Austin Scott: “this Voting Rights Act is the most important piece of legislation that has been passed in this modern time in our…”

“this Voting Rights Act is the most important piece of legislation that has been passed in this modern time in our Congress. As I stand here, I am reminded of the words that we used so much as we would go through the South, going up against the Bull Connors, going up against the night riders, going up against the Ku Klux Klan with the courage that was taken and that is still needed today because, unfortunately, discrimination still exists throughout this Nation in various places. And for those who want to say, why punish the South or why punish the State, why is it that you would think of the Voting Rights Act as a punishment? The Voting Rights Act is not a punishment. It is a liberator of those who have been punished, where all they have had was to sing that song: ``Sometimes I feel discouraged, feel my work's in vain; but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul. There is a balm in Gilead that makes the wounded whole.'' This balm in Gilead for us today is the Voting Rights Act to heal the wounds of racism that have been inflicted on this country and that we still, unfortunately, suffer from. Let us vote to pass this Voting Rights Act this day and this week and send a resounding message that America is for everybody, black as well as white, rich as well as poor, all of us. ____________________”