[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 22, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H3688-H3691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING CONGRESSMAN JOHN ROBERT LEWIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Jackson Lee). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 3, 2019, the Chair recognizes the 
gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark) for 30 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and 
extend their remarks on the topic of tonight's Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, what a privilege it has 
been not only to serve with John Lewis, but to be witness tonight to 
the remembrances of our icon, the peacemaker, the justice seeker, 
Congressman John Robert Lewis.
  Personally, I never got used to working with John Lewis, and I 
struggled to call him ``John.''
  I met him right after I got sworn in, in a special election, near the 
chair in which he often sat. I was completely tongue-tied.
  Whether it was a casual hello, a walk back and forth from the Capitol 
for votes, or planning a sit-in, every single interaction with John was 
profound.

  John knew oppression and he knew racial violence. He had been beaten, 
clubbed, spat on, and denigrated. John had experienced the worst forms 
of bigotry. He had seen the worst in people, and yet it steeled his 
determination and it deepened his faith.
  John Lewis is the kindest man I have ever known. Love, compassion, 
integrity were the hallmarks of everything he did, big or small.
  Like so many of you, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Selma 
on several occasions with John and walk the Civil Rights Trail.
  To hear John Lewis speak on the Edmund Pettus Bridge is 
transformative. That bridge is an unusual structure. It has a steep 
rise as it comes up, it flattens in the middle, and then there is a 
steep descent.
  I could imagine John Lewis, as I saw him speak from that bridge, 
being a young man leading, with Hosea Williams, a column of 600 
marchers and getting to the middle of that bridge and for the first 
time being able to see what awaited them, the sea of State troopers, of 
angry crowds. I am sure he could feel the violence in the air like 
electricity.
  But John did not turn back. He did not falter in the face of hatred 
and of violence. He was fortified by the moral clarity of why he was 
marching: to ensure that every American had the right to vote.
  And we know what happened. We know they were beaten, trampled, and 
gassed. But they reconvened and marched to Montgomery and made the 
Civil Rights Act the law of the land.
  Today we find ourselves again in this country in the middle of the 
bridge, and we can see the danger ahead. We can see those who seek to 
divide this country, suppress the vote, and cut off opportunity. While 
John Lewis cannot physically lead us across that bridge, he has taught 
us what to do.
  Many of us have referenced what would be the last words for us to 
hear from John Lewis, and he spoke, as always, inspirationally about 
the true

[[Page H3689]]

sorrow he felt for the soul of America, that in the wake of the brutal 
murder of George Floyd we were not in a better place, and that those 
poisonous, toxic roots of slavery still entangled our institutions and 
our Nation.
  But he also said to us that he had never been more optimistic, 
watching the peaceful protesters across this country assemble.
  He told us, as he always did, to be bold, to not be weary. He told us 
that the winds of change are blowing.
  So we must honor him by continuing our work, by unfurling those sails 
to catch that wind, and to live for justice; to see, as he saw, the 
divinity in not only John Lewis, but in all of us; and to know that, 
collectively, we can continue the march that he started for us, and we 
can bring this country to live up to the ideals of justice and equality 
for all.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Ruiz), a 
distinguished Member.
  Mr. RUIZ. Madam Speaker, when I stood in John Lewis' presence, I 
stood in awe, in reverence, and with great respect.
  John Lewis was an extraordinary man of faith, perseverance, virtue, 
and kindness. He endured ridicule and beatings during his nonviolent 
fight alongside Dr. King.
  He spent a lifetime fighting against injustices, poverty, white 
supremacy, and racism, and for equality and human dignity. He was a 
social justice and civil rights warrior who inspired me, all of us in 
this Chamber and this Nation.
  He was a man of God on a relentless mission of peace to create the 
kingdom and bring to Earth life as it is in Heaven.
  As great a man as he was, he was always humble and gentle. He was 
always faithful in his fight for freedom from oppression.
  John was also a friend. He always asked how my daughters, Sky and 
Sage, were doing on the House floor and in the hallways, and even 
visited them during their birthday parties in my D.C. office.
  He will undoubtedly be greeted in Heaven by our creator with the 
words, ``Job well done, my humble servant,'' an honor well-deserved and 
greater than life itself.
  May John Lewis rest in God's almighty power.
  I love you and I miss you, brother.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Espaillat).
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I represent the 13th Congressional 
District in New York. It has many wonderful neighborhoods in it, the 
iconic neighborhood of Harlem, which has given birth to many 
luminaries, including the great late Adam Powell and, of course, the 
Lion of Lenox Avenue, Charles B. Rangel.
  But when I came here, Madam Speaker, there sat John Lewis in his 
dignified serenity. He brought to this Chamber and he bore the wounds 
and the scars of a struggle over 400 years old, and they could not be 
ignored.
  Even in his dignified serenity, beyond his great words that were 
conciliatory and peaceful in scope, the scars and the wounds of the 
struggle that he bore in this august Chamber could not be ignored.

