Sheila Jackson Lee: “I am here to anchor this Special Order on the fierce urgency of preserving the precious right to vote by passing H.R. 4…”

“I am here to anchor this Special Order on the fierce urgency of preserving the precious right to vote by passing H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and legislation like H.R. 1, For The People. I am delighted to be co-anchoring this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order at the request of our tireless leader for justice, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty of Ohio, and to be joined by my co-anchor, Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York, and many other members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Fifty-six years ago, in a century that was close to a hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation and the rendition of the 15th Amendment, the very right to vote, there we were fighting with this beloved Member of Congress, who challenged us to get into good trouble, fighting in 1965, pursuant to the collapse of the understanding of the 15th Amendment, fighting for the right to vote again. Madam Speaker, here we are today, 2021, now 56 years after the 1965 Voting Rights Act, fighting for the right to vote. I want to make sure that I pay tribute to Our Power, Our Message, led by the Honorable Joyce Beatty, who does not only speak her words, but she acts on her words, how proud we were.…”