July 22, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 129 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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HONORING CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 129
(House of Representatives - July 22, 2020)
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[Pages H3671-H3675] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] {time} 1830 HONORING CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2019, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to coanchor the Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour. For the next 60 minutes, we have a chance to communicate to the American people our great love for an American hero, Representative John Lewis. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the great State of California (Ms. Pelosi), my colleague and the honorable Speaker from the city of San Francisco. Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and appreciate her calling us together for this Special Order for a very special person. This big picture of John Lewis was just put up here. ``Rest in Power,'' it says. You can't see from the TV, but over here in the front row is a big bouquet of white flowers. It is in a place where John usually sat in the front row of a section that many of the Members of the Congressional Black Caucus held fort, conspired sometimes, plotted, and made progress for the American people. It is appropriate that we have those flowers there where John sat for so many years. Jon Meacham, who is writing a book on John Lewis, told us yesterday on a Caucus call that when John was born, he was born into a garden. He loved to be in the garden. He loved to be with the chicks, as we know, the little chickens, and he loved to see things grow. He loved to see things grow. He lived his life in that way. He loved to see progress grow. He loved to see love and peace grow. He loved to see ideas grow, and he loved to see a more perfect Union grow. Many of our colleagues will have many things to say this evening, and because it is a Special Order, I don't have my usual 1 minute, which is endless, so I will be briefer and save some remarks for another time. But here is what I will say. John has always been about nonviolence. That was his spirit in everything that he did. He was respectful of other views and respectful of other people. In the spirit of nonviolence, Reverend Lawson taught that to him, to Dr. King, and the rest, and much of it was in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi and much of the nonviolence that he put forth. In Sanskrit, Mahatma Gandhi's language, the word for nonviolence is ``satyagraha.'' That word means two things: Nonviolence, and insistence on the truth. And John Lewis, nonviolently, always insisted on the truth. Whether it was a lunch counter, the truth of equality, whether it was upholding the Constitution, the truth of our Founders, in everything that he did, it was about truth and peace and love. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record my statement, because, again, I am not used to not having endless time as the Speaker of the House, and I do know that our colleagues have a great deal to say. I will say one more thing: At the end of his life, end of his time in Washington, D.C., right before he was preparing to go back to Atlanta, just a couple of weeks ago, in the middle of the night, he decided-- early in the morning, 4 a.m.--that he was going to go, in the morning, to Black Lives Matter on the street. So one of the last official or public photos that we have of John Lewis is with the Mayor of Washington, D.C., and then alone, standing on that beautiful tapestry, ``Black Lives Matter,'' the connection from John, the boy from Troy, to Black Lives Matter, the future of a movement of which he was so much a part. May he rest in power. May he rest in peace. Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, the Nation lost an icon; the House lost its most respected Member; and the Congressional Black Caucus lost the most senior member of our family. The Congressional Black Caucus is known as the conscience of the Congress, but John Lewis was known as the conscience of our Congress. One of the greatest honors of serving in Congress was that I had the possibility of serving with him. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the State of South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), the majority whip. Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I cringe often when I hear people talk about the 1960s as the civil rights movement. I always put an ``S'' on that. The Stono Rebellion was in 1739. It was a civil rights movement. Denmark Vesey's insurrection was in 1822. It was a civil rights movement. The Niagara Movement that led to the creation of the NAACP more than 100 years ago was a civil rights movement. John Lewis and I met in October 1960 at a civil rights movement. For as long as there are people held in suppression, there will always be a movement for civil rights. However, in any movement there will be a few--sometimes only one--that rise head and shoulders above all others, and so it was with my good friend, John Robert Lewis. When we met the weekend of October 13, 14, 15, 