On the recordFebruary 10, 2020
Let me thank the gentleman from Nevada for his great leadership and the importance of this moment tonight to honor 150 years of the passage of the 15th Amendment, our right to vote, and to be joined by my colleagues, Congresswoman Lee and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, and we thank our chair, Congresswoman Bass. The Congressional Black Caucus is the conscience of this Nation and always stands in the gap for the very important leadership on this issue. Might I also thank our colleague, whom we are so blessed to have amongst us. I think the gentleman takes the title of singularly being the conscience and the heart of the Congress. That is the Honorable John Lewis, who works with us and has always been our guide as relates to the question of the Voting Rights Act. Many of you are reminded of the fact that, as that Voting Rights Act was fought for and rejected and thought it was too dangerous to pass in the 1960s, moving up to 1965, it took the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, when John Lewis, among others, was beaten almost to death and bloodied on that bridge by horsemen from the Alabama State Police. What a bloody and horrific scene. None of us can imagine what John Lewis went through. He has continued in his service in the United States Congress to stand steadfast with us and to remind us that it is better to do the right thing, regardless of the consequences.…
