[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 120 (Monday, July 14, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H3235-H3240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING JOHN LEWIS
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Ms.
McClellan of Virginia was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of
the minority leader.)
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in to revise and extend their remarks and
include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.
Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to anchor this
Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour marking the fifth
anniversary this Thursday of when we lost a civil rights giant,
Congressman John Lewis.
Congressman Lewis' parting words to us were published in The New York
Times in an op-ed entitled, ``Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our
Nation.''
It was a message of hope as he passed the baton as a drum major for
justice to the next generation of Americans. His words are more
necessary today than ever and need to be repeated.
For the next hour, my colleagues will hear members of the
Congressional Black Caucus and other members who served with
Congressman Lewis or were inspired by him, using his own words to talk
about his legacy.
I would like to start with the beginning of his op-ed, which is
poignantly relevant today.
``While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that
in the last days and hours of my life, you inspired me. You filled me
with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you
used your power to make a difference in our society.
Millions of people, motivated simply by human compassion, laid down
the burdens of division. Around the country and around the world, you
set aside race, class, age, language, and nationality to demand respect
for human dignity.''
Mr. Speaker, we need that call, that clarion call, that demand for
respect for human dignity today more than ever before. We need the hope
and inspiration that this drum major for justice saw in the next
generation that would succeed him in the battle for the soul of our
Nation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke)
and the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
{time} 1935
Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from
Virginia for yielding.
``Our society is not unlike the children in that house, rocked again
and again by the winds of one storm or another. . . . The people of
conscience never left the house.''
In his memoir in 1998, ``Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of the
Movement,'' the great Congressman John Lewis recounted a childhood
memory of being caught in a terrifying storm with a group of children
in his Aunt Seneva's small house in Pike County, Alabama, near the town
of Troy.
As the storm tried to lift the house, John and the children held
hands and worked together, using their unity as their strength to
stabilize the home. This was, among many things, a metaphor for how
society, especially in moments of discord, upheaval, and conflict,
requires people to come together, hold on, and stand firm against
forces trying to tear it apart.
As it happens, Congressman Lewis' timeless words speak directly to
the unique moment we find ourselves in today. With the unprecedented
assaults on our voting rights and the slow erosion of our
constitutional and democratic norms, the house most certainly is in
danger.
Voting rights are, and have always been, the CBC's North Star, and
right now, the franchise, this tool, the foundation of our democracy,
is under threat. At a time when our democracy is under constant siege
by the Trump administration, we must do all we can to protect it.
As we speak, extremist Republicans at the local, State, and national
levels are running the table with every tactic in their arsenal to
disenfranchise Black and minority communities. To date, hundreds of
bills to restrict voting access have been introduced in States around
the country, with the aim of closing polling locations, curbing early
voting and vote by mail, and imposing stricter voting ID requirements.
These efforts are coordinated, well funded, and targeting our
communities with laser-like precision.
The question now is: What are we going to do to stop it?
For generations, we have marched, fought, and even died for the right
to vote. Congressman Lewis certainly knew this.
It is a shame that partisan politics have brought us to the point
that we cannot agree that access to the ballot box should be a right
afforded to every American.
Congressman John Lewis devoted every day of his life to fighting to
make our country live up to its highest ideals and to the promise that
all men, and may I add women, are created equal.
From the Edmund Pettus Bridge to the Halls of Congress, the boy from
Troy never stopped making good trouble. It is in that spirit that the
CBC and House Democrats will always fight back against the voter
suppression that plagues our country and impedes access to the ballot
box, particularly in Black communities.
It is in that spirit that we will not stop until we pass the John R.
Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore and modernize the
protections of the Voting Rights Act to prevent States from erecting
new barriers to the ballot box.
As our beloved John said: The people of conscience never left the
house.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr.
Horsford), who is our immediate past chair of the Congressional Black
Caucus.
Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the
Commonwealth of Virginia for yielding.
``What is right? . . . If we act on the answer with courage and
commitment, we will overcome all that stands between us and the glory
of a truly beloved community.''
Those are the words of our dear friend and colleague, Representative
John Lewis. He didn't just preach these words. He lived them.
