distance
between the inevitable and the inconceivable. Well, it took some people
a much longer time to understand what was inevitable for America, that
we would be moving, gravitating toward a more perfect union. That would
not have been possible without the leadership of people like John
Lewis. There aren't many people like John Lewis, but who followed his
lead.
There are other Members of Congress who also were leaders in the
Nation's civil rights movement, and we honor all of them today. They
include Assistant Leader Jim Clyburn, who was arrested several times
for his civil disobedience on behalf of civil rights; Congressman
Barney Frank and Congressman John Conyers, who both volunteered during
the Freedom Summer; Congressman Bob Filner, who spent several months in
jail after his efforts as a Freedom Rider, and he takes great pride in
being invited back to the reunion of the Freedom Riders; Congresswoman
Eleanor Holmes Norton, who was an organizer of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee; and Congresswoman Terri Sewell, who, along with
Congresswoman Roby, is a cosponsor of this legislation. Congresswoman
Sewell is from Selma, and her family opened their home to travelers on
the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery.
I am sure there are more, but all of these people played a role. John
Lewis, of course, an icon in our country for his leadership at that
time.
{time} 0940
These American heroes made history. They also made progress for our
country. I urge my colleagues to join in supporting this legislation to
ensure that our history and the heroes of it, that that history lives
on long after we are gone.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, at this time it is
my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr.
Pence), a member of the Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committees.
(Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I rise in support of this important legislation and commend Ms.
Sewell and Mrs. Roby for their leadership in chronicling an
extraordinary time in our march toward a more perfect Union. It seems
altogether fitting, on the eve of the anniversary march commemorating
what history records as Bloody Sunday and at the end of Black History
Month, that we consider this resolution which will create a process for
preserving the valuable oral history of those Members of Congress who
were early leaders in the American civil rights movement.
There are very few giants these days in public life, but John Lewis
is among them. Let me say what a privilege it has been for me these
last 11 years to serve and to befriend my colleague, Congressman John
Lewis, and I thank you for your leadership on this resolution.
There's also an effort in this resolution to give Members of Congress
who have participated in the annual pilgrimage to Selma and Montgomery
to reflect on their experiences, and I'll be very humbled to be a small
part of that. I was honored to serve as the coleader of the 10th
Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage sponsored by the Faith & Politics
Institute in March of 2010, and I can say, as my colleague Mr. Lewis
knows, it was a life-changing experience for my wife, Karen, and our
three teenaged-children, and I'll forever be grateful for the
experience.
We started the weekend at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
Montgomery, the home church of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We
sat in the pews as we heard Dorothy Cotton and others talk about their
years in that church and how their faith in Christ sustained the cause
of liberty and the cause of civil rights.
We made our way to the Civil Rights Memorial to honor and remember
those who had lost their lives in the struggle for equality. But the
next day, traveling with my colleague, John Lewis, to Selma to mark the
anniversary of a day that changed his life and changed his Nation,
March 7, 1965, known as Bloody Sunday, we will always remember.
The night before, John had recounted that momentous day. He told how
he and several hundred courageous activists had crossed the Edmund
Pettus Bridge in Selma. But it was actually being a part of the
reenactment that most touched our hearts as a family. We had gathered
at the Brown Chapel in Selma before we made the march, and then, along
with thousands, we made our way the few short miles to the Edmund
Pettus Bridge. For my part, John and I walked with Dr. F.D. Reese,
pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Selma at the time.
As we strolled that historic route, I was enthralled as Dr. Reese,
80-some-odd years young, recounted the day as if it had been the day
before. He told me how the Edmund Pettus Bridge crests at the middle,
so it was not until you all reached the top of the bridge that you knew
what was waiting on the other side. And he described to me what they
saw. He said, ``All you saw was a sea of blue'' when they crested the
bridge.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. I yield an additional 1 minute
to the gentleman.
Mr. PENCE. I thank the gentleman.
I turned to Dr. Reese, and I said to him, ``Did you think about
turning back?''
He said, ``No. We had prayed at the Brown Chapel, and we decided to
go on regardless.''
And so you did.
It's just extraordinary to think of the beatings that took place that
day. Our own colleague experienced a notorious beating at the time. But
as the march that day, the reenactment came to an end, I extended my
hand to Dr. Reese and I thanked him for not only what he had done for
the civil rights movement, for what John Lewis had done for the civil
rights movement, but for what they all had done for America. And he put
his hand on my shoulder, Dr. Reese did, and he said, ``Mike, God did
something here.''
And so He did.
Through these extraordinary and courageous Americans, we forged a
more perfect Union.
And so I rise in support of this resolution, commend my colleagues
who will participate this weekend in Montgomery and Selma in this
historic reenactment. I commend Congressman John Lewis, Dorothy Cotton,
F.D. Reese, and all of those great Americans who on that day made the
sacrifices necessary to further perfect this last best hope of Earth.