                              {time}  2130

  So, Madam Speaker, I say to John Lewis today, that from Harlem, and 
from all the Harlems in all the States of this great Union, a very 
important message I bring to this floor.
  Rest in peace, great warrior.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the 
distinguished gentleman from the great State of Florida (Mr. Soto); and 
I would ask my colleagues to keep their comments to 2 minutes.
  Mr. SOTO. Madam Speaker, Mr. John Lewis has often been called the 
conscience of the Congress.
  He also led our Democratic Caucus during some of our toughest 
moments. In 2017, there was a strong effort to repeal the Affordable 
Care Act. We were in the minority. We were demoralized. Things seemed 
hopeless.
  It was in this darkest hour that the legendary John Lewis thundered; 
channeling Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he said, We may have all come on 
different ships, but we are all in the same boat now. We have to stick 
together. We have to stand up. We have to do what is right. Millions of 
Americans are counting on us.
  And as he thundered those words, chills ran down my spine, and a 
moral righteousness took over me as he brought our entire caucus to our 
feet. And we fought the good fight, though we lost the vote in the 
House. But we still inspired the American people.
  The effort to repeal ObamaCare ultimately failed in the Senate, and 
Mr. John Lewis lit the spark with his words, his spirit, and his 
courage.
  Rest in power, Mr. Lewis.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the 
distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko), my good friend.
  Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  It is with the heaviest of hearts that I stand in tribute to 
Congressman John Robert Lewis this evening.
  Brother John, your imprint on my heart and soul is forever.
  The loss of John Lewis has left us with a deep, unanswerable sadness, 
and a resolve that will echo in this Chamber and within all of our 
hearts forever.
  Time and again, John gave us the gift of his courage and lit our path 
with a humble but fierce moral light. He risked everything to teach us, 
to remind us what it really means to fight for liberty and justice for 
all; and why we must fight on, even after our great champion has 
fallen.
  My thoughts, my prayers, and my heart go out to John's family, to 
Michael, and his staff, his community, and all who knew and loved this 
giant of a man.
  May John's light always fill the halls of our Capitol. May his hope 
guide our hands, and his vision for a more perfect Union continue to 
inspire us with timeless faith and purpose.
  Of late, when I would talk to Brother John, he had a concern that 
those wheels of progress toward a more perfect Union might roll 
backward. We cannot tolerate that. Brother John taught us that; that we 
will only go forward.
  So if we truly loved this man, if we truly want to honor his spirit, 
let us make certain that those wheels of progress toward a more perfect 
Union, in fact, go forward and upward.
  God bless you, my friend. You walked so humbly with your God. Rest in 
peace. Rest in power, my dear and so noble of a friend.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier).
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life of a man I 
loved, our colleague, John Robert Lewis.
  To John-Miles, his son, to Michael Collins, his remarkable and 
devoted chief of staff, to his entire staff, we grieve with you.
  When I think about John Lewis, and to describe him:
  A commitment to God? Immovable.
  A commitment to believe that we are all equal before God? Immutable.
  Belief that the law must support the biblical belief in the equality 
of all mankind? Unyielding.
  Because his great-grandfather was the victim of grave injustice, he 
didn't have to watch a movie to hear the call of a slave master's voice 
in the wind. He rebelled against that voice to deliver justice during 
his life.
  In the 1960s, he was deemed a radical, a radical with a passionate 
belief in peaceful civil disobedience, so much so that he was arrested 
40 times and beaten multiple times.
  John knew that the televised images of police beatings and cracked 
skulls animated the just souls of 1965 to build a chariot of liberty in 
the Civil Rights Act of that era.
  John wept at the sight of George Floyd being murdered, but also saw 
that another moment to create a more just and perfect Union was upon 
us.
  In the coming days, when the streets are filled with those who mourn 
John, we will see people in fine suits and people in rags. We will see 
laborers and professionals. We will see faces pained by disease or 
poverty. But all of them will rejoice that John Lewis lived.
  There will never be another John Lewis. In fact, I believe no Member 
of Congress is greater than the John Lewis that has walked across the 
threshold of this Chamber.
  God rest, good man. You changed our country. You were a purveyor of 
good trouble. You taught us what was non-

