Save the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Floor Speech

Mr. LEWIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask--I beg--of all of our colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, to come together and save the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

I wish somehow, in some way, that members of the United States Supreme Court could come and walk in my shoes. I have seen hundreds and thousands of people stand in a movable line, asked to count the numbers of bubbles in a bar of soap, the number of jellybeans in a jar. I've seen too many of my sisters and brothers denied the right to register, denied the right to vote, simply because of the color of their skin.

We've come too far. We've made too much progress, Mr. Speaker, and we cannot go back--for the vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful, nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society, and no one, but no one--African American, Latino, White, Asian American, Native American--should be denied the right to participate in the democratic process. So let's come together and do what we should do, and what another generation of elected officials did.

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