[[Page H1108]]
We should always safeguard this history, cherish it, and emulate
their courage and bravery, so help us God.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 562, offered
by Ms. Sewell of Alabama. I wish to extend my deep appreciation to Ms.
Sewell, a native of Selma, Alabama, for introducing this timely
resolution.
As we close Black History Month and near the anniversary of ``Bloody
Sunday'' and the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama civil rights marches,
it's important to remember the sacrifice of those who went before us
nearly half a century ago and shed blood so that freedom could continue
its march in the hearts and minds of so many Americans.
To that end, thanks to a resolution offered by Congresswoman Terri
Sewell from Alabama, the U.S. House of Representatives is acting to
preserve the valuable oral history of those Members of Congress who
were early leaders in the American civil rights movement. The
resolution will also document the experiences of many Congressmen and
Congresswomen who have participated in the annual pilgrimage from Selma
to Montgomery. It is a fitting honor of that momentous day in 1965 when
my friend and colleague, Congressman John Lewis, the legendary civil
rights leader, along with Hosea Williams, led 600 brave souls across
the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
I was deeply honored and humbled to serve as the co-leader of the
10th Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage sponsored by the Faith and
Politics Institute in March of 2010. My family and I will never forget
that experience.
We started the weekend at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
Montgomery, the home church of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sitting in the front pew we heard from Dorothy Cotton about her years
working with Dr. King. She spoke of the faith that sustained their work
and the historic importance of music and singing to the movement.
We then made our way to the Civil Rights Memorial to honor and
remember those who had lost their lives in the struggle for equality.
The nearby museum tells the personal stories of segregation by those
who lived it and peacefully fought against it. Hearing firsthand
accounts of how African Americans in the South were systematically
denied the right to vote, intimidated, beaten and even killed fighting
for that right will never leave us.
The next day we traveled with John Lewis to Selma to mark the
anniversary of a day that changed his life and America: March 7, 1965,
also known as ``Bloody Sunday.'' John was personally recruited by Dr.
King as a college student and his courage and moral authority continue
to inspire millions.
As John recounted that momentous day, he told of how he and several
hundred courageous activists crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma
during a march on the state capitol and were beaten by state police
waiting on the far side of the bridge. The images of that day were
transmitted around the world and would sear the conscience of the
Nation. It set the stage for more protests and was the catalyst for
Congress to enact the Voting Rights Act later that year.
We gathered for worship at Brown Chapel in Selma, and after a rousing
service, we left the church to walk to the Edmund Pettus Bridge. I had
the privilege to walk the entire way alongside John Lewis and Dr. F.D.
Reese, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Selma.
As we strolled the historic route, surrounded by thousands, I was
enthralled by Dr. Reese's description of that fateful day. He said that
when they reached the crest of the bridge and could see the other side
of the river, the first thing they saw was the state police waiting to
stop the march. He said, ``All you saw was a sea of blue.'' But still
they marched.
I asked if they thought of turning back when they say the array of
police. He smiled and said, ``No, we had prayed at the Brown Chapel and
decided we would go on regardless.'' And so they did.
After pausing at the base of the bridge for prayer, he told me how
the tear gas and the beatings with nightsticks overtook the crowd. My
friend John Lewis was among those most severely beaten.
As our march came to an end, I extended my hand to Dr. Reese and
thanked him not only for what he had done for the civil rights
movement, but also for what he, John Lewis and others had done for
America that day. Dr. Reese replied humbly, ``God did something here.''
And through these brave Americans, I believe that with all my heart.
Every American should know the story of Montgomery and Selma. Thanks
to courageous Americans like Dr. King, Congressman John Lewis, Dorothy
Cotton and F.D. Reese, these cities have become an integral part of the
American story in our nation's unrelenting march toward a more perfect
union.
Today's resolution further safeguards this valuable history so that
it may endure throughout future generations, and I urge my colleagues
to support it.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield such time as
she may consume to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).
Ms. SEWELL. Mr. Speaker, as the Representative of Alabama's Seventh
Congressional District and a Selma native, I am proud and humbled that
I could introduce this bipartisan resolution with my colleague, friend,
and fellow Alabamian, Representative Martha Roby. Acknowledging the
historic significance of the Selma to Montgomery marches by adding the
voices of Members of Congress, current and former, to the history of
the civil rights movement, we are preserving an important part of the
legacy that is the civil rights movement, a legacy that is important
not only to black history but to American history and, thus, to world
history.
It is truly a full circle moment for me. Personally, I stand here
today before this august congressional body as a Member of Congress and
a native of Selma, Alabama. I ask my colleagues to support House
Resolution 562. I am humbled because I know that my election last year
would not have been possible had it not been for the courage of Members
of Congress, present and former, like Congressman John Lewis. For that,
I say thank you.
This resolution directs the House Office of Historian to compile oral
histories from current and former Members of Congress involved in the
monumental Selma to Montgomery marches as well as the civil rights
movement. These documents will be used for the purpose of extending and
augmenting the historical record for public dissemination and
education. The historical accounts of current and former Members of
Congress are living history. They offer an important perspective on the
events of the 1960s.