Progress only lasts when protected by vigilance. Today, our democracy
faces threats so similar to what Representative John Lewis endured--
voter suppression, book bans, and economic injustice. The solution
isn't to step back. It is to lean in.
That is why I am proud to cosponsor the John R. Lewis Voting Rights
Advancement Act and reintroduce the Break the Cycle of Violence Act to
carry his work and legacy forward.
Let's do more to remember this giant among men. Let's legislate.
Let's lead. Above all, let's get in what he called ``good trouble,
necessary trouble.''
I commend our chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, all of
our members, and the Members of this House to carry on the legacy of
Representative John Lewis.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio
(Mrs. Beatty), who is the former chair of the Congressional Black
Caucus.
Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan
for yielding and to our chairwoman, Congresswoman Clarke, for her
leadership.
In the words of John Lewis: ``Democracy is not a state. It is an act,
and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the
beloved community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.''
Mr. Speaker, on this fifth anniversary of the passing of Congressman
[[Page H3236]]
John Lewis, I rise to sound the alarm: Our democracy demands action
now. The democracy that John Lewis fought for and bled for still
remains under attack.
After the Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder decision, nearly
100 new laws surfaced, closing polling places, cutting early voting,
banning drop boxes, and changing ID rules.
Who is paying the price? It is our democracy.
That is not policy, Mr. Speaker. That is persecution. These
restrictions aren't about protecting democracy. It is simply a modern
poll tax in disguise, aimed to confuse and designed to suppress and
discourage voters.
When we vote, when we fight, we win at the ballot box. I know this
firsthand, and I know the importance of acting for our democracy. You
see, Mr. Speaker, I marched with Congressman John Lewis in Washington,
in Selma, and in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio, to the board of elections
to stand up and to stand against voter suppression with a new
generation of warriors in that fight.
That is why we must pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement
Act and the Freedom to Vote Act to end discriminatory practices and
make it easier, Mr. Speaker, for everyone to vote. That is because our
democracy is not a state. It is an act.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Pelosi), who is the Speaker emerita and who worked with
Congressman Lewis very closely for many years.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia for
calling us together on this anniversary week of losing John Lewis. Many
of us served with him in this body. I served with him for 30 years, my
brother. He challenged us each day to do our very best for the American
people by his words and by his example.
As the distinguished former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus,
we marched with him in Atlanta. We marched with him in Selma again and
again. We marched in Washington. We followed his lead wherever he took
us to make this statement.
As a distinguished chair of the Caucus, Congresswoman Clarke of New
York mentioned earlier voter suppression and how John was here to fight
it. I will go into that in a moment. First, I want to quote John Lewis:
``In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate the way of peace, the
way of love and nonviolence, is the more excellent way.''
``Now it is your turn,'' he said, ``to let freedom ring.''
Mr. Speaker, John Lewis' lasting legacy represents both the progress
of our Nation and the promise of what our Nation can become. He
believed in a better tomorrow and a more perfect Union, one country and
one destiny. He believed in all of us. He had a deep faith in the
goodness of people, and he believed that everyone was worthy of
respect.
Again, I was honored to serve with him for more than 30 years, and I
learned from him all that time. I saw in this Congress how he taught us
through words and actions what true moral leadership looks like.
From time to time, when he rose to speak, he reminded us of our duty
to the American people, to lift up our voices and to guide them to a
future where freedom and justice are not just ideals but guarantees.
As the distinguished chair of the Caucus and the former chair, Mr.
Steven Horsford, as well as Congresswoman Beatty, mentioned, he was
there. He said that the right to vote was so central to our freedom. He
wrote the first 300 pages of the For the People Act, which was to end
voter suppression.
We all know of his leadership, as we see in the title of the John R.
Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which is still not there.
Today, as we witness attacks on civil rights, democracy, diversity,
and even people's basic necessities, many Americans are looking for
hope.
In these moments, let us be reminded of John's spirit and honor him
not just with words but with deeds. It is on us to rise to the moment
and to get in good trouble for the children. Let freedom ring.
{time} 1950
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia
(Mr. Johnson), one of John Lewis' delegation mates.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for
yielding time, and I thank the Congressional Black Caucus and the
leadership of Yvette Clarke for hosting this Special Order hour to
honor John Lewis, who was a one-of-a-kind public servant. He served
humanity as a youth and as an adult, and he served we, the people,
before and during his many years in elected office on the local and
Federal levels of government.
