Terri Sewell: “As I close out this Special Order on voting rights, I would be remiss if I didn't say that, as a daughter of Selma, I…”

“As I close out this Special Order on voting rights, I would be remiss if I didn't say that, as a daughter of Selma, I can think of no more noble thing for me to fight for than voting rights and the full restoration of those voting rights. After all, it was because of the blood, sweat, and tears in my district and in my hometown that we have so many elected officials that are of color. It is no small wonder why we are seeing such efforts to go out and make sure that people don't have a right to vote when elected officials say in their remarks as they are introducing legislation for restrictive voting photo IDs, make comments like, ``Well, the people that we are restricting will only be Democratic voters.'' That just suggests to me that the reason why these restrictive voting photo ID laws were being promulgated was to do exactly that--suppress certain groups of voters. That is absolutely unacceptable and un-American. I could also tell you that one of the greatest moments for me on this House floor was when I had an opportunity to escort, as my State of the Union guest in 2015, Miss Amelia Boynton Robinson, who was 104 when she came to the State of the Union in 2015. You see, Miss Amelia Boynton Robinson, on Bloody Sunday in 1965, was bludgeoned on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, along with Congressman John Lewis. But at 104 years old, she was so excited to come to this august body and to hear President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address.…”