Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join my other colleagues
tonight to thank Congresswoman Kelly from Illinois and Congressman
Payne from New Jersey for organizing tonight's Congressional Black
Caucus Special Order hour.

I rise to highlight a pivotal moment in America's history--the Selma
voting rights march--that 50 years ago, Mr. Speaker, brought together
Americans to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, across the now
famous Edmund Pettus Bridge. There were attacks and dogs, beatings and
deaths, but still we marched because we as a country knew that all
Americans should have the same rights. The 54-mile walk was an effort
to demonstrate the desire of Black American citizens to exercise their
constitutional right to vote and to be treated equally.

Mr. Speaker, although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally
desegregated the South, discrimination and segregation remained
throughout much of the United States. The march led to the passage of
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which, today, continues to be eroded in
a threatened bill. The communities across our Nation certainly have
threats to their basic rights, and there are certainly injustices. In
the words of Dr. Martin Luther King--and they still ring true today
when I think about his words--``injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere.'' When I reflect on my recent trip to Ferguson--
where I witnessed firsthand--it seems that we are still reengaging in
our unfortunate history and ongoing challenges with voting rights,
voter registration, and injustices--and with new vitality and vigor.

Mr. Speaker, I will stand with my colleagues--those who are here,
along with Congressman John Lewis and Congresswoman Terri Sewell--when we march across that bridge and when we say that we must turn our march toward solutions. If we, Democrats and Republicans, can watch a movie together about Selma, sharing silent moments in tears, sharing stories of our own experiences, surely we can come together to fix voting
rights. How long must we wait, Mr. Speaker? How long will it take?

Let me end with these words: it is on all of us here in this body to
march for voting rights and to march for having voting rights.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, Congresswoman Robin Kelly.

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Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, in closing remarks, let me thank you for
extending our time tonight. We have heard from voices of legends
tonight. But tonight I would like to end by giving special recognition
to two new voices, two new legends who tonight led us through something
more than a Special Order hour. They led us through a Special Order
hour in history.

To Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey, thank you for picking this
topic and partnering with my colleague and friend, Congresswoman Robin
Kelly.

Mr. Speaker, tonight they are our voices of the future. Tonight they
had the courage to come and manage time on an issue that we think, as
members not only of the Congressional Black Caucus, but of this
Congress, being the conscience of this Congress.

Hopefully, it will make a difference in this Chamber as we proceed
forward.

Thank you again, Congressman Payne and Congresswoman Kelly. You are
our voices.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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