I had the honor and pleasure of serving closely with John Lewis
during 14 of my 19 years here in Congress. During those years, I
learned so much from John Lewis. We all did. I continue to learn from
the writings he left for posterity.
The lessons Congressman Lewis imparts in his book, ``Walking with the
Wind: A Memoir of the Movement'' today inspires us and provides us with
direction on the way forward during these unprecedented and deeply
disturbing times in which we are living.
John tells the story about 15 children outside playing in his Aunt
Seneva's dirt yard. The sky began clouding over, the wind started
picking up, lightning flashed, and suddenly the 15 children felt
terrorized.
John's Aunt Seneva was the only adult around. As the sky blackened
and the wind grew stronger, she herded those 15 children inside her
small, clapboard house. With 16 people squeezed into that house, it was
surprisingly quiet as the wind howled, and the house built on cinder
blocks began to shake. They were scared. Even Aunt Seneva was scared.
Then it got worse.
Now the house was beginning to sway. The wood plank flooring beneath
them began to bend. Then a corner of the room started lifting up. He
couldn't believe what he was seeing. None of them could. This storm was
actually pulling the house toward the sky with them inside. That was
when Aunt Seneva told them to clasp hands, line up and hold hands, she
said, and they did as they were told.
Then she had them walk as a group toward the corner of the room that
was rising. From the kitchen to the front of the house they walked, the
wind screaming inside, sheets of rain beating on the tin roof. Then
they walked back in the other direction as another end of the house
began to lift. So it went, back and forth, 15 children walking with the
wind, holding that trembling house down with the weight of their small
bodies.
The 15 children, Mr. Speaker, in that small house, with a fierce
storm upon it, is the America that we see today. Those 15 children
represent Black, White, Latino, and Asian people. Among them are our
LGBTQ brothers and sisters. They are Democrats, Republicans, and
Independents. We are diverse. We are all equal, and we find ourselves
included in the same house, America. That house, or our country, is
under assault.
More than half a century has passed since that day that John just
spoke about. It has struck me, he said, more than once over those many
years, that our society is not unlike the children in that house rocked
again and again by winds of one storm or another, the walls around us
seeming at times as if they might fly apart.
But, Mr. Speaker, a storm always passes, and the Sun always comes
out. As Aunt Seneva said, clasp hands, walk to the corner of the house
that is moving, and then move to the next corner, and the next, and
don't stop until the storm blows over.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Alabama
(Ms. Sewell), who has made sure that Members of Congress follow the
footsteps that John Lewis took, where he bled for our right not only to
vote but to be here in this Chamber.
Ms. SEWELL. Mr. Speaker, never give up. Never give in. Keep the faith
and keep your eyes on the prize.
Those were the words of John Lewis as he crossed the Edmund Pettus
Bridge for the last time before his passing in 2020. If I close my
eyes, I can hear him say it: Never give up. Never give in. And keep the
faith.
His body was frail and stricken with cancer, but his mind was sharp.
His charge to us was clear. No matter what challenges we face, we can
never give up.
[[Page H3237]]
In these troubling times, I think of those words often. John would
have a lot to say about what is going on these days: the attacks on our
democracy, the erasing of our history, the efforts to make it harder
for people to vote.
Old battles have indeed become new again. But if there is one thing
that John has taught us, it is that we must press on.
Just imagine where we would be if John Lewis and those foot soldiers
had given up on Bloody Sunday. They were beaten and bruised. They were
gassed and whipped. They had every reason to throw up their hands and
surrender, but they didn't. They got back up, they tried again, and
they marched on until victory was won.
So as we navigate this dark chapter of our history, let us be guided
by their persistence and inspired by their determination. Let us pledge
that we will introduce in Congress after Congress after Congress the
John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act until victory is won.
We can be tired. We can be frustrated. We can be downright mad. But
we can never give up.
From the boy from Troy to the girl from Selma, in remembrance of John
Lewis, let's keep the faith and let's keep our eyes on the prize.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North
Carolina (Ms. Adams).
Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia for
yielding.
When you see something that is not right, not fair, or not just, you
have a moral obligation to say something, to do something. Those were
John Lewis' words.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the fifth anniversary of the late, great
John Lewis' passing, a firebrand, a trailblazer, a mentor, and a leader
whose outsized presence can still be felt throughout the Halls of
Congress.
Congressman Lewis taught us that we have a moral obligation to root
out injustice wherever we find it proudly, boldly, and
unapologetically.
He believed that the soul of our Nation hinged on everyday people
dedicating themselves to the pursuit of justice. To honor his life and
legacy, we must speak out about the injustices we face today.
The one big, ugly bill that my Republican colleagues applauded and
cheered in this very Chamber earlier this month stands opposed to
everything Congressman Lewis spent his life fighting for. It strips
care away from the sick, threatening Medicaid for more than a half
million North Carolinians. It takes food off the plates of the hungry,
with 1.4 million North Carolinians, including 600,000 children, now at
risk of losing their food assistance. It denies our children the right
to a quality education, targeting our public schools and making it even
harder for average Americans to afford higher education.
Make no mistake. This bill places the American Dream further out of
reach for nearly everyone who calls our country home and breaks the
American promise. The one big, ugly bill is a betrayal of our country.
It is up to every single person in the United States, the ordinary
people with extraordinary vision, to join us in standing against it.
We must fight back the way John Lewis did, using our voice, our
actions, and our communities to right wrongs and to protect those who
are suffering from the injustices they face. This is the moral
obligation that Congressman Lewis talked to us about. Now is the time
to speak up, to act up, and yes, cut up, if we have to, but let's go
make some good trouble.
{time} 2000
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield to the
gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman).
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding me time.
Wherever community is interrupted by evil or hatred, by greed, or by
the lust for power, it is the moral responsibility of people of good
will to respond.
John Lewis wrote those words over 27 years ago. He was echoing calls
for resistance to oppression passed down from our Founding Fathers, but
it could very well have been said about today.
John was calling on all of us to fight for our communities. It was a
call for solidarity. It was a call to reject the corporate influence
that permeates our politics and puts profits over people.
Today, we are seeing the GOP pass bills that cut nutrition assistance
to pay for corporate tax cuts, bills that cut funding to nursing homes
to pay for billionaire vacation homes, and Republican Senators with Ivy
League degrees working to eliminate college loans for poor students who
are trying to work their way into the middle class. It will take all of
us to change this culture of greed and put people over politics.
John Lewis was a hero of mine not just because he raised up working-
class Americans with his soaring rhetoric but because he walked the
walk. He put his body on the line because he knew that the power of the
people is greater than the people in power.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey
for her words.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to Representative Lucy McBath, one of
Congressman Lewis' delegation mates from Georgia.
Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Representative
McClellan from Virginia, for leading this time here on the House floor.
Mr. Speaker, it is pretty difficult to believe that it has actually
been 5 years that have passed since the loss of our dear friend and our
colleague, Congressman John Lewis.
At this delicate moment in our Nation's history, we draw upon the
wisdom of his words and look to his legacy for strength and guidance as
we carry the torch that he lit for civil rights.
In his last words to the American people, John wrote: ``Ordinary
people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by
getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and
participating in the democratic process are key.''
Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of a
nation. Where else but America could one develop that sense of
conviction?
John Lewis knew it was true because he lived it every single day of
his life. The son of sharecroppers who preached to chickens as a young
boy when nobody else would listen would go on to become known as the
conscience of Congress, this body. It is a legislative body which once
denied him his right to participate in American democracy.
When John marched, Americans were moved to act with him. When he
spoke, people listened. When he participated in sit-ins, including one
in this very Chamber, to confront the issue of gun violence in America,
he challenged each of us to join him in getting in that good and
necessary trouble to raise the consciousness of the American public and
lay down the heavy burdens of hate.
Ordinary people with extraordinary vision, that is who John Lewis
was, and it is who he calls on each of us to be, especially in this day
and in this hour.
We must continue to honor his legacy with unshakeable determination
to fight for what is right and for what is just because I promise you
that this is exactly what the American people deserve.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield to
Congressman Lewis' successor, Representative Nikema Williams of
Georgia's Fifth.
Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding.
``Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic.''
``Ours is not the struggle of 1 day, 1 week, or 1 year . . . ours is
the struggle of a lifetime. . . . `'
When Congressman John Lewis spoke these words, he was reminding us
that justice work is much longer than a moment. It is a commitment, a
calling, and a lifelong fight.
Mr. Speaker, 60 years after he put his body on the line for our
freedom, our struggle continues. We are marching in our communities and
fighting back in committee rooms.
We do this to push back against cuts to Medicaid that will leave NICU
babies without care, cuts to SNAP that will take food out of the mouths
of children and seniors, and cuts to education that will tell our
students to dream smaller.
We bring our full selves to the struggle in many ways: through early
mornings in community centers and late nights on the House floor; by
standing up at the mike and showing up in the
[[Page H3238]]
margins; through townhalls and negotiating in the Halls of Congress;
and through sitting in, standing firm, and speaking out.
Getting into good trouble was never a one-size-fits-all call to
action, and we honor the legacy of Congressman Lewis when we all find
always to get in the way.
Mr. Speaker, this moment is not the last struggle that we will face,
but we fight anyway with hope, with intention, and with determination
to achieve the beloved community. This is the struggle of a lifetime,
the struggle of our lifetime. With urgency, clarity, and intention, we
march on.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from
Louisiana (Mr. Carter).
Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from
Virginia for yielding.
`` . . . the path to which I've been committed . . . extends beyond
the issue of race alone, and beyond class as well. And gender. And age.
And every other distinction that tends to separate us. . . .''
These words are from Congressman John Lewis. These words from the
late, great Congressman John Lewis remind us that the struggle for
justice isn't confined to just one issue, one identity, or one
community. It is a path that winds through race, class, gender, age,
ability, sexual orientation, and faith because injustice does not
discriminate, and neither should our fight to end it.
Intersectionality teaches us that we must see the whole person, not
just a voter, a worker, or a statistic but a human carrying layered
experiences that public policy must protect. Civil rights cannot be
carved up. They must be defended broadly, boldly, and universally.
As a son of the South and as a Congressman from Louisiana, I know the
dual truths of this region, the undeniable progress that we have made,
and the painful inequities that still persist. In the very soil where
freedom once faltered, we have seen hope rise, but let's not mistake
signs of change for signs of completion. Our work is far from done.
From voting rights to reproductive justice, from health equity to
environmental justice, from economic fairness to criminal justice
reform, the fight continues, and it must be rooted in policies that
recognize the full complexity of who people are.
This isn't about left or right. It is about right and wrong. It is
about ensuring that, whether you are Black, White, rich, poor, young,
old, gay, straight, rural, or urban, your dignity is protected, your
rights are upheld, and your government sees you.
Let's walk the path that John Lewis laid for us with moral clarity,
radical inclusion, and relentless love not just for some but for all.
That is how we protect democracy. That is how we make good trouble.
That is how we build a more perfect union.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Ivey).
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding and for
organizing this Special Order hour honoring the life of the late
colleague of ours, Congressman John Lewis.
Congressman Lewis once said: ``Ordinary people with extraordinary
vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good
trouble, necessary trouble.''
We need to get into good trouble now more than ever.
{time} 2010
It certainly feels like today we are in the struggle for the soul of
America, a soul that desperately needs healing.
In the fight to heal the soul of America in 1965, Congressman Lewis
got into good trouble. The good trouble he found himself in in Selma
nearly cost him his life, but from that good trouble came great
progress: the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Medicaid,
Medicare, and the Fair Housing Act. These were monumental achievements
made possible through many years of nonviolent struggle by ordinary
people with an extraordinary vision.
Sadly, 60 years later, it feels like we are going backward. Last time
we were on this floor, House Republicans passed a bill to rip away
healthcare from millions of Americans and to take food assistance away
from families in need.
For House Republicans and President Trump, making it harder for kids
to eat so that some billionaires can pay less in taxes, may count as
progress, but America is better than that.
To move in the right direction again, we must fight back for what we
believe in: to protect the vulnerable, to assist those in need, and to
fight against discrimination.
