Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, John Robert Lewis, an American hero, a civil rights icon, a movement leader, a peacemaker, a teacher, a drum major for justice, a mentor, a colleague, and a friend. I want to begin by thanking John's family for sharing him with us and with our country. As I listened to my colleagues tonight speak about John, I realize that he made each one of us feel like a very special person to him. I also realize that words can't really capture John Lewis and what he meant to us, to our country, and to the world. I had the privilege, like so many of my colleagues, of walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with John and listening to him speak about his work in the civil rights movement; to be part of an effort to organize a sit-in here on the House floor to demand action on gun violence; to work with John when we played a really critical role in our right for passage of the Equality Act and made the case that LGBTQ Americans were entitled to full equality in this country; on his visit to Newport News, Rhode Island; or traveling to South Africa to celebrate Robert Kennedy's ``Ripple of Hope'' speech. John Lewis made America more just, he made us all more human, because he deeply believed in justice and equality. They weren't just things that he believed in; it is who he was. And most importantly, he reminded us always to be optimistic, because he believed in the fundamental decency of every human being.…”