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[Pages S4561-S4562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Remembering John Lewis
Mr. President, I have some remarks about U.S. Representative John
Lewis, whose casket just left in a hearse from the grounds of the
Capitol this morning. It was moving to see the number of people who
would stand in line for a long period of time in 97- or 99-degree heat
to pass by his casket.
There is so much we could say about John Lewis. It is difficult to
summarize or encapsulate or not repeat ourselves, but I think in so
many ways John Lewis was courage personified. Very, very few
Americans--other than those who served in combat itself or in other
instances--could say that they have put themselves on the line as he
did with his courage in the face of hatred and in the face of brutal
beatings and otherwise.
John Lewis helped the United States in its ongoing work to form a
more perfect union. There is so much more we could say about that. He
was beaten on multiple occasions for standing up for civil rights and,
of course, the right to vote itself. He did all of this--all of this--
by practicing nonviolence. I don't know how he did that. I really
don't. I would like to be able to think that I could do that in the
face of beatings, but I don't think I could. I really doubt that I
could and that most people could. But he practiced nonviolence and
thereby had a huge impact on the American people and American law.
He served 33 years here in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also
served on the Atlanta City Council. When President Obama was bestowing
the Medal of Freedom on John Lewis, he said that John Lewis was ``the
conscience of the U.S. Congress.'' It was so well said.
I think, at a time like this, we are summoned by his enduring
example. We are summoned by his heroic example to pass the voting
rights bill, H.R. 4, which has been basically sitting here since
December, when the House passed it. That is the best way to demonstrate
our gratitude for John Lewis's contributions.
The fight against injustice must continue. We can't just say what a
great man he was or what a great leader he was; we have to continue to
be inspired by and act against injustice whether it is in housing or
food insecurity or education or employment or healthcare or otherwise.
Martin Luther King said one time, ``Until justice rolls down like
waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.'' John Lewis's life was
in furtherance of that goal--to bring about a world where justice rolls
down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I think John Lewis was a patriot in the broadest sense of the word.
We know from the song ``America the Beautiful,'' that wonderful line,
``O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years,'' that the
dream of a patriot, when they are fighting on a battlefield, is not
just about the fight they are in; the dream of a patriot, of course, is
about what happens after, that their sacrifice brings about a better
world, a more secure country in the context of a war or a battle.
John Lewis also had the dream of a patriot, the dream of a better
life for Americans, the dream of equal protection under the law, the
dream of voting rights being protected. In the largest sense of the
word, John Lewis was a patriot.
I am almost done. I know I might be overtime, and I know we have a
colleague waiting. I will be brief. I apologize for going a little
long.
We know that there has been a lot of debate about what happened when
we had reports in the New York Times and other reports, in June, about
the U.S. intelligence community learning that Russian intelligence had
offered payments as high as $100,000, transferred through a middleman,
to kill U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan.
I know that we don't have time to get into all the details of that
today, but we know that the President has, I think, on the record, not
said anything about this until maybe yesterday in an
[[Page S4562]]
interview, and in my judgment, he did not address and did not respond
appropriately to those reports.
I was hoping what the President would say in the interview that I saw
on television this morning--I guess it was yesterday--and what he would
have said long before that is that we are going to investigate this and
we are going to make a determination about the conclusion that we
reach--that he would reach as President and that he would directly
confront Vladimir Putin and challenge him on this. But he had a recent
phone call with him, and all the reporting indicates and even the
President indicated in his interview that he did not challenge Vladimir
Putin. That is beyond disturbing, and I think it is not in furtherance
of our national security interests.
In the interest of time today, I will not say more because I know we
are over time.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to complete my
remarks prior to the vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered
