[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8852]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         COMMENDING JOHN LEWIS

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate the life 
and legacy of Congressman John Robert Lewis of Georgia, and recognize 
the 50th anniversary of his chairmanship of the Student Nonviolent 
Coordinating Committee.
  John Lewis grew up during the heart of segregation, born as the son 
of sharecroppers and attending segregated schools in Pike County, AL. 
At a young age, he became inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa 
Parks, and decided that he too, would fight for equal rights guaranteed 
to all by the Constitution of the United States.
  John attended Fisk University, where he began his civil rights 
activism by organizing a sit-in at segregated lunch counters in 
Nashville, TN. He later became one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, 
bravely challenging segregation at interstate bus terminals throughout 
the South.
  In 1963, John Lewis was elected as chairman of the Student Nonviolent 
Coordinating Committee, which we are here to recognize today. He helped 
found this organization, which encouraged students to get involved in 
the civil rights movement and played a key role in the struggle to end 
legalized racial discrimination and segregation.
  By the age of 23, he was recognized as one of the ``Big Six'' leaders 
of the civil rights movement, planning and participating as the 
youngest speaker at the historic March on Washington in August 1963.
  He remains the last remaining speaker from this march.
  He continued his work, organizing the Mississippi Freedom Summer, a 
campaign to register black voters and expose students around the 
country to the perils and conditions in the South. Knowing what lay 
ahead, he risked his life to lead over 600 marchers across the Edmund 
Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL, only to be brutally attacked by Selma 
police officers. This massacre became known as Bloody Sunday, during 
which John's skull was fractured.
  He still bears the scars today.
  John remained chairman of the SNCC until 1966, and then continued his 
commitment to the civil rights movement as associate director of the 
Field Foundation and in various voter registration programs. Even after 
more than 40 arrests during his peaceful protests, John Lewis never 
gave up on his cause.
  He still remains devoted to non-violence and equality for all.
  In 1986, John was elected to serve as the U.S. Representative for 
Georgia's Fifth Congressional District, where he continues to serve his 
constituency and do remarkable work for the State of Georgia.
  He has been a loyal colleague and friend, and an invaluable member of 
the Georgia Congressional Delegation. John Lewis's unwavering ethical 
and moral principles have garnered admiration and respect from his 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and I am honored to have known 
him.
  Today, let us honor Mr. Lewis, who stood boldly against those who 
resisted racial equality. John's legacy will be remembered as one of 
great importance in American history.
  Like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, John continues to 
inspire those of us around him to fight for what we believe in.
  I hope we can all learn from the remarkable life of Congressman John 
Robert Lewis of Georgia.

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