SENATE RESOLUTION 660--HONORING AND COMMEMORATING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 133
(Senate - July 28, 2020)
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[Pages S4547-S4548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 660--HONORING AND COMMEMORATING THE LIFE AND LEGACY
OF REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS
Mr. PERDUE (for himself, Mrs. Loeffler, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Schumer,
Mr. Alexander, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Blackburn,
Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Booker, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Braun, Mr.
Brown, Mr. Burr, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Carper, Mr.
Casey, Mr. Cassidy, Ms. Collins, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Cortez
Masto, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Daines, Ms.
Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Enzi, Ms. Ernst, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs.
Fischer, Mr. Gardner, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, Ms.
Harris, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Hoeven,
Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Jones, Mr. Kaine, Mr.
Kennedy, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lee, Mr.
Manchin, Mr. Markey, Ms. McSally, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Moran,
Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Paul, Mr. Peters, Mr.
Portman, Mr. Reed, Mr. Risch, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Romney, Ms. Rosen, Mr.
Rounds, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Sasse, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Scott of
Florida, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Shelby, Ms.
Sinema, Ms. Smith, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Tester, Mr. Thune,
Mr. Tillis, Mr. Toomey, Mr. Udall, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Warner, Ms.
Warren, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Young) submitted
the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
S. Res. 660
Whereas the Senate mourns the loss of John Lewis, a titan
in the struggle for civil rights and equality for all races,
and commemorates his life and accomplishments;
Whereas John Lewis was born during the era of Jim Crow in a
segregated community in which racism and discrimination ran
rampant;
Whereas John Lewis's moral clarity and unwavering
commitment to nonviolence
[[Page S4548]]
made his first passions preaching and ministry;
Whereas John Lewis fought his first battle against
segregation when he was just a teenager, authoring a petition
for equal access to his local public library, where African
Americans had paid for the construction of the facilities but
were banned from checking out books;
Whereas, before his 21st birthday, John Lewis established
his commitment to ``good trouble'' by organizing sit-ins at
segregated restaurants and theaters;
Whereas John Lewis helped found the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee, which advocated for civil
disobedience and nonviolent resistance against segregation
across the United States, bringing him to the forefront of
the struggle of the United States for civil rights;
Whereas John Lewis participated in the 1961 Freedom Rides,
which were a series of trips that tested a new desegregation
order of interstate transportation facilities and resulted in
multiple beatings and the firebombing of the bus that John
Lewis was supposed to be riding;
Whereas, at 23 years of age, John Lewis served as the
youngest member of the ``Big Six'', which planned the 1963
March on Washington, and worked alongside Martin Luther King,
Jr., James Farmer, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and
Whitney Young to advocate for racial equality and justice for
all;
Whereas John Lewis courageously led protestors across the
Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, bravely bearing
violence from the police to embody the struggle of the United
States to live up to its founding ideals of equal justice
under the law;
Whereas the bravery of John Lewis during ``Bloody Sunday''
led Congress to pass, and President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign
into law, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et
seq.), ensuring that African Americans have the right to
fully participate in the democratic process in the United
States;
Whereas John Lewis faithfully served the city of Atlanta
between 1977 and 1981, embodying his election night promise
to ``bring a sense of ethics and moral courage'' to the
Atlanta City Council;
Whereas John Lewis faithfully served the 5th congressional
district of Georgia in the House of Representatives between
1987 and 2020, serving as the ``conscience of the Congress''
by continuing his pursuit of justice and truth in the capital
of the United States; and
Whereas the Senate commends John Lewis for his life and for
embodying the spirit of love and dignity through his
unceasing advocacy for reconciliation, justice, and the
equality of all mankind: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) the Senate--
(A) has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the
announcement of the death of the Honorable John Lewis, a late
Member of the House of Representatives; and
(B) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the
Senate--
(i) communicate this resolution to the House of
Representatives; and
(ii) transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the
family of John Lewis; and
(2) when the Senate adjourns today, it stand adjourned as a
further mark of respect to the memory of the Honorable John
Lewis.
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