Political Quotes

“Thank you so very much, Congresswoman Sewell, for allowing us to come to the floor of the House and be joyful even though someone has passed. I thank my previous speakers. John Lewis, we salute you always for continuing to be our chronicler, our voice, our steady, if you will, encyclopedia of today, yesterday and tomorrow, what we should be aiming toward as a Nation and as a people but also what we came through. And to stand next to this picture, thank you for allowing me to stand next to such a symbolic statement about who I would like to call Reverend Dr. Fred L. Shuttlesworth. Can I just stand here and say that I knew him? And as well can I say that I had the privilege of following way behind John Lewis's footsteps, Congresswoman Sewell, in working in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the time that Reverend Dr. Ralph David Abernathy was alive, that Hosea Williams was alive, that James Orange was alive, and certainly Fred Shuttlesworth was still on the battlefield in places around the Nation. So I want to say to his children and his wife and all of his great legacy in Alabama that he has given birth to much. This picture depicts a monumental statement, both of his status as an American and a patriot, both of what he created.…”