[[Page H3690]]

negotiable. You changed this country forever more.
  I will end with his quote, and he said: ``I say to people today, you 
must be prepared if you believe in something. If you believe in 
something, you have to go for it. As individuals, we may not live to 
see the end.''
  Well, my dear friend, you may not see the end, but before this year 
is over, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020 will be delivered; 
and I hope someday a statue of you will be in Statuary Hall so we can 
all pass by it and touch your shoes and have your spirit fill 
our hearts.

  God rest your soul. Rest in power.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the 
distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).
  Mr. SHERMAN. Madam Speaker, John R. Lewis honored us with his 
presence on this floor for over 3 decades. That a man of such courage 
and such accomplishment would dedicate so much of his life to this 
House confirmed the decision of all of us to give up our private lives 
and private measures and to spend our time here in the people's House.
  Five years ago, I was honored to go to Terri Sewell's hometown of 
Selma and on the 50th anniversary to walk with John Lewis across the 
Edmund Pettus Bridge where, 50 years prior to that time, John Lewis had 
been beaten down and his skull fractured. We walked forward across that 
bridge with John Lewis, and with the President of the United States, 
President Barack Obama, to prove that America walks forward, and that 
the progress that we have made cannot be turned back.
  Years later, many of us joined John on this floor to make some good 
trouble when we took over the floor of this House to demand a vote on 
commonsense gun control.
  President Barack Obama, when he awarded John the Presidential Medal 
of Freedom, said: ``Generations from now, when parents teach their 
children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to 
mind; an American who knew that change will not wait for some other 
person or some other time, whose life is a lesson in the fierce urgency 
of now.''
  And that is why I say now is the time to pass what should be called 
the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. John Lewis was too great a man for 
us to fail to provide a substantive memorial.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the 
distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer).
  Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Madam Speaker, as someone who was on the battlefield 
of nearly every civil rights fight of the last century, Mr. John Lewis 
taught us that our Nation is always a work in progress, always 
perfecting our Union.
  Through it all though, regardless of what he faced, John Lewis always 
walked gracefully with the wind, following the words of Isaiah: ``They 
shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; 
they shall walk and not faint.''
  My friend, our hero, John Lewis never grew weary, no matter what the 
fight, including his last.
  It was a remarkable blessing, as we heard tonight, from so many, to 
serve with your hero, to have him meet and hug your children, to meet a 
true American hero. There was none like him in this Chamber, and I 
think there never will be.
  I will never forget the last hug that I got from him when I told him 
how much he meant to me; how much I appreciated his counsel; when he 
visited, how much I appreciated him coming to my district to speak with 
my community, and just all he did for all of us.
  And he whispered back, as he said to so many others, ``Just stay 
strong, my brother.''
  Mr. Lewis, that is the least we can do for you is to always stay 
strong.
  Congressman Lewis was an American icon, as we all know. But he was a 
gentle giant, and his life's work will live on forever. His presence, 
his humble kindness will always loom large over this House and over our 
great Nation.
  As Congressman Lewis said: ``If you see something that is not right, 
not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something about 
it.'' And I think we all need to remember that, especially now. I know 
that I will.
  Thank you, Congressman John Lewis, our friend. God bless you.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Axne). But please, I urge my 
colleagues, our time is very short. We want everyone to be able to 
speak, so please try to keep your comments under 2 minutes. One minute 
would be preferable.
  Mrs. AXNE. Madam Speaker, tonight I had the rare privilege to preside 
over the House as our colleagues spoke about our beloved colleague, 
John Lewis, an honor I will remember for the rest of my life.
  And as I turned to hear the stories from both Republicans and 
Democrats, I was struck by the sentiments over and over about how John 
not only gave them hope, but made them better human beings because of 
his silent strength, his hopeful nature, and his love for all, even in 
the face of despair.