The State of Alabama played a critical role and an integral part of
the fabric of the civil rights movement and American history. It is a
painful part of Alabama's history. But today, we stand, opening arms
and welcoming the commemoration of those events, because without those
events and the brave men and women who traveled all across this Nation
to come to the State of Alabama during the 1960s to bring about the
change that we all enjoy, black men and white men, Jews and gentiles,
coming together in order to make sure that we had a more perfect Union
and that America lived up to its ideals of democracy and civil
liberties.
I can't imagine what it was like to be Congressman John Lewis as he
walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. I grew up in Selma. I lived my
life in Selma, Alabama. My mom and dad are still in Selma, Alabama. I
cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge every time I go home to visit them. It
stands as a symbol for the world of what's possible when brave white
men and black men, women, and children decide to change the fate of
history and, in doing so, bring about significant changes for this
country.
I'm proud to represent Selma, Alabama; Birmingham, Alabama;
Tuscaloosa, Alabama; the State of Alabama in this Congress. I do so
humbly because of the courage and bravery of former and current Members
of Congress who did the unthinkable.
{time} 0950
I can't imagine being Congressman John Dingell from Michigan who
first took office in 1955. He sat in this very Chamber and voted for
the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act
of 1965 against amazing opposition from his own constituents in
Michigan. He did the brave thing about voting in favor of these
historic legislations.
He was not the only one sitting in this Chamber in 1965.
Representative John Conyers, a black Congressman who was elected in
1965 and who still serves in this Chamber, was in this room and cast
that vote for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
We need to remember and record the history of Congressman Lewis,
Congressman Dingell, and Congressman Conyers, and so many Members of
Congress, current and past, who are alive today and preserve that
history for future generations to come.
Over the next 3 years, Congressman Lewis, we will celebrate the 50th
anniversary of so many of those events of the 1960s. In fact, the mayor
of the city of Birmingham is declaring 2013 the Year of Birmingham
because we will be celebrating 50 years since the bombing
[[Page H1109]]
of 16th Street Baptist Church when four little black girls gave their
lives so that I could enjoy the freedoms I enjoy today, so that we all
can enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy today.
Over the next 3 years, it will be 50 years for a lot of significant
1960 events, and I am honored to join with my colleague, Martha Roby,
who represents Montgomery and is a native of Montgomery. Alabama has
two women Members of the congressional delegation for the first time
ever. Our elections in 2011 were only made possible because of the
courage of so many people who sat in this body and made tough votes. To
the people of this Chamber who decided that it was time to make a
difference in America, I'm honored to share the cosponsorship of this
legislation with Martha Roby. We share a common history as proud
Alabamians, a history that should be recorded for posterity.
Now, this weekend, I get the opportunity, as well as Congresswoman
Martha Roby and Congressman Spencer Bachus, to co-host with Congressman
John Lewis the Faith & Politics Institute's annual pilgrimage back to
Alabama. We will start this coming Friday, tomorrow, in Birmingham. We
will visit the historic site of the 16th Street Baptist Church. We will
walk in Kelly Ingram Park with Congressman John Lewis and walk in his
footsteps. We will visit the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham,
Alabama, and then we will travel on Saturday to Montgomery, Alabama,
and we will see Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Martin Luther King
was a young pastor.
We will also enjoy in the evening a dinner, a dinner in the State
capitol, Montgomery, Alabama, in the State capitol. Could you imagine
that almost 50 years from 1965 that white Members of Congress and black
Members of Congress would be able to sit and break bread with the
Governor of the State of Alabama? We will do that on Saturday. And on
Sunday, I get to welcome a delegation to my hometown, Selma, Alabama;
and we will reenact that great march.
We will go to my home church, Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, where I
have been a member for 30 years, where my mother is on the board of
trustees. We will sit in that church. We will partake and experience
that which people did 50 years ago. Then we will march hand in hand
across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
I know that I would not be here if it weren't for the fact that
people marched, people died, and people prayed for the opportunity that
we enjoy today. I could not imagine as a little black girl from Selma,
Alabama, that I would be the first black Congresswoman from the State
of Alabama. But I can because they marched. I can because they died. I
can because people prayed.
I ask my colleagues to join me, Congresswoman Martha Roby,
Congressman John Lewis, and so many others in supporting this House
resolution today.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such
time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, although obviously the efforts in the civil rights
movement were the culmination of efforts by people of all faiths, I
find it instructive that this march takes place during the period of
Lent, that in the Christian faith is a period of reflection and
sacrifice as we prepare for Easter Sunday.
Last Sunday, in my home parish out in California, I recall the
readings at the first Sunday of Lent were about the temptations of
Christ in the desert. And we received a remarkable sermon at our church
in which the theme was expressed with the words ``the crown without the
cross,'' that the essence of the temptation of Christ was whether He,
as God-made man, was able to make the decision or was tempted to make
the decision to accept the crown without accepting the cross, that is,
to accept the kingship as Godhead without going through the demands,
the terror, and the death of the cross.
