On the recordFebruary 11, 2015
I want to thank Ms. Sewell for having the foresight to bring this proposal. This is most fitting that we honor the foot soldiers. They were Americans, all races, who came together and saw injustice and wanted to right it. They risked their lives. Some died in the efforts. Miss Liuzzo was killed right after the march to Montgomery. Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman were killed over in Mississippi in conjunction with this with the Freedom Riders. Thousands of people came to the South to see that people got the right to vote. It is hard to believe that people were denied the right to vote in this country, but they were. I was touched by the remarks of my colleague from Alabama. It was historic. But you don't just have to see the movie and experience it to honor these people and give them a Gold Medal; you need to live it. People are being denied voting rights today in this country. The Supreme Court emasculated the Voting Rights Act just recently. It needs to be reinstated. There are civil rights that can be performed and enacted in America today. The movement isn't over. The movement continues. A medal is good, but the spirit must continue on this floor to see that all people have their right to vote, their right to participate, and their rights not to have State judges with their lips dripping with interposition tell probate clerks not to enforce a Federal law.