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  As a new Member who is truly here because I believe there is need for 
more good trouble in this world and the need for those who will stand 
up for what is right, I am blessed to have been in John's presence and 
to have learned from him even in quick moments on the floor. His hope 
was contagious, as was his love for God, our country, and his fellow 
Americans. His enduring teachings will live on in all who seek out 
justice.
  God bless John Lewis, God bless his family, and may he live in peace 
and power.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the 
distinguished Member from New Mexico (Mr. Lujan).
  Mr. LUJAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of our friend 
and colleague John Lewis, the gentleman from Georgia, a great man, a 
treasure, and our brother.
  Congressman Lewis spent his life fighting for justice. When Mr. Lewis 
spoke, he did so with a force and moral clarity.
  He was an original freedom fighter who embodied what it means to be a 
humble public servant.
  John never let anything stand in the way of doing what was right. His 
legacy will continue by the generations of brothers and sisters he 
inspired to get in good trouble.
  It was a blessing to have known Congressman Lewis, and I know his 
light will continue shining bright in the courage and conviction of the 
American people. As we lay our friend to rest, the torch of justice 
shines bright. Let us honor Congressman Lewis by continuing his fight.
  Rest in power, my friend.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman 
from Maryland (Mr. Raskin).
  Mr. RASKIN. Madam Speaker, I thank Ms. Clark for organizing this 
beautiful observance and testimony to our beloved colleague.
  I want to praise John Lewis, not the Congressman, but John Lewis the 
member of SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a 
relative handful of students who began a process that transformed 
America forever and brought down the walls of American apartheid and 
Jim Crow through the extraordinary force of their physical courage, 
their moral courage, and their political courage to confront an entire 
system of racism bearing down upon them.
  The end of their struggle was nonviolence, to create a nonviolent 
society committed to justice and equality for everyone, and the means 
of arriving at that nonviolent society was nonviolence itself. So even 
as the sheriffs and police officers unleashed the German shepherds and 
the billy clubs on them, the water hoses and the teargas, they still 
remained remarkably nonviolent the entire way there.
  I asked John Lewis when we got to travel down South on the civil 
rights tour with the Faith and Politics Institute about where he 
thought things were. I think he felt that, in terms of civil rights, we 
have been moving things forward, but in terms of violence, we still had 
not remotely turned the corner.
  I said, what is going to make the difference? He said: When people 
realize that violence doesn't work. Leaving aside the morality of it, 
violence doesn't work.
  We talked about the Vietnam war. We talked about the Iraq war. We 
talked about gun violence sweeping the

[[Page H3691]]

streets. And we talked about domestic violence.
  I want to say that the spirit and the memory of John Lewis live in 
this body and this institution, which loves him. But I see the spirit 
of John Lewis today in the streets with the hundreds of thousands and 
millions of young Americans who are demanding nonviolent, just, and 
peaceful transformation of our society. John Lewis lives in the young 
people today, and he would be so proud of the young people of America.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, it is difficult to close 
such a remembrance and a celebration, and we will never close the 
chapter on our friendship, admiration, and reverence for John Lewis. 
But John Lewis, for me, has always been the embodiment of the words of 
Micah 6. John has shown us what is good: to love justice, love mercy, 
and walk humbly with your God.
  Rest in peace, power, and glory, Brother John.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________