1960, on the campus of Morehouse College, there was a little bit of an insurrection taking place. We, who were college students, felt that we knew how best to do things. We were not listening to Martin Luther King, Jr., and a few others, and so we asked King to meet with us. And he did. We went into the meeting around 10 o'clock in the evening. We did not walk out of that room until 4 o'clock the next morning. I came out of that room having had a Saul-to-Paul transformation. I have never been the same since. But listening to King's plea for nonviolence, I decided, along with most others, to accept nonviolence as a tactic. But not John Lewis. He internalized. It became his way of life. After going through a few issues of the 1960s, John got elected president of SNCC in 1963 and was summarily dethroned in 1966. But John then joined the effort, the Voter Education Project, where he directed. That was sponsored by the Southern Regional Council. And as he served as the director of the Voter Education Project in Atlanta, I became the chair of the Voter Education Project in Charleston, South Carolina, and we continued that relationship. He got married to a librarian, I got married to a librarian--though I did so before he did--and they became fast friends. Lillian and Emily became fast friends. I will never, ever get John Robert Lewis out of my system, because he [[Page H3672]] succeeded where I failed. It was a tactic for me. It was a way of life for John Lewis. General Leave Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from California? There was no objection. Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), the state of the District of Columbia. Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California, Karen Bass, for leading this Special Order to our good colleague and friend, John Lewis. John and I were elected to the House of Representatives about the same time. Actually, he was elected a couple years before I was. But we were colleagues before either of us could have hoped to become Members of Congress. We were kids together in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the youth arm of the Southern Civil Rights Movement. The difference between John and me is I was in law school so I went in the summer, and John was a full-time member, who left school in order to join SNCC. SNCC came out of lunch counter sit-ins. Ella Baker called us all together because it was clear that the Civil Rights Movement was developing a youth arm. And Ella Baker, the great elder of the Civil Rights Movement, decided all of us really should become an organization. John was not the first head of SNCC. Marion Barry was, because he was a lot more political than John, and he is remembered more today for his politics than for his civil rights acumen. When John was elected chair of SNCC, there was nothing political about it. His qualification was not that he was the strongest. His qualification was that he was the bravest. It is almost impossible to describe the risks John took in the more than 40 times he was arrested, because today, we are so used to civil disobedience. People right now are lying down on Pennsylvania Avenue after the George Floyd killing. I really want to call to your attention what it meant when John led young people to be arrested. Everybody has seen the film of his being knocked down as he marched in the front of the line; he had a concussion as a result of that. He never knew, as he led these marches, whether he would come out alive. Let me tell you about these marches when SNCC would kneel down and assume other nonviolent postures. On the other side, were not counter- demonstrators. On the other side were not other people who were confronting us nonviolently. On the other side were the police leading white mobs. They were befuddled by the tactics of SNCC and the Civil Rights Movement. Because when you kneel down and are nonviolent, they didn't quite know what to do with you or about you. John, of course, will always be remembered as a Member of the House of Representatives, but as I close, I must say, it will be difficult, even for John to have done more in the House than he did in the Civil Rights Movement, to do more in Congress than he did for his country. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, his legacy to our country is that he devoted his life to fighting for justice and being a moral compass to our Nation. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of Virginia (Mr. Scott). Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today for a solemn occasion. Tonight we honor our friend, brother, colleague, the conscience of the Congress, a true American icon: Congressman John Lewis. Words cannot convey the loss to this body as well as to the Nation, but very few can claim to have altered the course of American history the way that John did. He was a guiding light to all of us and was a leader trying to make America a more perfect Union. His steadfast moral leadership will be deeply missed, particularly at this complex time in our history. Those of us here today are standing on his shoulders. His historic life and legacy will undoubtedly live on, but we must be sure to continue his life's work, particularly when it comes to voting rights and restoring the Voting Rights Act. We must make some ``good trouble'' to honor his enormous legacy. Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, Congressman John Lewis spent his life fighting racism and injustice wherever he confronted it, from Boy Scout sit-ins and other protests in the streets to championing bold, progressive policies in Congress, including the Voting Rights Act. {time} 1845 Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis). Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, To every man there is a way, a ways, and a way, And the high souls take the high way, And the low souls take the low. While all the rest on the misty flats drift to and fro. But to every man there is a way, a ways, and a way, And each man decideth which way his soul shall go. John Lewis always took the high road, always giving of himself in such a way that you knew that he was gracious and kind. John had faith. Like John, I grew up in rural America, went to a one-room school, never had a new schoolbook. But John had the faith of a mustard seed and said: If you want to move a mountain, just say to the mountain be moved. And if it wouldn't, then you get you some dynamite, nitroglycerin, TNT, and blow that sucker down. That was John Lewis. May he rest in peace. Ms. BASS. Now that he is no longer with us, we have to live up to his legacy and protect the right to vote for all Americans. As we continue to face challenges due to the coronavirus and issues of systemic racism, we must protect our democracy and elections, even in the midst of adversity. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee). Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, we are all heartbroken. We all are speechless. We all are committed to John Robert Lewis' beloved community. Each of us have been touched without ceasing for the spirit he led us in acknowledging, even in anger, that there was the beloved community. He loved his wife and his family and his extended brothers and sisters, all the way from Alabama to Georgia. I am reminded of his ability to love Dr. Martin Luther King. It is a testament of a man that is able to extend love and not to show envy but to learn and to seek knowledge. John did that, which allowed him to carry that all the way to the fights of today. Dr. King said: ``John Robert Lewis, are you the boy from Troy?'' He loved to tell that story. He loved to tell that he preached to the chickens, but his voices were heard by kings and queens. John Robert Lewis, a saint walking on Earth. I am reminded of our days in front of the South African Embassy, arrested, against genocide, or fighting against the children in cages. John never stopped his fight. And so I come today to honor him in this brief moment that we have, to be able to say, Isn't it good that a saintly man walked on this Earth and reminded us of the beloved community? I am very glad to say that I knew, and the world knows John Robert Lewis, ``the boy from Troy.'' Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of this body and the Committee on the Judiciary, as a colleague of a great and beloved man, and as a member of a generation that directly benefited from and was inspired by his work in the Civil Rights Movement, I am proud but heart-broken to participate in this tribute to an American original, our friend and colleague, the late John Robert Lewis who died last Friday, July 17, 2020, in Atlanta, Georgia at the age of 80 years old. But what amazing things my friend John bore witness to in those eight decades. John Robert Lewis was a lifelong warrior for a more just, equitable, fairer, and better America, one of the Original Big Six, and a giant of the Civil Rights Movement. John Lewis was one of the original Freedom Riders who challenged segregated interstate travel in the South in 1961. He was a founder and early leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which coordinated lunch-counter sit-ins. [[Page H3673]] He helped organize and was the last surviving person who addressed the multitude at the March on Washington, where Dr. King delivered his immortal ``I Have A Dream'' speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. John Robert Lewis was born on February 21, 1940, the third of 10 children, to Eddie and Willie Mae (Carter) Lewis near the town of Troy on a sharecropping farm owned by a white man. After his parents bought their own farm--110 acres for $300--John shared in the farm work, leaving school at harvest time to pick cotton, peanuts and corn. Their house had no plumbing or electricity. In the outhouse, they used the pages of an old Sears catalog as toilet paper, that seems too much to bear but John was empowered by his history. His family called him ``Preacher,'' and becoming one seemed to be his destiny. John often said he drew inspiration by listening to a young minister named Martin Luther King on the radio and reading about the 1955 through 56 Montgomery bus boycott. John Lewis met Dr. King in Montgomery, Alabama in 1958, who was touched by a letter John had written him and sent him a round-trip bus ticket to visit. When John arrived at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church for his appointment, Dr. King greeted him thusly: ``Are you the boy from Troy? Are you John Lewis?'' John said, ``I