Political Quotes

“I oppose this amendment because it is a mere distraction. It is an attempt to politicize the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by interjecting campaign finance and settlement terms into civil rights legislation. If Republicans were really serious about voting rights--about voting rights--they would actually be willing to come to the table and talk about how we can fully restore section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Leave it up to our colleagues across the aisle to interject money and finance into civil rights law. What has been lost today in this debate is the very heart of this bill; it is the central meaning of the bill. Let's not forget the brave patriots of the civil rights and voting rights movement who marched, prayed, and died for the right to vote. These foot soldiers for equality, like our very own John Lewis, were ordinary citizens who dared to achieve extraordinary social change by forcing this Nation to live up to its ideals of equality and justice for all. We know, Mr. Speaker, that the price of freedom is not free. It has been bought and paid for by those brave foot soldiers so that, one day, a little Black girl from Selma, Alabama, could sit in this august body. I know I am not the only Black and Brown colleague of ours who owes our very presence in this Chamber to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Mr. Speaker, old battles have become new again. We fight for the same equity that these foot soldiers fought for in Selma. Progress is elusive.…”