[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 129 (Thursday, July 22, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H3806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           CONGRESS MUST ACT

  (Ms. DEAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DEAN. Mr. Speaker, last week marked a year since our country lost 
a giant and a friend to all, John Lewis.
  Republicans and Democrats of both Chambers rightfully used our 
platforms to memorialize a man who gave so much, and as many say, he 
was the conscience of our caucus.
  Mr. Lewis nearly lost his life at the age of 25 to those on the other 
side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in March of 1965 as he nonviolently 
protested voter suppression laws.
  And he dedicated the rest of his life to justice, equality, and 
protecting the right to vote.
  Mr. Speaker, 66 years later we are again on that bridge. Seventeen 
States have passed 28 laws to make it more difficult to exercise our 
constitutional right to vote.
  We must act.
  So I say to my colleagues that stand in the way of the John Lewis 
Voting Rights Act, would you also have stood on the other side of that 
bridge?
  Mr. Lewis understood we could not wait for those on the other side of 
the bridge to join us. We must secure, protect, and expand the right to 
vote for all Americans to truly honor Mr. Lewis' life, legacy, and our 
democracy.

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