I'm reminded of that today because I think of that question that John
Lewis and others had as they crossed that bridge, as they reached the
crest and they saw the troopers at the other side: Do you turn back and
do you not accept the cross that is coming in order to achieve that
which needs to be done to redeem this country and its promise of
equality of all as contained in the Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence?
I would say that I was inspired as I was there with my wife and
others on the march several years ago, Steny Hoyer leading those on the
Democratic side and John Lewis, of course, being a regular Member. And
he wrote to those of us who reflected on that period that perhaps the
most magnificent piece of literature that came out of the civil rights
movement, in my judgment, is the ``Letter From the Birmingham Jail'' by
Dr. King. I would commend to my colleagues and to others who might hear
our words that they go back and take time to read those words.
Dr. King, sitting in jail, without access to any texts, wrote a
magnificent epistle of his generation and our generation to the
conscience of the American people. And he found no difficulty
whatsoever in utilizing his heartfelt religious values and principles
in extending the promise of that Christian message and the religious
values that are found in our Judeo-Christian tradition to the
underpinnings of our Constitution and challenged us to understand the
difference between just and unjust laws and our responsibility to
``render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the
things that are God's.''
It is an inspiration to me now, and it has been an inspiration to me
my entire life.
{time} 1000
I would say to anyone who wants to understand the civil rights
movement, to understand the promise of America that was not fulfilled
and will never perfectly be fulfilled but is certainly in a better
state today than it was prior to the civil rights revolution, they
should read those words of Dr. King and understand how that animated
the civil rights movement and gave us heroes such as our colleague from
Georgia, John Lewis.
And with that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 5 minutes to
the gentleman from Maryland, the Democratic whip, Mr. Hoyer.
Mr. HOYER. I thank my friend John Lewis for yielding.
I thank John Lewis for his service to our country, to its principles,
to its values, to its people. I thank John Lewis for being my friend,
and I thank John Lewis for allowing me for the ninth time to walk with
him across that bridge. As I do, I will be holding the hand of John
Lewis and holding in my other hand the hand of my 10-year-old
granddaughter Alexa.
This coming week marks the 47th anniversary of the fateful Bloody
Sunday march for civil rights. I want to say to Dan Lungren, my friend,
I thank him for the remarks he just gave. They were heartfelt and on
target, and the letter from the Birmingham jail to which he referred is
certainly one of the great epistles, as he referred to it, to the
American people, to people of conscience, to the fierce urgency of now,
which he referenced in that letter.
On March 7, 1965, our friend and esteemed colleague from Georgia,
John Lewis, was among the leaders of that march. It says he was among
the leaders. He was the leader, he and Hosea Williams. Two-by-two they
walked, some 600, with John and Hosea at the front of the line. That
day, in an extraordinary practice of nonviolence, he and other marchers
were brutally beaten while trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in
Selma, Alabama. They were on their way to Montgomery, the State
capital, to protest the murder of a young man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, who
had been shot and killed while protecting his mother during a voting
rights drive. They were marching to Montgomery to say, in a nonviolent
way, every American deserves the right to be able to register and to
vote.
Every moment has its darkest hours when the exuberance of hope yields
to the reality of difficult and painful struggle. Selma brought that
reality into homes across the country. News of that Bloody Sunday
awakened millions of Americans to the horrors of Jim Crow. It opened
their eyes to the injustice that had cut off so many of our people from
participation in their government. It made clear that while we said in
our Declaration of Independence that we believed in equality, that we
believed that all men, and hopefully we would now say of course all
women, all people, are endowed by God with certain unalienable rights.
[[Page H1110]]
We were not doing that in this country. That's what that epistle from
Birmingham jail was about. That's what this march was about. That march
led to another march 2 weeks later that could not be stopped, one that
saw 8,000 Americans from a diversity of backgrounds join together in
solidarity and with a faith in the enduring promise that America
provided.
John Lewis, our colleague, our friend, our brother, was one of the
compelling figures of that time and of this. I've been blessed with the
privilege of traveling to Selma, as I said, nine times with John Lewis,
to worshipping in Terri's church. The visit this weekend will be, I
know, another instructive lesson for me and for others on how we need
to be continually aware of the discrimination and prejudice that exist
today; the attempts at exclusion that exist today; frankly, the
attempts to not empower people to vote even today.
What happened in Selma 47 years ago ought to be remembered as a
moment when America chose to fight hatred with love and put their faith
in the values of our Constitution. In his memoir, which I hope all of
you have read, ``Walking with the Wind,'' John Lewis explains:
If you want to create an open society, your means of doing
so must also be consistent with the society you want to
create. Violence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred. Anger
begets anger, every minute of the day, in the smallest of
moments as well as the largest.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bishop of Utah). The time of the
gentleman has expired.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman.
Ladies and gentlemen, we remember the difficult path we trod as a
Nation to ensure the participation of all, and we ought to do
everything we can to preserve it in our own day. It is not just history
that we want to learn; it is the lesson for today that we must remember
and learn.
I thank John Lewis for his leadership. I thank the thousands, black
and white, young and old, rich and poor, who joined together to make
America a better place.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. At this time, it's my pleasure
to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia, the majority leader,
Mr. Cantor.
Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California.
Mr. Speaker, on March 7, 1965, in Selma, Alabama, now-Congressman
John Lewis, our colleague, led 600 brave Americans in a march to
protest for their equal right to vote like any other American, and they
encountered horrific and despicable violence, preventing them from
reaching their destination, the capital in Montgomery.
That day, now known as Bloody Sunday, set the stage for the landmark
march to Montgomery led by Reverend Martin Luther King and bolstered by
faith and prayer. This act of leadership, courage, and bravery
culminated with Congress passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
recognizing the right of every American to participate in our electoral
process.
At that time, there were just six black Members of Congress. Today, I
am proud to serve with 44 black colleagues. As Reverend King said:
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward
justice.
Mr. Speaker, today we will pass a resolution that will add the
testimonies of Members of Congress, current and past, who participated
in the civil rights movement and commemorative events to the historic
record of the House. Their stories are an important part of our
Nation's heritage and will serve as a reminder to every American of the
determination and sacrifice that shaped the stronger democracy we live
in today.
I would like to thank Representative Terri Sewell, who represents
Selma, and Representative Martha Roby, who represents Montgomery, for
offering this resolution to preserve a powerful and transformative
period in American history. Mr. Speaker, I am extremely honored to work
with Congressman Lewis to ensure that these stories will never be
forgotten.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire about how much time
remains.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia has 4\1/2\
minutes remaining. The gentleman from California has 11\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to
the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank also Representatives Sewell
and Roby for sponsoring this resolution and Congressman Lewis for his
life.
This is a historic resolution, for the work and the memories need to
be preserved. I, like Congressman Sewell, am here because of the work
of Congressman Lewis and other civil rights leaders, making this for a
better America.
I didn't think I needed to go on the pilgrimage because I'm from
Memphis and I've been to the Mason Temple where Dr. King made his last
speech; and been to Lorraine Motel, the national civil rights museum,
on many occasions; and AFSCME hall where he rallied workers, now named
for Jerry Wurf.
{time} 1010
But when I went to Birmingham, when I went to Montgomery, when I went
to Selma, I realized that there was much more history that I needed to
know, and there was a way to be filled with the spirit of the civil
rights movement, which one is when one goes to the Rosa Parks Museum,
the Dexter Street Church, the 16th Street Church, the Civil Rights
Institute, and the bridge.
It's hard to fathom the way the world was in 1965, but that was only
a short number of years ago. This country started with a history of
slavery, and it was accepted by the Founding Fathers and others as the
way things were. The Founding Fathers were great men, and they wrote
words that were great, but they were without absolute meaning because
they accepted, as a given, that African Americans should be slaves and
women shouldn't have equality. It took a civil war to change some of
that, and then it took John Lewis and civil rights workers to change
the Jim Crow laws that followed up, that didn't accept the outcome of
the war and continued a segregated society that said African Americans
weren't equal, couldn't go in public places and public accommodations
and public restaurants and transit, just like others.
Well, that changed, and the people who changed that, the civil rights
workers, the marchers, the sit-ins, the Freedom Riders--Bob Filner was
a Freedom Rider and was arrested, a Congressperson--those people made
the promise that was given fulfilled.
It's still a work. I introduced and this House passed in 2007 an
apology for slavery and Jim Crow. It took till 2007 for this House to
pass it, and I appreciate the fact that when I did introduce it and it
passed, that there were two Republican sponsors, but there were just
two Republican sponsors.
This year, I have H.R. 3866, which recognizes all civil rights
workers with a Congressional Gold Medal. I'm sorry to say that, to this
date, there's not a single Republican sponsor. There should be. Civil
rights is as Republican as it is Democrat. The party of Lincoln, as did
the party of Kennedy, provided civil rights. And in 1965, when that
Voting Rights Act passed, there were people like Everett Dirksen who
cast important votes.
I urge my Republican colleagues to support this resolution, to
support H.R. 3688, and honor the civil rights workers who had to fight
their country for their rights and privileges.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. May I make an inquiry as to
whether the gentleman on the other side, Mr. Lewis, has additional
speakers?
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. We don't have any additional speakers.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. And how much time do we have?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California has 11\1/2\
minutes. The gentleman from Georgia has 1\1/2\ minutes.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and my colleague from
California for his commitment, for his dedication, with all of his kind
words today.
[[Page H1111]]
I think this resolution is saying to all of us that we have come a
distance. We've made a lot of progress, and the Members of Congress
participated in helping to bring about what I like to call a nonviolent
revolution in America, a revolution of values, a revolution of ideas.
