[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 127 (Monday, July 20, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S4253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Remembering   John Lewis

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on Friday, July 17, after six decades as 
one of our Nation's most preeminent civil rights leaders, Congressman   
John Lewis--the conscience of the Congress--passed away at the age of 
80. His trials and tribulations and, ultimately, his triumphs are well 
known to all of us.
  At the ripe old age of 25, he led thousands of marchers across a 
bridge in Alabama. They risked their lives for their constitutionally 
guaranteed right to vote and, in doing so, shook the conscience of a 
nation and hastened the demise of Jim Crow. On that fateful Sunday, 
battered and bruised, his head dizzy and bleeding from the policeman's 
rod,   John Lewis found the courage and the strength to reach the other 
side of that bridge, and he never stopped marching.
  From the Freedom Rides to Selma, from his leadership of the SNCC, to 
his four decades in Congress,   John Lewis never stopped marching. His 
actions as a young man helped change the trajectory of a nation and 
brought about the Voting Rights Act, and then   John Lewis went to 
Congress and renewed that law again and again. He sat in against 
segregation at lunch counters in the Jim Crow South and, over 40 years 
later, led another sit-in on the House floor against gun violence. He 
spoke out for marriage equality long before it was popular. He 
challenged those who walked the corridors of power and then trod those 
corridors himself to bring quality healthcare, fair wages, and social 
justice to Georgians and Americans everywhere.
  It is one thing, inflamed with the passion of youth, to join in brave 
endeavors and challenge the status quo. It is a good thing. Yet it is 
even beyond that to sustain that activism and vision and efforts and, 
yes, that ``good trouble'' he talked about getting into over the steady 
and persistent dedication of a lifetime. That is who   John Lewis was 
deep in his soul--a man on a mission, who forcefully but gently led us 
all to do more and to do better, who loved his country so much that he 
risked his life and then spent his life trying to change it.
  We are an imperfect nation, for sure, but we have a tremendous 
ability to reinvent ourselves. The story of America is one of constant 
renewal, but that renewal has never been preordained. It is because 
Americans have pushed and prodded, used their voices and their votes to 
force our country to change over time to move ever closer to our 
highest ideals.
  In the story of America, there are certain heroes whose moral clarity 
has shone out like a beacon for others to follow--North Stars who have 
inspired their fellow Americans to join them in the glorious work of 
bending the moral arc of the universe toward justice.   John Lewis was 
one of those special heroes. He paved the road, lit the path, and 
pointed the way toward other bridges for us to cross. It was not by 
always being the loudest voice or the most intemperate; he led by the 
moral force of his example. Whether he would admit it or not, he 
inspired millions.
  At President Obama's inauguration, John asked the new President to 
sign a commemorative photo of the event. President Obama simply wrote: 
``Because of you, John.''
  I don't know how many people must have said that over the years--
``because of you, John''--and I could never guess at the number who 
didn't even know to say it but whose lives were forever altered, whose 
dignity and freedom was made whole because of you, John.
  As a new generation of young people lift up their voices to proclaim 
``Black lives matter'' and to fight for the Justice in Policing Act, 
the memory and legacy of   John Lewis lives on in each and every one of 
them.
  There are very few people who have changed the world for the better.  
 John Lewis is one of them. His life is a reminder of all that is the 
best in us and that we are all capable of doing that best.
  As we mourn his loss, I would ask my fellow Americans, including my 
colleagues in this body, to take up his mission. Many of the old 
enemies John faced down have not been vanquished. Racial disparities 
persist and gnaw at the fabric of our society, and so does the police 
violence that met a young   John Lewis and thousands of law-abiding 
Americans on that bridge over 50 years ago. The bridge he crossed is 
still named for the Confederate officer, not for the man who led a 
righteous movement for equality. The law he nearly died for has been 
gutted by the Supreme Court. Congress has the power to restore it, but 
only one political party seems interested in doing so.
  At the 50th anniversary of the march on Selma, Congressman Lewis 
acknowledged that his mission was not yet complete. ``There is still 
work left to be done,'' he said. ``We must use this moment to recommit 
ourselves to finish the work.'' He told us to ``get out there and push 
and pull until we redeem the soul of America.''
  As we confront our turbulent present--a pernicious disease, vast 
economic hardship and inequality, the ancient evil of racial 
injustice--the loss of   John Lewis feels even more devastating and 
leaves many searching for answers. But   John Lewis has already pointed 
the way. ``There is still work left to be done,'' he said. ``Finish the 
work. Get out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of 
America.''
  May he forever rest in peace.