Political Quotes

“Mr. President, last week, the Senate unanimously adopted a resolution honoring the 50th Anniversary of Congressman John Lewis's leadership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. In the early 1960s, America's promise of equality at the ballot box went unfulfilled for African Americans. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and sometimes, angry mobs stood in the way of many African Americans trying to register to vote and cast ballots. The members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee--or SNICK as it was called at the time--were inspired by and dedicated to America's promise of equality and democracy for all citizens, regardless of the color of their skin. These high school and college-aged students led sit-ins. They educated communities about the right to vote. They conducted voter registration drives. And many of these students marched for civil rights and voting rights with Congressman Lewis and 600 others in Selma, AL on Sunday, March 7, 1965. As television cameras rolled and the Nation looked on in horror, these nonviolent marchers were chased down by State troopers, beaten, and bruised so badly by police batons that the day was coined ``Bloody Sunday.'' A few days after ``Bloody Sunday,'' President Johnson addressed the Nation and called on the House and the Senate to pass the Voting Rights Act.…”