It is unreal, it is unbelievable. Just think, a few short years ago,
in a place like Selma, Alabama, or Lowndes County, Alabama, between
Selma and Montgomery, Lowndes County was more than 80 percent African
American. There was not a single registered African American voter in
the county. Today there's a biracial county government.
That in a city like Selma, in 1965, only 2.1 percent of African
Americans were registered to vote. Today there is a biracial city
government.
Or in a State like the State of Mississippi, in 1965, the State had
an African American population, voting age population, of more than
450,000, and only about 16,000 were registered to vote. Because of the
action of Presidents and Members of Congress, we have changed, and it's
my hope and my prayer that every Member of Congress will vote to pass
this resolution.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such
time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to echo the words of my friend, Mr. Lewis.
Let us have all Members vote for this resolution. It is a recognition,
a simple, straightforward, symbolic resolution recognizing the efforts
of so many, as embodied in the gentleman, Mr. Lewis, and others who
worked so hard to change this country for the better.
I'm honored to be here on the floor with Mr. Lewis today. I
appreciate the chance I had to be with him in this march several years
ago.
I encourage all Members to take part in that, either this year or in
the future, and I ask all Members to support this.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, today, I am proud to join with Terri Sewell,
another Alabama Freshman Member, to offer House Resolution 562, an
initiative that will preserve a collection of accounts from Members
involved in the historic and annual marches from Selma to Montgomery,
Alabama. It is a great honor to today stand on the House floor with my
colleague, Representative John Lewis, who himself played such an
important role in the Selma march.
The oral histories preserved through this resolution will memorialize
the symbolic events that changed the direction of the Civil Rights
Movement.
What took place during three historic marches in Alabama over a
three-week period in 1965 proved to be a powerful transformation in
American history. The courageous actions of so many moved our country
out of an era of misguided actions.
Participants marched towards a unified goal--to provide equal voting
rights for all Americans. The first march on March 7, 1965, remains,
without a doubt, one of the worst demonstrations of racial violence.
Participants peacefully marching were met by a brutal and aggressive
police force. This violence was captured by the news and broadcast to
family rooms all over the nation. It quickly delivered a message to a
racially divided country of the unforeseen consequences caused by
segregation.
Such shameless violent actions unleashed on nonviolent marchers
revealed the immediate need for equal rights for citizens. Without a
doubt, the days that racial voting laws were enforced by our country
were among the darkest and least honorable for this nation. Even today,
our country is still repairing from the wrongs inflicted decades ago
from racial segregation.
If it were not for the unwavering courage of those marching for
civil freedoms, our country would be very different then the way we
know it today. Their brave actions will be forever memorialized by the
Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights Trail.
Our younger generations today did not witness first-hand the
historic demonstrations that forged a unified nation. Therefore, it is
important to record the testimonies in order to reveal the scope and
relevance of these civil rights events.
I am proud to introduce this resolution with Representative Sewell
to preserve the history of our democracy. The resolution instructs the
Office of the Historian to compile testimonies from current and former
Members of Congress who have participated in historic or commemorative
Civil Rights Movement actions. It will tell every generation a detailed
timeline of these historic moments in the American Civil Rights
Movement.
Those marching for equality were among the first patriots to
envision a better America--one free from racial discrimination. The
marches proved not only to be successful in granting equal voting
rights, but an illustrative account of citizens attaining freedom from
harsh discrimination.
Though such intolerable actions can never be reversed, there is
still dignity knowing that the participants of these marches
permanently changed the course of American history. I urge all of my
colleagues to vote in support of this bicameral resolution.
Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my strong support for H.
Res. 562, which directs the Office of the Historian to compile oral
histories for both the historic and annual Selma-to-Montgomery marches
in Alabama.
I thank my colleagues, Representatives Sewell and Roby, for
sponsoring this vitally important resolution.
They say those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
I can think of no lesson more valuable for all Americans to learn
than the courage, justice, perseverance, and non-violence exemplified
by those individuals who participated in the historic Alabama marches
of 1965.
The character shown by leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King,
Reverend Hosea Williams, and our very own John Lewis, was truly
remarkable.
Since 1998, Members of Congress have had the opportunity to
participate in the annual civil rights pilgrimage to the Selma-to-
Montgomery National Historic Trail.
It is fitting that the Office of the Historian of the House compiles
oral histories from those who have participated in these historic
events.
I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing those who fought for
the civil rights we enjoy today. Let us pass H. Res. 562, so that we
may never forget the lessons they have taught us.
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support
for H. Res. 562, which will instruct the House Historian to collect
oral histories from Members of Congress involved in the marches from
Selma to Montgomery, Alabama as well as the wider civil rights
movement. This effort will preserve for generations to come the
experiences of all those who had to fight to bring the realities of our
nation in line with our ideals of freedom and equality. I am glad that
we can all come together in a bipartisan fashion to support this
important initiative.