am John Robert Lewis, giving his whole name. But Dr. King henceforth would affectionately call our beloved John, ``the boy from Troy''. But in 2011, at a White House ceremony, President Barack Obama awarded John Lewis the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, and said this about the boy from Troy: ``Generations from now, when parents teach their children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to mind; an American who knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time; whose life is a lesson in the fierce urgency of now.'' The first time John Lewis was arrested was in February 1960, when he and other students demanded service at whites-only lunch counters in Nashville, the first prolonged battle of the movement that evolved into the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. John's advocacy was fierce and joyful, as embodied in his common refrain to involve oneself in the actions and passions of one's time ``to get in the way, make necessary trouble.'' Less than two years after that August 1963 day, in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, in March 1965, John led over 600 foot soldiers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma, Alabama, in a march demanding the right to vote. John's protest against injustice was met with violence by Alabama State Troopers. He was beaten and his skull left bloodied, the horror left bare for a nation to see on television. That incident, immediately known and forever remembered as Bloody Sunday, led to the passage and enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was my personal honor to accompany John on countless pilgrimages to the Edmund Pettus Bridge to remember and acknowledge those common persons with common dreams and uncommon courage and love for the promise of the country. In 1986, John Lewis was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Georgia's 5th District and served in that role until earlier the evening when the sun set on his heroic and extraordinary life. John was the conscience of the Congress, widely beloved and revered on both sides of the aisle and the Capitol. His moral authority was colossal because he had seen the worst of us but he always appealed to the best of us and never ceased to inspire us to strive to create the beloved community. It is no exaggeration to say he was a man, the likes of which we shall not see again. As news of John's passing reverberates across the United States and around the world, John would want us to reflect not on his death, but his life and the unfinished necessary work ahead of us. John never took his eyes off the prize and to his last days, continued to march and stand in solidarity with those protesting injustice and inequality. I remember getting arrested with John, Congressman McGovern, former colleagues Jim Moran of Virginia and John Olver of Massachusetts, and our late colleague Tom Lantos, for protesting the genocide in Darfur at the Embassy of Sudan on April 28, 2006. John Lewis led us in the sit-down demonstration on the House floor to protest the Republican Congress' refusal to take up gun violence prevention legislation in the face of the tragic mass shootings that plague our country. And in his final act of civic engagement and civil disobedience, John Lewis stood in the middle of Black Lives Matter Plaza showing solidarity and the continuity with the now global movement fighting galvanized by the horrific murder of George Floyd to peacefully protest for justice and equal treatment in the criminal justice system. Mr. Speaker, John Lewis was among the finest Americans this country ever produced. He lived a consequential life and his legacy is all around us, in the realization of talent and opportunity of millions of persons who walked through the doors of progress that John Lewis helped open. I hope it is comfort to John's family and loved ones, that people the world over are mourning his death but celebrating his life. A fitting and proper means of paying tribute to John Lewis's extraordinary life is for the Senate to immediately take up and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, landmark legislation to protect the precious right to vote for all persons and to ensure that our democracy has the tools needed to remain strong. I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory and thanks of John Robert Lewis, the boy from Troy, who became a leader who helped change the world. Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks). Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, John Robert Lewis was short in height, yet he was a giant. John Robert Lewis was a humble man but fierce for justice. John Robert Lewis talked softly, but roared like a lion when it was time to fight for freedom, justice, and equality for all humankind. He said there was one race--the human race. He is an individual that compelled a Nation to change, to make it better. His voice will echo in this Chamber forever. It was my honor and pleasure for 22 years to serve with the Honorable John Robert Lewis. May he rest in peace and rise in power. Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott). Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, John Lewis' mother and his grandmother named him John after John the Apostle, the disciple, the Scripture says, whom Jesus loved, John the Beloved. And John Lewis dedicated his life to building the beloved community. And one more thing. John Lewis, being named after John, Jesus' Apostle, it must be noted that the Apostle John was the youngest of the disciples. John Lewis was the youngest of our civil rights leaders who spoke at the momentous March on Washington. God bless John Lewis, and we thank God for sending him our way. Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green). Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to say thank you to a friend and a great warrior. I thank you, dear brother, for being the sermon you preached. You walked your talk. It is said that a great person will always rise to the occasion, but it is also said that the greater person makes the occasion. He was an occasion-maker, and he rose to the occasion on the Edmond Pettus Bridge. And for this, many of us who are here tonight are here because he marched into brutality. So tonight, I thank you, dear brother, for being able to withstand what many of us could not and would not. I rise to just say thank you and to let you know that we will never forget you, and we will always make it perspicuously clear that we are here because you were there. Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke). Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor a great man, Representative John Lewis. This past Friday, July 17, our country lost one of its greatest heroes, a true patriot, who literally put his life on the line in the pursuit of justice and fairness in our society. The Honorable John Lewis was a penultimate hero who embodied the struggle for human rights and dignity. He was a fierce civil rights warrior, who refused to abide by the Jim Crow laws of the South. He embodied what it means to be a public servant, putting his life on the line and the people above his own self-interests. I am so honored and privileged to have served with John Robert Lewis--John Robert Lewis, who was a dancer, a man who loved to have fun but was convicted for the right to vote, convicted as an activist for civil rights and civil liberties. [[Page H3674]] And I will forever hold dear the moment that we landed in Ghana together, invited by the President of Ghana for the Year of Return, and to see the wonderment in his eyes of visiting a space where it all began for all of us 401 years ago. May he rest in peace and rise in power. The Honorable John Lewis will never be forgotten. We all hold onto his legacy. Ms. BASS. To honor Mr. Lewis, the first thing we need to do is to pass legislation restoring the Voting Rights Act and get it signed. We know the credibility of our elections has already shown early signs of concern during several State primaries and voter suppression cases, coupled with the fact that people are going to have to vote in dangerous conditions, cannot be ignored. I know that if Mr. Lewis was still with us, he would be leading that fight. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson). Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, much has been said about my friend, teacher, and mentor, John Lewis. He was a family man, married to Lillian for 44 years, and to that union bore a son, John-Miles, who is with us today. Along with John Lewis' brothers and sisters, he was number three of ten. He has a large extended family. And that family entrusted John to the world. And for 33 years, he was our colleague. For 14 years, he was mine. I just want to say to the family that we here in Congress feel your pain. We appreciate your sacrifice in allowing John to do what he did for the world and for Congress. I want you to know that we stand with you, we feel your pain, and we will never forget your dear brother, uncle, cousin, whoever he was to you. We will never forget him. We know that he loved you. He would depart this place to go to the family reunion during the summer down in Alabama where the family still owned hundreds of acres of land that they farmed even when his two sharecropping parents gave birth to John. And so he was a family man. Thank you, family, for entrusting him to us. Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, there are no words to describe the pain that many Americans are feeling right now as we grapple with the loss of our conscience, our friend, our inspirational leader, John Lewis. I am heartbroken. I am honored and humbled to have served alongside him, to have had him take my children, as he has done for so many Americans in the Faith and Politics movement through a historic march in Selma, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. During one of those trips I was lucky enough to have my daughter Laura and son Ray join me. Because of school obligations, they had to leave early and were going to miss the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. John wasn't about to let that happen. He took the three of us in his car with him and we drove through Selma, as he told them what it was like and what he went through. They were both entranced by him and the story he was telling that was filled with graphic violence of what they endured as they fought for equal rights. At the end of it, my daughter Laura, who was about 14 