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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E683-E684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE LIFE OF JOHN LEWIS
______
HON. ANNA G. ESHOO
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, July 27, 2020
Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay homage to John Robert
Lewis and his remarkable life as we mourn his passing on July 17th.
John Lewis was my trusted friend and colleague and his passing leaves
me, my colleagues, and our entire nation with an aching sadness. He was
an icon, the tireless champion for justice, equality, civil rights, and
human rights. He fought for the most vulnerable in our society and
never stopped working to perfect our union.
John Lewis shaped the course of history in America. Profoundly moved
by the Montgomery bus boycott as a young man which he said ``changed my
life more than any other event before or since,'' he threw his mind and
body into the civil rights movement to advocate for equal access to
jobs, housing, education, health care, public accommodations, and
voting rights.
John recognized at a young age the transformative power of knowledge
and education to build a better life and a better world for himself and
others. He loved school and vividly remembered the hope he felt after
the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education requiring
public schools to desegregate. He dreamed of attending Troy State
University and first met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1958 when he
attempted to desegregate the university. He would remain a fearless
advocate of Dr. King's Beloved Community for the rest of his life.
John was a man of extraordinary faith . . . faith in God, faith in
the country he loved and served with passion, and faith in the inherent
goodness in all of us. He began preaching at a young age and after
graduating high school he enrolled in the American Baptist Theological
Seminary in Nashville and was ordained a Baptist minister. While in
Nashville, he was introduced to the concept of civil disobedience and
``redemptive suffering'' and helped organize sit-ins to desegregate
public accommodations. His efforts served as a catalyst for Nashville
to become the first southern city to integrate its lunch counters.
John went on to become a founding member of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating
[[Page E684]]
Committee and once again demonstrated his courage by becoming one of
the 13 original Freedom Riders, allowing himself to be beaten and
jailed in pursuit of justice while remaining true to nonviolence. He
was one of the `Big Six' who helped organize the March on Washington
for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 and pushed the Kennedy Administration to
take up the cause of civil rights.
John Lewis revered the sanctity of the right to vote and he was
willing to die for it. He was at the vanguard of the struggle for equal
voting rights and made history during the Selma to Montgomery marches
when he led activists across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and was savagely
beaten during `Bloody Sunday.' Eight days later, President Lyndon
Johnson addressed a Joint Session of Congress to call for the passage
of the Voting Rights Act which would be signed into law within five
months.
John Lewis continued his fight for justice during his entire service
of over 30 years in the House of Representatives where he championed
equal education, affordable health care, gun control, economic
opportunity and equal rights, I'm enormously proud and deeply grateful
to have served with him and I will always treasure our time together as
colleagues.
As a Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on the Deadliest Cancers, I
will offer an amendment next week to increase funding for Pancreatic
Cancer research, the disease that claimed John, in loving memory of
him. John Lewis was the living embodiment of courage and conviction,
and a hero to tens of millions of Americans. He was a humble and kind
man who served the public with honesty and integrity. He was a holy man
who worked every day to perfect our union and now he is perfecting
heaven where he was welcomed by Dr. King. Future generations will be
inspired by his faith, his courage, and his vision of equality for all
God's children which has strengthened and bettered the nation he so
loved.
____________________
