Ron Estes: “Today I rise to honor the life and legacy of our colleague, John Lewis. In my short time in Congress, I have had the…”

“Today I rise to honor the life and legacy of our colleague, John Lewis. In my short time in Congress, I have had the privilege of working with John as members of the Ways and Means Committee. And in that time, I can tell you John is a true statesman. Here in Washington, and even inside this Chamber, we see some individuals with personal agendas who are only interested in transactional relationships; however, John was a compassionate soul, dedicated to the cause of equality and justice. Because of John's experiences with discrimination and hate, he brought to this body a thoughtful and passionate approach to ensuring that all Americans can experience the blessings of liberty that are guaranteed in our Constitution. He understood the pain of a divided nation, the progress we have made over the past century, and the challenges we still face. Through it all, he met anger and violence with peace and love, a demonstration of his character that I think all of us can learn from. I used to live in Nashville, Tennessee, and one of John's earliest acts was seeking peaceful change and organizing sit-ins at Nashville lunch counters. This is reminiscent to me of a courageous group of young people in my hometown, Wichita, who also sought equal treatment at a popular downtown lunch counter. The 1958 Dockum Drug Store sit-in was part of an early movement in cities across the country that helped advance desegregation.…”