Steve Cohen said "On Saturday, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis was reopened. It is a spectacular display with all of the up-to-date technologies of civil rights in America, from the Middle Passage to April 4, 1968, which was the assassination of Martin Luther King at the Lorraine Motel, the site of the museum. As I toured the fabulous museum, I thought about how far America had come and how much farther it needs to go. There are stories about the Voting Rights Act; yet I thought about the Supreme Court's striking down provisions and about the impossibility of getting sponsors here sufficient to pass a renewed Voting Rights Act, which is so necessary to America's fulfilling its purpose. I thought about the Affordable Care Act and efforts to repeal it, to simply give health care to individuals, many of whom are poor and haven't had health care before. I thought about jobs bills because, without economic justice, you don't have social justice in full effect. You need infrastructure bills. You need minimum wage, and you need unemployment insurance. We have a long way to go to fulfill Dr. King's dream. I am pleased the museum reopened. It is spectacular. I urge all people to come to Memphis and visit it, and I urge all people to think about Dr. King and to try to fulfill his dream by passing those measures that are necessary. ___________________

On the recordApril 8, 2014

On Saturday, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis was reopened. It is a spectacular display with all of the up-to-date technologies of civil rights in America, from the Middle Passage to April 4, 1968, which was the assassination of Martin Luther King at the Lorraine Motel, the site of the museum. As I toured the fabulous museum, I thought about how far America had come and how much farther it needs to go. There are stories about the Voting Rights Act; yet I thought about the Supreme Court's striking down provisions and about the impossibility of getting sponsors here sufficient to pass a renewed Voting Rights Act, which is so necessary to America's fulfilling its purpose. I thought about the Affordable Care Act and efforts to repeal it, to simply give health care to individuals, many of whom are poor and haven't had health care before. I thought about jobs bills because, without economic justice, you don't have social justice in full effect. You need infrastructure bills. You need minimum wage, and you need unemployment insurance. We have a long way to go to fulfill Dr. King's dream. I am pleased the museum reopened. It is spectacular. I urge all people to come to Memphis and visit it, and I urge all people to think about Dr. King and to try to fulfill his dream by passing those measures that are necessary. ____________________

Said by

Steve Cohen

Democratic · Tennessee

Source

govinfo.gov