[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 133 (Tuesday, July 28, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4547-S4548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 660--HONORING AND COMMEMORATING THE LIFE AND LEGACY 
                      OF REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS

  Mr. PERDUE (for himself, Mrs. Loeffler, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Schumer, 
Mr. Alexander, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Blackburn, 
Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Booker, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Braun, Mr. 
Brown, Mr. Burr, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Carper, Mr. 
Casey, Mr. Cassidy, Ms. Collins, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Cortez 
Masto, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Daines, Ms. 
Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Enzi, Ms. Ernst, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. 
Fischer, Mr. Gardner, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, Ms. 
Harris, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Hoeven, 
Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Jones, Mr. Kaine, Mr. 
Kennedy, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lee, Mr. 
Manchin, Mr. Markey, Ms. McSally, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Moran, 
Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Paul, Mr. Peters, Mr. 
Portman, Mr. Reed, Mr. Risch, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Romney, Ms. Rosen, Mr. 
Rounds, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Sasse, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Scott of 
Florida, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Shelby, Ms. 
Sinema, Ms. Smith, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Tester, Mr. Thune, 
Mr. Tillis, Mr. Toomey, Mr. Udall, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Warner, Ms. 
Warren, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Young) submitted 
the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 660

       Whereas the Senate mourns the loss of John Lewis, a titan 
     in the struggle for civil rights and equality for all races, 
     and commemorates his life and accomplishments;
       Whereas John Lewis was born during the era of Jim Crow in a 
     segregated community in which racism and discrimination ran 
     rampant;
       Whereas John Lewis's moral clarity and unwavering 
     commitment to nonviolence

[[Page S4548]]

     made his first passions preaching and ministry;
       Whereas John Lewis fought his first battle against 
     segregation when he was just a teenager, authoring a petition 
     for equal access to his local public library, where African 
     Americans had paid for the construction of the facilities but 
     were banned from checking out books;
       Whereas, before his 21st birthday, John Lewis established 
     his commitment to ``good trouble'' by organizing sit-ins at 
     segregated restaurants and theaters;
       Whereas John Lewis helped found the Student Nonviolent 
     Coordinating Committee, which advocated for civil 
     disobedience and nonviolent resistance against segregation 
     across the United States, bringing him to the forefront of 
     the struggle of the United States for civil rights;
       Whereas John Lewis participated in the 1961 Freedom Rides, 
     which were a series of trips that tested a new desegregation 
     order of interstate transportation facilities and resulted in 
     multiple beatings and the firebombing of the bus that John 
     Lewis was supposed to be riding;
       Whereas, at 23 years of age, John Lewis served as the 
     youngest member of the ``Big Six'', which planned the 1963 
     March on Washington, and worked alongside Martin Luther King, 
     Jr., James Farmer, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and 
     Whitney Young to advocate for racial equality and justice for 
     all;
       Whereas John Lewis courageously led protestors across the 
     Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, bravely bearing 
     violence from the police to embody the struggle of the United 
     States to live up to its founding ideals of equal justice 
     under the law;
       Whereas the bravery of John Lewis during ``Bloody Sunday'' 
     led Congress to pass, and President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign 
     into law, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 
     seq.), ensuring that African Americans have the right to 
     fully participate in the democratic process in the United 
     States;
       Whereas John Lewis faithfully served the city of Atlanta 
     between 1977 and 1981, embodying his election night promise 
     to ``bring a sense of ethics and moral courage'' to the 
     Atlanta City Council;
       Whereas John Lewis faithfully served the 5th congressional 
     district of Georgia in the House of Representatives between 
     1987 and 2020, serving as the ``conscience of the Congress'' 
     by continuing his pursuit of justice and truth in the capital 
     of the United States; and
       Whereas the Senate commends John Lewis for his life and for 
     embodying the spirit of love and dignity through his 
     unceasing advocacy for reconciliation, justice, and the 
     equality of all mankind: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the Senate--
       (A) has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the 
     announcement of the death of the Honorable John Lewis, a late 
     Member of the House of Representatives; and
       (B) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the 
     Senate--
       (i) communicate this resolution to the House of 
     Representatives; and
       (ii) transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the 
     family of John Lewis; and
       (2) when the Senate adjourns today, it stand adjourned as a 
     further mark of respect to the memory of the Honorable John 
     Lewis.

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