Ted Deutch: “This year we mark the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Freedom Summer, when hundreds of Americans traveled to Mississippi to…”

“This year we mark the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Freedom Summer, when hundreds of Americans traveled to Mississippi to fight discrimination and advance voting rights and equality under the law. Today I rise to recognize three Americans who gave their lives in that struggle: James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman. On June 21, 1964, these three activists--one African American and two Jewish--were kidnapped and murdered for working to register Black voters. Their lives, the lives of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, were claimed by hate, yet their faith in equality and justice and the right to vote lives on today through the historic Black-Jewish alliance born out of the civil rights movement. I proudly support honoring these three activists with a Congressional Gold Medal and would like to thank the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding for championing this cause. For 25 years, the foundation has advanced the values shared by the Jewish and African American communities, including tolerance, equal rights, and justice. As a Jewish American, it is an honor to fight for these values here in Congress today and every day. ____________________”