Elijah Lewis: “I rise against this misguided legislation. This bill is a dagger in the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It…”

“I rise against this misguided legislation. This bill is a dagger in the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It destroys not only the spirit, but the very soul of the Voting Rights Act. Too many people have died so that every American can exercise their right to vote. Jimmy Lee Jackson, Mickey Schwerner, James Cheney, Andy Goodman. These are not just names. I knew these young men. We have come a long way in this country toward protecting every American's right to vote. This bill erases the gains we have made. It forgets those sacrifices. Many of my colleagues over the last 12 years since I have been in the Congress have come to me and said, 'I wish I had been there with you. I wish I had fought those battles with you.' Let me say: If you wanted an opportunity to stand up, if you say you wanted to go on the freedom rides, if you say you wished you had marched across the bridge in Selma, if you wanted to stand up for the right of all Americans to participate in our democracy, now is your chance. Now is your turn, now is your time. Like the poll tax, like the literacy test, this bill is intended to keep people from participating in our political process. That is a shame; it is a disgrace. It harks back to another period, a dark period in our history. We have come too far to go back to the days of Bull Connor, Sheriff Jim Clark, and George Wallace. We cannot go back, we must not go back, and we will not go back.”