Charles Rangel: “First, let me thank Congressman Green for yielding to me the opportunity to speak out of order and to remind this body…”

“First, let me thank Congressman Green for yielding to me the opportunity to speak out of order and to remind this body that, in a recent conversation I had with John Lewis, our hero and colleague, I asked him the question: Just what drove you to place your body in harm's way and your life in jeopardy for the civil rights movement? And he said, because he had confidence in this country, the Congress, and he also had confidence in the Supreme Court. Recently, he had to admit that the Court's action has really plunged a dagger in the heart of this legislation that so many Americans have depended on for fairness, which includes, of course, that basic constitutional right to vote. But that light was dimmed; it wasn't extinguished. And as I recall the Voting Rights Act that we did pass overwhelmingly in both Chambers, it was the names of Jim Sensenbrenner and John Conyers that come to mind. They both are still in this House. They both love the country, love the Congress, and love the Constitution. And I'm confident that, once again, they would bring together that coalition of Republicans and Democrats, that may see things differently as it relates to the ideology, but together they can bring the same forces that we had in 2006 to make certain that we restore the rights that the Supreme Court has taken away from us. ____________________”