During the historic marches from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, led by
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and my colleague Representative John Lewis,
many brave protesters were brutally beaten and tear-gassed by
authorities for non-violently standing up for their rights. The images
of these events embodied the viciousness of racism and segregation, and
raised awareness and support for the civil rights movement across the
nation. This momentum resulted in increasing desegregation and the
passage of the Voting Rights Act by Congress in 1965, which reaffirmed
the rights of all Americans to participate in our democratic political
process, regardless of race or identity. Starting in 1998, Members of
Congress, led once again by Congressman Lewis, have been participating
in an annual march from Selma to Montgomery to commemorate these events
and to underscore the immense positive impact that the participants in
those marches had on the history of our nation.
Please join me in supporting this legislation and in recognizing my
friend Representative Lewis for his invaluable contributions to the
civil rights movement. It is my hope that the histories to be compiled
by this project will inspire the leaders of the future, who are
following the example set by Representative Lewis and other civil
leaders. They are truly striving to make our country a more perfect
reflection of the vision of our founders.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.
Res. 562, ``Directing the Office of the Historian to compile oral
histories from Members of the House of Representatives involved in the
historic and annual Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, marches, as well as
the civil rights movement in general, for the purposes of expanding or
augmenting the historic record for public dissemination and
education.''
What happened in Selma 45 years ago, is an opportunity to remember
and embrace our history and its evolution. A single day in 1965 would
become known as Bloody Sunday. I am proud to serve with Mr. John Lewis
who led 600 brave Americans on that day, on a peaceful march for their
equal rights to vote. They were met with unspeakable violence and put
their lives on the line for the right to vote. This resolution will
ensure that future Americans will not forget the sacrifices made by
brave, courageous, Americans seeking only to have full participation in
our fine Democracy.
I have had the honor of participating in the Congressional Civil
Rights Pilgrimage with Mr.
[[Page H1112]]
Lewis. I had the opportunity to see history come alive during my
pilgrimage to Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma. I left with further
appreciation for all the efforts that African-Americans have
accomplished over the years.
The events that took place in Alabama were pivotal in our nation's
civil rights movement. Dr. King's ``Letter from a Birmingham Jail,''
the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and the Bloody Sunday march were
crucial experiences to America's collective psyche.
Two weeks after Bloody Sunday, under the protection of the Alabama
National Guard, Dr. King was able to lead the march successfully, and
in August of that same year President Johnson signed into law the
Voting Rights Act of 1965. Dr. King and his committed supporters forced
our nation to acknowledge the injustices committed against African-
Americans.
This legislation will ensure the 54 mile route, beginning at the
Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma and ending at the State Capitol
Building in Montgomery, is never forgotten.
With the support of this body, generations to come can know and
appreciate those early steps in the civil rights movement that began
the road to making the Constitution of this country extend its rights
and protections to all of its citizens.
The painful lessons learned in Montgomery, Birmingham and Selma
continue to be experienced by minority populations all over the United
States. The struggle for political recognition and participation
continues not only in the African-American populations, but now in the
fast-growing Latino community. In addition, many of the gains that can
be traced back to the civil rights era are currently being targeted. We
must be ever vigilant to ensure that we do not turn back the clock and
instead keep moving forward to protect the rights of minorities in this
country.
A long, bitter, and bloody struggle was fought for the Voting Rights
Act of 1965 so that all Americans could enjoy the right to vote,
regardless of race, ethnicity, or national origin. Americans died in
that fight so that others could achieve what they had been forcefully
deprived of for centuries--the ability to walk freely and without fear
into the polling place and cast a voting ballot.
Efforts to keep minorities from fully exercising that franchise,
however, continue. Indeed, in the past thirty years, we have witnessed
a pattern of efforts to intimidate and harass minority voters including
efforts that were deemed ``Ballot Security'' programs that include the
mailing of threatening notices to African-American voters, the carrying
of video cameras to monitor polls, the systematic challenging of
minority voters at the polls on unlawful grounds, and the hiring of
guards and off-duty police officers to intimidate and frighten voters
at the polls.
Most Americans take the right to vote for granted. We assume that we
can register and vote if we are over 18 and are citizens. Most of us
learned in school that discrimination based on race, creed or national
origin has been barred by the Constitution since the end of the Civil
War.
Before the 1965 Voting Rights Act, however, the right to vote did not
exist in practice for most African Americans. And, until 1975, most
American citizens who were not proficient in English faced significant
obstacles to voting, because they could not understand the ballot.
Even though the Indian Citizenship Act gave Native Americans the
right to vote in 1924, state law determined who could actually vote,
which effectively excluded many Native Americans from political
participation for decades.
Asian Americans and Asian immigrants also have suffered systematic
exclusion from the political process and it has taken a series of
reforms, including repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943, and
passage of amendments strengthening the Voting Rights Act three decades
later, to fully extend the franchise to Asian Americans. It was with
this history in mind that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to
make the right to vote a reality for all Americans.
And the Voting Rights Act has made giant strides toward that goal.
Without exaggeration, it has been one of the most effective civil
rights laws passed by Congress.