John Lewis serves as an inspiration for all of us during these
unprecedented and difficult times for so many of our constituents. We
must stay engaged, stay focused, and stay committed to the American
ideals we cherish, the ideals Congressman John Lewis fought for both in
this House and in Selma.
To heal the soul of America, again, we need to remain inspired by
John Lewis and to get into good trouble again.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from
California, Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove.
Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia
for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Black Caucus is often referred to as
the ``conscience of the Congress,'' and Congressman John Lewis was our
North Star.
I never had the privilege of serving alongside Congressman Lewis, who
is also my fraternity brother, but 5 years after his passing, his
faith, his words, his story, and his work inform my work.
I often recall his words: ``It is not about who wins. It is not even
about who is right. It is about what is right. That never changes.''
Regardless of if our districts are cobalt blue or ruby red, every
single Member of Congress took an oath to do right by our constituents
and to fight for policies that not only help them get by but help them
get ahead. However, Mr. Speaker, my Republican colleagues have just
enacted the largest transfer of wealth from the working class to the
top 1 percent in our Nation's history, cutting essential programs and
leaving many Americans poorer, sicker, and hungrier.
Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, they continue to turn a blind eye to our
neighbors, friends, and family members who are being torn from our
communities by this administration's militarized ICE. No matter who is
in power, we should all agree that it is unacceptable for infants to go
without formula, for toddlers to attend school on empty bellies, and
for children to be handcuffed and separated from their parents.
It is wrong for children battling cancer to lose access to healthcare
or to be deported to countries they have never known.
Mr. Speaker, if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle cannot
put politics aside to advocate for children, then who are they truly
standing up for? I will let you all figure that one out.
America is at a crossroads. Where we go from here as a nation depends
on those courageous enough to stand for the most vulnerable among us
rather than selling us out to the highest bidder.
Mr. Speaker, as congressional Republicans stare down both paths, I
urge them to remember the words of John Lewis, one of the greatest to
have ever served: ``It is not about who wins. It is not even about who
is right. It is about what is right. That never changes.''
May they find even a fraction of the courage that Congressman Lewis
had and do right by their constituents.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Rhode
Island, Gabe Amo.
Mr. AMO. Mr. Speaker, as Congressman John Lewis said: ``We live
together in the same house. If one section of our house begins to rot,
the entire structure is in danger of collapsing.''
This week marks 5 years since his passing, but his words are more
important than ever.
Congressman Lewis understood that the fate of all Americans was
intertwined, and that laws that hurt one, hurt us all.
Take the tragic action on Medicaid, for example. Just 2 weeks ago,
Republicans in this very Chamber passed Donald Trump's big, ugly bill
which included the largest cuts to Medicaid in the program's history.
Republicans slashed nearly $1 trillion from the program, leaving
roughly 17 million Medicaid and Affordable Care Act recipients without
health insurance.
[[Page H3239]]
Every American, no matter where they get their health coverage, will
be hurt by this law.
Just like a leak in the roof of a house can cause rot that could
collapse the entire structure, these cuts could bring down the entirety
of our healthcare system.
Republican cuts to Medicaid erode vital funding for hospitals in low-
income and rural communities, will shutter one in four nursing homes,
and cripple Americans' access to behavioral healthcare. It will make
emergency room wait times longer. It will close local doctor's offices.
It will mean the Black students, some of the least resourced, won't be
able to get government-backed student loans to fund their full medical
education.
If Congressman Lewis were here with us in this Chamber, he would be
at the vanguard, decrying this immoral, sinful, cruel bill. He was a
key player in moving our Nation closer to securing the right
of healthcare for all, eliminating disparities in health equity, and
improving access to care in his role to draft the Affordable Care Act.
We must stand up as our colleagues on the other side of the aisle
strip away Americans' Medicaid and hurt that legacy of the Affordable
Care Act. We must, as Congressman Lewis would remind us, do the right
thing, cause good trouble, and ensure that no one, no one destroys the
progress that we have made.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia
(Mr. Bishop), one of Congressman Lewis' delegation mates.
Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I am honored to speak today in tribute to the life and
legacy of an iconic American patriot John Robert Lewis, our friend and
colleague who transitioned from labor to reward 5 years ago this week.
