[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 13 (Thursday, January 20, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE NATION IS CRYING OUT FOR DEMOCRACY

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the name of Dr. Martin 
Luther King and John Robert Lewis, our late colleague.
  I rise today to say that we are not finished. The work of this Nation 
is not finished, even in the aftermath of a sinister vote on the floor 
of the United States Senate that could not see clearly to determine 
that the Constitution and the right to vote rose above the silly and 
insignificant rule of the Senate called the filibuster.
  In the midst of that debate, we heard eloquent and beautiful 
statements about the many times the filibuster had been eliminated or 
relieved. We heard a brilliant analysis of the Constitution and the 
Founding Fathers' desire for the filibuster not to be in the 
Constitution, yet due process and the 15th Amendment are.
  Mr. Speaker, we saw justice crushed and democracy gored. In Texas, of 
course, more criminal laws are now related to voting. Poll watchers can 
attack voters in terms of what they are doing. We are now in a 
constitutional hearing in Judiciary. It is my commitment to go forward 
on the John Robert Lewis and all the bills attached to it because the 
Nation is crying out for justice. The country is crying out for 
democracy. We will not let it down. The Senate must continue its 
debate, and we must get these billed passed.

                          ____________________