years old at the time, struck by what he had just told her, rather innocently asked him, ``Mr. Lewis, did you ever have fun?'' There was a pregnant pause and then John got the biggest smile on his face. He told us that yes, they did. ``And in fact, at night, we'd pitch our tents and sit around campfires and we'd sing and dance,'' he said. His smile then got broader as he remembered. ``I can still see Andy Young doing the jitterbug in his coveralls. And he could dance . . . he could dance.'' Despite everything John endured, they were still young and full of life. One of the most inspiring memories I have of John Lewis is from 2009, when we were fighting to pass the Affordable Care Act. The day before we passed the bill, hateful protestors spewed racial slurs and spit on John Lewis, Andre Carson, and Emmanuel Cleaver. Tensions were high after that. The next day at Caucus, I asked John to speak. He brought the Caucus to its feet, evoking the Civil Rights movement. He said: ``Pay no attention to what went on yesterday. We have to learn, as we did in the Civil Rights Movement, to look past this and keep our eyes on the prize. So, I ask you to stay calm and stay together.'' As he was walking away from the mic, he paused, and then he stepped back up and said, ``Forty-five years ago, I walked across the Edmund Pettus bridge arm in arm with fellow citizens who believed strongly in Civil Rights. We faced far more difficult crowds than we are facing out here today. Let's lock arms and go across the street and pass this bill.'' And we did. We marched across the street, through the protesters and passed the bill. In 2016, I worked with John to take another stand. This time, we were calling for a vote on the House floor on a bill to address the epidemic of gun violence in America. After the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, the House didn't take a single vote to address gun violence, until Democrats took the majority in 2019. In 2016, after the shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, John and the rest of the Democratic Caucus had had enough. He called on the Caucus to join him in causing some 'good trouble'. With that, we held a sit-in on the House floor demanding justice. Most recently, we worked together to strengthen Social Security. Social Security is our nation's number one anti-poverty program and is a lifeline for millions. It needs to be strengthened so it's there for future generations too. Last summer we stood together outside the Capitol highlighting how important these benefits are for seniors, especially for Black seniors. He said: `I grew up in rural Alabama, 50 miles from Montgomery, outside a little town called Troy, and I remember how seniors lived before they had Social Security. Most of the seniors in my district in Georgia depend on Social Security for the majority of their income. Without it almost half of Black and Latino seniors in this country would be living in poverty. That's not right, that's not fair, and it's not just. Social Security is more than a right, it is a promise. A promise people paid into to secure their future. We can do better, we can do much better.' This year, even when battling cancer, he continued this fight. I've been proud to call John Lewis a friend over my time in Congress. In 2016, I was honored to work with the Bipartisan Policy Center and Representative Tom Cole to establish the Congressional Patriot Award. John Lewis and Sam Johnson, who passed away earlier this year, were the first recipients. They were both authentic heroes. One held in captivity by the VietCong and tortured and nearly beaten to death; the other held captive by the Alabama Police, clubbed and beaten. They both had a genuine focus on doing for others, not themselves. They were humble, gracious, and kind, yet warriors for their cause. John Lewis has forever changed our country. His legacy will live on in the policies and lives he changed. We must continue to follow his lead and cause good trouble. Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the heroic life of Congressman John Robert Lewis and his historic contribution to the nation we know and love today. In September 1957, the Little Rock Nine walked into history as they walked up the front steps of Central High School. It was a pivotal moment in history. John said this moment inspired him in his own leadership as an active member of the Civil Rights Movement. I had the pleasure of calling John a friend, as did many of my colleagues, and will cherish the time we had together in the people's House. John joining me as legislative cosponsors to expand the Little Rock Central High National Park boundary is a highlight of my congressional service. John will truly be missed, but long remembered. As the USNS John Lewis sets sail as a new class of naval vessel, we are reminded to carry on his legacy of dignified leadership. I join all Americans in honoring the remarkable life of John Lewis. Martha and I offer prayers for his family and for all those he inspired and who thus grieve over his loss. Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, our country lost Congressman John Lewis, an inspiring individual who stirred so much important change. I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to Congressman John Lewis' family, friends, and staff. Congressman Lewis will always be an icon of courage to promote equality and freedom. I will always cherish his thoughtful and cheerful encouragement during our time serving in Congress together. Congressman Lewis was especially appreciated by his neighbors--the people of South Carolina. We will always remember Congressman Lewis for his many significant accomplishments. And although he is no longer with us, his legacy will always live on. My prayers are with the Lewis family during this incredibly painful time. Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in the passing of Congressman John Lewis, I have lost a dear friend, Georgia has lost a true leader, and our nation has lost a civil rights icon. John Lewis and I first met upon my arrival to Congress nearly three decades ago. Yet, by [[Page H3675]] the time of that meeting, he had already made a profound impact on my life. It was because of his early work on the advancement of the Civil and Voting Rights Acts that I can stand here and address you today. His grasp of the nuances and complexities of public policy, paired with his genuine personality, made him a dynamic presence in this Chamber. When he spoke, everyone--regardless of party or politics-- listened. When he sang--like he did when we were jailed together following a nonviolent protest at the Embassy of Sudan--peace ensued. His stories captivated, his advice educated, his sermons inspired, and his speeches motivated. He brought the same passion he had as an activist to the halls of Congress, where he spent his career representing Georgia's 5th district. It is impossible to properly eulogize John Lewis with only words--for he was a man of action. We would therefore all do well to reaffirm our commitment to the preservation of equality and justice in his honor, which is necessary now more than ever before. Mr. Speaker, I wish to offer my condolences to John Lewis's family and to thank the Congressman for a life full of ``good trouble.'' Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, for so many of us, serving in the U.S. Congress is the achievement of a lifetime. But by the time John Lewis arrived to this chamber, he had already built a historic legacy, as one of the Greats of the Civil Rights Movement. A man of inspiration and hope, committed to the struggles of freedom and justice, John had to put himself on the line and defend social justice throughout his whole lifetime. America has lost one of its great leaders. John never relented in fighting for what he felt was right, yet he always sought the good in others. Having suffered bigotry and violence, he would not let himself be dragged down by hate. It is a privilege to me, to have been able to know and serve in Congress with such a champion of equality and civil rights. Humble as the truly great are humble, serene and kind, but John was strong in his convictions. In his office he displayed mementos of our nation's crude history of segregation and the events of the struggle that he still remembered as if it were yesterday. I was privileged to have conversations with him asking about his experiences, in which he gladly spent much longer time than the usual congressional meeting. In his gaze as he spoke you could see an inner peace that filled the room and seemed magical. John Lewis always supported the right of Puerto Ricans to choose their own future and achieve full equality as American citizens, and I was able to count on him as cosponsor of the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act (H.R. 4901). He also joined in our effort to recognize the valor and sacrifice in battle of the Puerto Rican soldiers of the 65th Infantry Regiment as cosponsor of the measure to establish the 13th of April as National Borinqueneers Day. In the same spirit of justice and equality, he asked me to be the Republican co-lead for the Every Child Deserves a Family Act (H.R. 3114), a piece of legislation that seeks to end discrimination in adoption and foster care agencies across the nation, forbidding discrimination against children, youths, families and individuals on the basis of religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity) and marital status in the management and delivery of child welfare services. I did not hesitate to say yes. Discrimination is discrimination whether you are talking political or social issues. Representative Lewis' gallant defense of equality and justice extended to the struggle for the rights of the LGBTQ community. I was proud to join him in the Equality Act, which would extend by law the protection against discrimination under the 1964 Civil Rights Act to LGBTQ individuals. The march towards true justice on which John Lewis spent his life goes on: it is up to us to continue it. There will be other bridges to cross, and his courage should inspire us to cross them, but always with love and care for all people. May John's loved ones be comforted by the knowledge that his memory will continue to inspire many generations who are learning from his words, about inclusion and about fighting hatred with love. I Thank John (he never wanted me to call him Congressman or Mr. Lewis). ____________________
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