John was and still is the conscience of this Congress. In his
posthumously published op-ed, ``Together, you can redeem the soul of
our Nation,'' John Lewis wrote: ``I just had to see and feel it for
myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still
marching on.''
Those words speak to us today as truth is no longer valued in our
public dialogue. Lies are rampant from our public spaces in support of
denying basic rights of voting, health, nutrition, opportunity, and
humanity.
In official attempts to rewrite and whitewash our history, lies to
deny diversity, equity, and inclusion, lies to remove African American
and other culture and racial groups from public spaces in our history
books and museums, John told us we must study and learn the lessons of
history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching,
existential struggle for a very long time.
{time} 2020
John wrote: ``The truth does not change, and that is why the answers
worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of
our time.''
``Truth does not change,'' he said. We must continue to use the truth
of history to move us forward. Yes, the truth is still marching on.
Lowell said: ``Truth forever on the scaffold. Wrong forever on the
throne. Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown
standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.''
John gave his life for the truth that all men and women are entitled
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is our duty to keep
up his fight, to get into good trouble, to make that happen.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New
Jersey (Mrs. McIver).
Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise as a new voice, as a new face, as a new
generation, but still living by the words: ``When you see something
that is not right, you must say something. You must do something.
Democracy is not a state. It is an act.''
Those words, the words of the late John Lewis, are as relevant now as
they have ever been. They ring true in a time when our democracy is
threatened, in a time when politicians attempt to choose their voters
instead of letting their voters choose them in an effort to suppress
the voices of the American people, and when the powerful reject
accountability and oversight and come after those who stand up against
cruelty.
Representative John Lewis believed that our democracy is precious and
sacred. He believed that showing up and taking action had the power to
create a more perfect Union. He was right. His passion for peace,
justice, and a true belief in America inspired generations.
Today, we stand on his shoulders as we continue to fight to protect
our democracy on so many fronts, and as we defend that sacred right at
the heart of it: Our voice, our vote.
I am proud to stand beside my colleagues in this work and the battle
for the soul of our democracy.
Mr. Speaker, I will continue to allow the spirit of John Lewis to
encourage me to act and to get into some good trouble and necessary
trouble to redeem the soul of America.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Alabama
(Mr. Figures).
Mr. FIGURES. Mr. Speaker, in his final op-ed, Congressman Lewis said:
``You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity
has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a
very long time.''
Some may take those as just wise words from a civil rights icon, but
for me, I take that statement as a personal charge because I now have
the privilege, the blessing, of representing not only the birthplace of
the civil rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama, but also the
birthplace of John Lewis, the man who often referred to himself as the
boy from Troy, which is a small town in Pike County, Alabama, which is
now in District Two, a district, I might add, that exists in its
current format today because of the Voting Rights Act, the very same
Voting Rights Act that John Lewis risked his life to see enacted.
Those words in that final op-ed, to me, are a charge to not forget
where we have come from or what we have been through as a nation, but
also a charge to be vigilant and to commit to ensuring that we never go
back to certain days in this country's past.
That charge is becoming increasingly more important by the day. It
seems that every day there is another effort to set us back to times we
thought we were beyond as a nation: from watching the current
administration walk back school desegregation consent decrees to the
closing of civil rights offices across the Federal Government, to
straight-on attacks to efforts to ensure that the playing field is
balanced for everybody, regardless of what you look like.
It seems to me that we are forgetting where we came from as a nation,
forgetting the times when people who look like me did not have the
opportunity or the privilege to live in the same America as people who
don't look like me.
These are not just efforts by this current administration to overtly
roll back equal protections and access, but even in this very body,
where just recently we passed legislation that imposes student loan
borrowing caps on Americans who want to be doctors or lawyers, and
those caps are less than the average cost of those degrees.
To some people, they may say that is just race-neutral. Those lessons
of history that John Lewis was speaking of teach us a different lesson.
They teach us, in practice, that means fewer Black people will be able
to become lawyers, and fewer Black people will be able to become
doctors.
That means fewer opportunities. That means fewer Black parents can
tell their kids that they can literally be anything they want to be
when they grow up. They must now caveat that by saying: If we can
afford it, you can be a doctor. If our credit is good enough, you may
be able to be a lawyer.
That same history that clarifies what those recent actions mean tells
us that, no matter how dark the days may be now, no matter how dark the
motives or the efforts are, no matter how dark the outcomes may be,
those spaces can never be as dark as they once were because the light
of progress made hangs forever in those spaces. The light of John Lewis
hangs forever in those spaces.
[[Page H3240]]
This is not a moment of complacency. We cannot afford to be
complacent in this moment. We must aggressively continue the fight, as
my colleagues have so eloquently laid out here tonight. We must
continue the fight for justice, learning from our past and building
upon the legacy of John Lewis and others, which demands that, in
moments like this, we stand firm, keep the faith, and continue the
struggle.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Simon).
Ms. SIMON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the late Congressman
John Robert Lewis on the fifth anniversary of his passing.
Congressman Lewis said, in a beautiful quote: ``Children holding
hands, walking with the wind. That is America to me . . . the endless
struggle to respond with decency, dignity, and a sense of
brotherhood.''
We are so thankful for the long-living, forever legacy of Congressman
Lewis. Before he took the oath here in this room, many of us studied
his legacy as a young activist and organizer. It shows depth with peace
and clarity.
He held hands with others and walked across the bridge in Selma to
meet what we know then was a violent mob, who they themselves swore to
decency. They beat those young people that day, young people who rose
up and decided that they, too, belonged to a democracy that they were
born into but never saw. Their mothers never saw it. Their fathers
never saw it.
These young people took the mantle of peace and shone a mirror, a
mirror of hatred, of segregation, of degradation, and they walked away
harmed but with more clarity. Mr. Lewis was one of the leaders that
day.
Those who studied the theology of freedom that is so deeply embedded
in all of our faith traditions know that the actions of Mr. Lewis on
that bridge, on the streets, and on this floor will forever live.
Before I end, I want to go back to that quote: ``Children holding
hands, walking with the wind.'' Those children, America's children,
need us now more than ever.
Children will go back to school in 6 weeks, and because of what has
been done on this Hill recently, they will not have school lunches. We
will diminish the Department of Education. The Office of Civil Rights
within the Department of Education, which is responsible for making
sure that those children, disabled children, children who had been
pushed to the side, had national standards so that they, too, could be
centered in the classroom with dignity and support.
We are tearing those winds apart. As children go hungry, as they are
pushed to the side in their classrooms, as we continue to pay teachers
less than what they are worth, I ask folks to do what we have learned
from our dear mentor, John Lewis: Shine the light with peace and
dignity upon those who put forth evil, who strike down the widow, who
take food from the poor, who take the word of our God out of context,
and who feed the wealthy while starving the homeless.
We will forever walk in Mr. Lewis' path for justice, for liberty, and
for the sake of our children who need and deserve the winds at their
back.
{time} 2030
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Onder). The gentlewoman from Virginia
has 3\1/2\ minutes remaining.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, one of my biggest regrets is that I did
not get to serve with Congressman Lewis, but I did get to meet him. He
came to Richmond about a year, year and a half before he passed, for
the renaming of Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
I had the opportunity to sit with him at lunch and ride with him to
an exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in a former Confederate
chapel, on land that was once a Confederate veteran's home.
Walking into that chapel, knowing the history that occurred there and
watching John Lewis sit and listen for the first time to the speech he
gave during the Clinton impeachment, and he had tears streaming down
his eyes. The quote that sticks with me is when he asked in his booming
voice: ``Is this good for America? If it's good for the American
people, it's good for the institution.'' That, Mr. Speaker, is the
question I ask myself every day in this office.
John Lewis understood, just as Dr. King did, he wasn't going to reach
the promised land of that more perfect Union, but he fought for it.
In his final words to us, he said: ``Though I may not be here with
you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand
up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all that I can to
demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is
the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.
``When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st
century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the
heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over
violence, aggression, and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind,
brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of
everlasting love be your guide.''
John Lewis handed us the baton. Are we going to pick it up?
Are we going to carry on his work?
The Congressional Black Caucus will make sure we do.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back my time.
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