On the recordJuly 22, 2020
I thank the gentleman for yielding. What a void we feel tonight. I rise to honor the life and legacy of a great warrior for peace and justice, a kind and gentle human being, the conscience of the Congress, Congressman John Lewis. As a giant of, as our whip indicated, a civil rights movement, John's leadership and his courage continued as an extraordinary congressional leader. Every year, I joined John on his annual pilgrimage to Selma, Montgomery, and Birmingham, Alabama. I brought young people from the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center in my district and my grandchildren each year to learn about and give thanks to the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. John always took time to meet with these young people. Even this year, with his failing health, he pulled them aside. He met with them. He always wanted to, and he did, inspire them to take that baton and to run the next lap of the race for justice and equality. And, yes, like with so many, he blessed my community by coming to my district to continue these efforts with my young people. Last year, Speaker Pelosi and Chairwoman Bass led a delegation to Ghana, West Africa, to observe the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans brought to America. John said that Ghana was one of the most moving trips of his life.…
