Defending Voting Rights

Floor Speech

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Ms. SEWELL. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to join with my CBC colleagues in commemorating the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and to call on my colleagues to take action to protect our most valuable and sacred right to vote.

As the daughter of Selma, Alabama, it was in my hometown of Selma, exactly 58 years ago, where John Lewis and the foot soldiers shed blood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the equal right of all Americans to vote.

It was in Selma where ordinary Americans peacefully protested so that every American could enjoy the full promise of our democracy.

It was in Selma where these brave foot soldiers were met with tear gas and unspeakable violence, but we know that their sacrifice was not in vain.

Indeed, it was the courage and tenacity of those brave foot soldiers that brought us the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and provided Federal oversight to ensure that no State could restrict the right to vote based on the color of a person's skin.

This past weekend, I was proud to welcome President Biden and a bipartisan delegation of congressional colleagues to Alabama to commemorate the anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

I applaud the President for his appearance at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and his dedication and recommitment to ensuring that our history is never forgotten. Coming to lay eyes on the faces and places of the movement is, indeed, a brave and powerful thing to do.

I also acknowledge that this year was different. It was different not only because the President came to visit us but also because, on January 12, my hometown of Selma suffered a major disaster with a tornado that destroyed thousands of properties in Selma.

So, the President's visit was twofold. It was both an acknowledgment of the importance of voting rights but also an acknowledgment that he and the Federal Government will be there to help my hometown rebuild. After all, Selma is a custodian of America's history. We are merely the custodians of that history.

I honor and applaud my colleagues of the CBC for doing this Special Order hour on voting rights, and I want to say that it is very important that we not only talk about voting rights but that we do something about voting rights.

We passed the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which I am so proud to sponsor and be the author of, twice out of the House of Representatives. Both times, it languished over in the Senate because of an archaic procedural rule called the filibuster.

We need to not give up and be tireless in our efforts to ensure that every American has the right to vote. After all, we in the CBC understand all too well that we would not be here if it weren't for the sacrifices of those who came before us, who laid their lives on the line so that this country could live up to its highest ideals of democracy and equality for all.

Again, I commend the CBC and my colleagues tonight. I am honored to join you in making sure that we keep this alive.

It was John Lewis who said that the vote is the most precious, fundamental right in our society. He also reminded us that our struggle is not a struggle for 1 day, 1 week, or 1 year. Our struggle, the struggle for voting rights, is a struggle of a lifetime.

We in the CBC are committed to making sure that we pass the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act named after our beloved John Lewis.

I thank you for allowing me to begin this Special Order hour, and I again commend my colleagues for joining us in the fight to make sure that all Americans have access to the ballot box.

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