In 1964, there were only approximately 300 African-Americans in
public office, including just three in Congress. Few, if any, black
elected officials were elected anywhere in the South.
Today there are more than 9,100 black elected officials, including 43
Members of Congress, the largest number ever. The Act has opened the
political process for many of the approximately 6,000 Latino public
officials that have been elected and appointed nationwide, including
263 at the State or Federal level, 27 of whom serve in Congress. And
Native Americans, Asians and others who have historically encountered
harsh barriers to full political participation also have benefited
greatly.
We must not forget the importance of protecting this hard earned
right. Preserving our past and honoring those who put their lives on
the line for change is the right step toward ensuring that history does
not repeat itself.
Again, I thank Mr. Lewis for his leadership. I thank him for having
the courage both 45 years ago and today to be a champion of change.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to the order of the House of Wednesday, February 29, 2012,
the resolution is considered read and the previous question is ordered
on the resolution and on the preamble.
The question is on adoption of the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-
minute vote on adoption of House Resolution 562 will be followed by 5-
minute votes on motions to suspend the rules on S. 1134 and House
Resolution 556.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 418,
nays 0, not voting 15, as follows:
[Roll No. 92]
YEAS--418
Ackerman
Adams
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Altmire
Amash
Amodei
Andrews
Austria
Baca
Bachmann
Bachus
Baldwin
Barletta
Barrow
Bartlett
Barton (TX)
Bass (CA)
Bass (NH)
Becerra
Benishek
Berg
Berkley
Berman
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Bonner
Bono Mack
Boren
Boswell
Boustany
Brady (PA)
Brady (TX)
Braley (IA)
Brooks
Broun (GA)
Brown (FL)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Buerkle
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Butterfield
Calvert
Camp
Canseco
Cantor
Capito
Capps
Capuano
Carnahan
Carney
Carson (IN)
Carter
Cassidy
Castor (FL)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Chandler
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke (MI)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Clyburn
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Cohen
Cole
Conaway
Connolly (VA)
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Courtney
Cravaack
Crawford
Crenshaw
Critz
Crowley
Cuellar
Culberson
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
Davis (KY)
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
Denham
Dent
DesJarlais
Deutch
Diaz-Balart
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Dold
Donnelly (IN)
Doyle
Dreier
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Edwards
Ellison
Ellmers
Emerson
Engel
Eshoo
Farenthold
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Flake
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Frank (MA)
Frelinghuysen
Fudge
Gallegly
Garamendi
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Gonzalez
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grijalva
Grimm
Guinta
Guthrie
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hall
Hanabusa
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (FL)
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Heck
Heinrich
Hensarling
Herger
Herrera Beutler
Higgins
Himes
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hirono
Hochul
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hoyer
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Inslee
Israel
Issa
Jackson (IL)
Jackson Lee (TX)
Jenkins
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, E. B.
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Keating
Kelly
Kildee
Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kissell
Kline
Kucinich
Labrador
Lamborn
Lance
Landry
Langevin
Lankford
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latham
LaTourette
Latta
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Long
Lowey
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lujan
Lummis
Lungren, Daniel E.
Lynch
Mack
Maloney
Manzullo
Marchant
Marino
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (CA)
McCarthy (NY)
McCaul
McClintock
McCollum
McCotter
McDermott
McGovern
McHenry
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinley
McNerney
Meehan
Mica
Michaud
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller (NC)
Miller, Gary
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Mulvaney
Murphy (CT)
Murphy (PA)
Myrick
Napolitano
Neal
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Owens
Palazzo
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Paulsen
Pearce
Pelosi
Pence
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Petri
Pingree (ME)
Pitts
Platts
Poe (TX)
Polis
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Price (NC)
Quayle
Quigley
Rahall
Reed
Rehberg
Reichert
Renacci
[[Page H1113]]
Reyes
Ribble
Richardson
Richmond
Rigell
Rivera
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross (AR)
Ross (FL)
Rothman (NJ)
Roybal-Allard
Royce
Runyan
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Ryan (WI)
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Scalise
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schilling
Schmidt
Schock
Schrader
Schwartz
Schweikert
Scott (SC)
Scott (VA)
Scott, Austin
Scott, David
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Sessions
Sewell
Sherman
Shuler
Shuster
Simpson
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Southerland
Speier
Stark
Stearns
Stivers
Stutzman
Sullivan
Sutton
Terry
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tierney
Tipton
Tonko
Towns
Tsongas
Turner (NY)
Turner (OH)
Upton
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walberg
Walden
Walsh (IL)
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Webster
Welch
West
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (FL)
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Woolsey
Yarmuth
Yoder
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NOT VOTING--15
Campbell
Cardoza
Cleaver
Franks (AZ)
Goodlatte
Kaptur
McMorris Rodgers
Meeks
Nadler
Olver
Paul
Payne
Rangel
Sanchez, Linda T.
Shimkus
{time} 1043
So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Stated for:
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 92 I was in TS
briefing. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''
____________________