Sheila Jackson Lee

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crist).

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Lamb).

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, as has been said over and over again on the floor of the House, H.R. 8 provides for the legal access to guns. It does not take away guns from any American. In addition, the Second Amendment is truly preserved with H.R. 8, and it is in compliance with the law which allows the regulation of guns, even with the Second Amendment. We ask our colleagues to support H.R. 8 and the en bloc amendments included therein. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I want us to be very quiet in this Chamber, almost to the extent of hearing a pin drop. That is what happens when you are in prayer: Muslims, Catholics, those of the Jewish faith, Christians. Prayer is the most sacred moment in many faiths, in all faiths. Imagine that moment in Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, friends of ours across the Nation. That weekday prayer service for some is a lifeline for their survival. They are huddled in prayer, maybe taking care of what they call a broken heart, a bad day at the office, a need to take care of a wayward child, and in comes this young man that they saw only as a person in need of prayer. That is a song we sing. That we are in need of prayer. Just imagine this pristine, white, old church symbolizing the freedom of slaves, just imagine these precious souls who were doing nothing but praying. I want to acknowledge the pain that Whip Clyburn experienced. I saw him in the aftermath of those days. These were not just his fellow Americans, they were his neighbors and his friends and interns. How many remember when the commander in healing, the commander of bringing people together, President Obama, sang the song Amazing Grace? That is what life in the midst of a storm is about, and that is what we are in, in the proliferation of guns. And my friends on the other side keep throwing darts and bombs about undermining the Second Amendment. I say it again. From the early stages of the Founding Fathers in the Bill of Rights, gun usage in America was regulated. The Heller case does not deny regulation. In fact, there are aspects that allow it. So this is a legitimate regulation for safety, not control. Because Dylann, who went to a gun store and manipulated a gun owner to go and give him the gun after 3 days because there was something funny about his information, this will save lives. Ten days is not too long to stop the loss of life and the bloodshed that was in Mother Emanuel. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 1446 to save lives.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership, and I thank Whip Clyburn for letting us fix the problem of criminals getting guns. Do my friends on the other side of the aisle not understand that Dylann Roof had a criminal background? What happened is that the storekeeper, in essence, violated the law. He viewed it as not violating the law because, after 3 days, there was no answer. Dylann Roof took a gun and became a mass shooter in America. Yes, if he had not gotten a gun illegally, these souls would be alive today. In 2018, there were 355 mass shootings. We have evidence that people with guns have not stopped a mass shooting. So if there was a person armed with a gun inside Mother Emanuel praying with a gun, I don't believe that lives could have been saved. What I do know is that if this bill, H.R. 1446, had been in place, that would have allowed a 10-day window to be able to determine whether Dylann Roof needed to have a gun. It is a simple context, simple facts, and it should be done to save lives. I rise in enthusiastic support of H.R. 1446. I thank Whip Clyburn for his long years of persistence. And our sympathy goes to those who lost their lives at Mother Emanuel in 2015. We have come now to be able to say no, criminals should not have guns, and we should have a NICS system that allowed the full review background check so that he could not have had a gun. What is wrong with that? Are we interested in saving lives the right way? Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1446, the ``Enhanced Background Check Act of 2021,'' which strengthens the background check procedures federal firearms licensees or dealers follow before selling or transferring a firearm. Under current law, firearms dealers are required to run a background check on prospective buyers using the NICS. Over 90 percent of checks are completed within 90 seconds so if the NICS system has not returned an answer to the licensed firearms dealer within ten days, the prospective firearms purchaser may file a petition with the Attorney General for review. After another 10-day period has expired, the licensed firearms dealer may sell or transfer the firearm to the prospective purchaser if it has not received a response through the NICS system and the dealer has no reason to believe that the purchaser is prohibited from obtaining a firearm under Federal, state, or local law. Thus, under this measure, licensed firearms dealers could not sell or transfer under the ``default proceed'' provision until at least 20 days have passed since the initial background check. Madam Speaker, the American people are demanding effective action to reduce, if not prevent altogether, the countless mass shootings and gun violence in our country that continue to claim so many innocent lives. Newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention found firearm-related deaths rose for the second-straight year in 2016, largely due to spikes in gun violence. In 2016, the new CDC report on preliminary mortality data shows that there were more than 38,000 gun-related deaths in the U.S.--4,000 more than 2015. An Associated Press analysis of FBI data shows there were about 11,000 gun-related homicides in 2016, up from 9,600 in 2015. Congress must act to keep our country safe through gun safety and violence deterrence. There was nearly one mass shooting per day in the United States--355 mass shootings in 2018. In December 2012, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 20 children, 6 adults, and himself. Since December 2012, there have been at least 1,518 mass shootings, with at least 1,715 people killed and 6,089 wounded. On the night of October 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire on a large crowd of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, leaving 58 people dead and 527 injured. And on November 5, 2017, a mass shooting occurred at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, where the gunman, 26-year- old Devin Patrick Kelley, killed 26 and injured 20 others. Every day, on average, 92 Americans are victims of gun violence, resulting in more than 33,000 deaths annually. States with higher gun ownership rates have higher gun murder rates-- as much as 114 percent higher than other States. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looking at 30 years of homicide data found that for every 1 percent increase in a State's gun ownership rate, there is a nearly 1 percent increase in its firearm homicide rate. Gun death rates are generally lower in States with restrictions such as safe storage requirements or assault weapons bans. Mass shootings stopped by armed civilians in the past 33 years: 0. Because more than 75 percent of the weapons used in mass shootings between 1982 and 2012 were obtained legally, stronger legislation is needed to prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands. Madam Speaker, enhancing the gun transfer background check system has consistently garnered broad public support, as high as 92 percent, because the American people know that the status quo is simply intolerable and action must be taken to reduce gun violence by keeping dangerous persons from obtaining deadly weapons. That begins with passing H.R. 1446, the ``Enhanced Background Check Act of 2021,'' and I urge all members to join me in voting for its passage.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, this past Sunday was Bloody Sunday. For some who are not familiar with that terminology, the Congressional Black Caucus did a special tribute last evening. But I think it is also a recognition that elections count, determination counts, conscience counts. So this morning I want to emphasize Bloody Sunday and what it really meant. It was, in fact, to restore or to initiate or to give Americans the free and equal right to vote. The late John Lewis, our friend, our brother, the conscience of the Congress, may not have known what historical steps he was walking in when he stared down the Alabama State Troopers standing with Hosea Williams and Albert Turner and other foot soldiers, staring them down because voting counts. I rise to pay tribute to that kind of determination. As we proceed to debate the American rescue package, I want the Members, my friends on the other side of the aisle, to recognize that elections count, that people are looking for us to stare down the devastation of COVID-19, the devastation of poverty, and the devastation of lack of jobs. They are looking for diversity in terms of vaccinations, reaching out to neighborhoods. They are looking for the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, and that is because John Lewis stood tall for the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In fact, after that Bloody Sunday, President Johnson rose to this podium and said: ``I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy. . . . At times, history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama.'' So when we debate, I want us to be reminded that people died for the Voting Rights Act because elections count: people like Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was shot by a State trooper in Marion, Alabama, after a peaceful rally to vote; women like Viola Liuzzo, a Detroit housewife who was driving people back and forth between Montgomery and Selma. She, a mother of 5, was shot to death. So today I rise to emphasize that Bloody Sunday is not just Bloody Sunday. It is a continuation of the fight for justice and the fight for voting rights. It is what we will do tomorrow. It is the PRO Act. It is the Violence Against Women Act. It is the vote for the American rescue package that does not disallow the fact that all Americans, those impoverished, those who have lost loved ones to COVID-19, those teachers who want to get in the classroom and teach. All of this will be part of the American rescue package. Thank you, John Lewis, for beginning to tell us what America should be and what America can be. It is because of that kind of strength that we are here today. To John Lewis, we commit to you to pass H.R. 1 in the Senate, to pass the Voting Rights Act enhancement number four, after Shelby, Alabama, destroyed and undermined the very strength of the Voting Rights Act. Because we would not be here today; we would not have the opportunity to have the American rescue package; we would not have the opportunity to have the Violence Against Women Act; we would not have the opportunity to have the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, whose family was here last week when we debated it, if we did not have the right to vote. So it is my belief today that, as we go into this debate, as we go into the rest of the week, as we vote for the universal background checks and the Charleston, South Carolina, closing the loophole, it is not a frivolous authority or power that we utilize. It is because people were willing to be beaten and to be almost killed, but certainly unbowed, as Shirley Chisholm said, for the precious right to vote. Bloody Sunday may be one day, March 7, but all the years that I have gone and crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, chosen to highlight a Confederate segregationist, but we turned that lemon into lemonade. When thousands and thousands and thousands every year marched across that Edmund Pettus Bridge, we weren't marching for segregation, we weren't marching for the violence that was perpetrated against the foot soldiers year after year. We were marching for freedom and the right to vote. So this right to vote will be exercised on the floor of the House this week. I ask and beg my colleagues to join us in what is good. Join us in the American rescue package. Join us in the PRO Act. Join us in the universal background checks. Join us in closing the Charleston loophole. Join us next week in the Violence Against Women Act. Join us to make America the country of John Robert Lewis, standing for what is good. Madam Speaker, I know we will do good and get into good trouble.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership. Madam Speaker, I rise enthusiastically to support the PRO Act and its protection against executives and companies who violate workers' rights, its support for collective bargaining, and also its access to fair elections with unions. I rise to support my amendment, number 9. The Jackson Lee amendment is direct. The amendment explicitly extends whistleblower protections to employees, both employers, and unions, under the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. I am grateful to the unions and to the committee for working with this very important amendment. It extends whistleblower protection to all employees of employers or of unions to encourage and empower them to come forward and make known that something is wrong. Ms. Lawson, who was in a fight for $15, worked for a fast food industry. She was sexually harassed. She needs that kind of protection. So this amendment is very strong and adds to this very strong initiative. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of Jackson Lee Amendment No. 9 included in the Chairman's En Bloc Amendment to H.R. 842, the ``Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021,'' or ``PRO Act,'' which protects the basic right to join a union by (1) empowering workers to exercise their right to organize; (2) holding employers accountable for violating workers' rights; and (3) securing free, fair, and safe union elections. The LMRDA of 1959 protects union members through a ``bill of rights'' for union members, requires extensive reporting of union finances, and mandates transparency of arrangements between employers and anti-labor consultants. I am pleased that the PRO Act includes reforms to the LMRDA that clarify that employers must disclose arrangements with consultants on indirectly persuading employees on how to exercise their labor rights. Examples of indirect persuasion include planning employee meetings, training employer representatives, and identifying employees for disciplinary action or targeting. The Jackson Lee Amendment No. 9 makes a simple common-sense improvement to the bill. The identical version of this amendment was made in order by the Rules Committee in the 116th Congress and adopted by the House on February 6, 2020, by a roll call vote of 404-18. Specifically, the amendment explicitly extends whistleblower protections to employees of both employers and unions under the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. This is a fair and balanced amendment. Supreme Court decisions like Janus v. AFSCME, 585 U.S.__138 S. Ct. 2448, 201 L. Ed. 2d 924 (2018), and many others, have severely weakened the ability for unions to be able to organize and bargain collectively, or to discharge an essential mediating function upon which a vibrant democracy depends. The PRO Act protects the workers who are trying to organize. But the Jackson Lee Amendment No. 9 extends whistleblower protections to all employees, of employers or of unions, to encourage and empower them to come forward and make known something wrong or unlawful that they have learned or observed. Let me give you an example. Last year, I met Kimberly Lawson, who is part of the Fight for $15. She also came to see me to advise me of the problems she has had with sexual harassment on her job in the fast-food industry. She told me, on the record, that if we could pass the PRO Act, she would not be alone trying to raise our hourly wage or face sexual harassment without a union to help her. Madam Speaker, this whistleblower protection is important because it gives workers like Ms. Lawson the ability to be able to report what is happening to them without losing or jeopardizing their jobs and the ability, like Ms. Lawson, to support her children on the income of a single mother. Our economy needs a strong middle class, and unions are essential to rebuilding America's middle class and improving the lives of workers and their families. When workers have the power to stand together and form a union, they have higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Protecting workers' rights to organize will help rebuild the middle class and improve the quality of life for workers and their families. Unions are essential to rebuilding America's middle class and improving the lives of workers and their families because they deliver higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Unions deliver bigger paychecks for both union and nonunion workers. Over the last eight decades, unions have consistently provided workers with a 10- to 20-percent higher wage. The benefits of union membership are so strong that even the children of union workers enjoy greater economic mobility. When union density is high, even nonunion workers receive higher wages. Unions provide workers with a voice on the job to bargain for better wages and safer working conditions. While the entire economy has suffered from massive job loss during the pandemic, union workers suffered fewer job losses because they were able to bargain with employers on how to respond to the pandemic. Unions deliver greater access to affordable health care and a more secure retirement. Private sector workers covered by a union contract are 27 percent more likely to be offered health insurance through their employer. More than 9 in 10 unionized private sector workers have access to a retirement plan, compared to just 65 percent of nonunion workers. Unions narrow both the racial wealth gap and the gender pay gap. About two-thirds (65 percent) of workers age 18 to 64 who are covered by a union contract are women and/or people of color. Union members of color have almost five times the median wealth of their nonunion counterparts. Unions are one of the most effective solutions for closing the gender pay gap. I urge all members to join me in supporting Jackson Lee Amendment No. 9 by voting for the En Bloc Amendment to H.R. 842, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, of 2021. I want to remind us that, in the early 1900s, women worked in factories where they died. They simply died because there were no provisions, no protections; and they died with drastic fires and other devastating actions. Madam Speaker, I ask support of this legislation. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter of support for the Jackson Lee amendment from the Government Accountability Project. It reads that they think that this is an especially important initiative to be added. I ask that in support. Government Accountability Project, Washington, DC, March 8, 2021. Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee, Member of Congress, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Representative Lee: Thank you for your leadership through legislation to add whistleblower protection rights to the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959. That law strives for union accountability to its members and in management relations. Your bill reflects best practice rights that Congress has passed 16 times since 2005 in laws throughout the private sector. However, the reality is that not only employers abuse power and undermine worker rights. This legislation protects those who seek accountability within and by organizations whose mission is to protect employees. As summarized below, your legislation would honor best practices by-- prohibiting retaliation against applicants, employees or former employees who are perceived as disclosing or assisting to disclose violations of the Act's provisions; protecting both front line and management employees from retaliation; extending identical protection to those who refuse to obey orders to violate the law; providing an administrative remedy at the U.S. Department of Labor, with the right to a jury trial in federal court if there is not a timely decision; governing enforcement with realistic Whistleblower Protection Act legal burdens of proof; and so employees do not lose by winning, providing ``make whole'' remedies for those who prevail, including cancelation of all career damage, compensatory damages and costs including attorney fees. Unless there are loopholes in the political mandate for accountability, this legislation should not be controversial. It merely applies almost identical legal rights in the labor- management context that Congress has enacted since 2005 for financial, food safety, consumer protection, energy, medical insurance and transportation whistleblowers. Thank you for your leadership. Please consider Government Accountability Project on call for further assistance. Sincerely, Tom Devine, Legal Director.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I ask support of the Jackson Lee amendment in the en bloc amendment No. 1. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 842, the ``Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021, or ``PRO Act,'' which protects the basic right to join a union by (1) empowering workers to exercise their right to organize; (2) holding employers accountable for violating workers' rights; and (3) securing free, fair, and safe union elections. Our economy needs a strong middle class, and unions are essential to rebuilding America's middle class and improving the lives of workers and their families. The erosion of America's middle-class is a direct result of decades- long assault on workers' rights, funded by wealthy special interests. When workers have the power to stand together and form a union, they have higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Workers seeking to organize a union frequently face a surge of intimidation and retaliation from wealthy special interests. After decades of anti-worker attacks, union membership is at historic lows and inequality is at historic highs. It is imperative that we begin to recognize that the American people support unions--over 64 percent of Americans and millennials appreciate the idea of having representation for better quality of life and work. When workers have the power to stand together and form a union, they have higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Protecting workers' rights to organize will help rebuild the middle class and improve the quality of life for workers and their families. Unions are essential to rebuilding America's middle class and improving the lives of workers and their families because they deliver higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Workers with strong unions have been able to set industry standards for wages and benefits that help all workers, both union and nonunion. Over the last eight decades, unions have consistently provided workers with a 10- to 20-percent higher wage. The benefits of union membership are so strong that even the children of union workers enjoy greater economic mobility. Unions provide workers with a voice on the job to bargain for better wages and safer working conditions, and never has it been more important that all workers have a voice in the workplace and access to a union. While the majority of workers who are currently working onsite at their workplaces believe they face considerable risk of COVID-19 infection, Black and Hispanic workers are more likely to fear risks from work than are White workers. In fact, Black workers make up one in six of all front-line industry workers, putting them and their family members at greater risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19. Without unions, many workers are forced to work without personal protective equipment or access to paid leave or premium pay. When nonunion workers have advocated for health and safety protections or wage increases, they have often been retaliated against or even fired for doing so. Workers' lives and the health and safety of working families depends on their ability to have a say in how they do their jobs. While the entire economy has suffered from massive job loss during the pandemic, union workers suffered fewer job losses because they were able to bargain with employers on how to respond to the pandemic. Unions deliver greater access to affordable health care and a more secure retirement. Private sector workers covered by a union contract are 27 percent more likely to be offered health insurance through their employer. More than 9 in 10 unionized private sector workers have access to a retirement plan, compared to just 65 percent of nonunion workers Unions narrow both the racial wealth gap and the gender pay gap. The right to a union and collective bargaining is also directly relevant to our urgent national conversation around racial inequality in its various forms, including economic disparities by race. Unions and collective bargaining help shrink the Black-White wage gap, and this means that the decline of unionization has played a significant role in the expansion of the Black-White wage gap over the last four decades, and that an increase in unionization could help reverse those trends. About two-thirds (65 percent) of workers age 18 to 64 who are covered by a union contract are women and/or people of color. Union members of color have almost five times the median wealth of their nonunion counterparts. Unions are one of the most effective solutions for closing the gender pay gap. Madam Speaker, here are 36 reasons why Americans should be thankful for unions and remain committed to ensuring there will always be a strong organized labor movement in the United States: 1. Weekends 2. All breaks at work, including your lunch breaks 3. Paid vacation 4. FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) 5. Sick leave 6. Social security 7. Minimum wage 8. Civil Rights Act Title VII (prohibits Employer Discrimination) 9. 8-Hour workday 10. Overtime pay 11. Child labor laws 12. Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) 13. 40 Hour Work Week 14. Worker's Compensation (Worker's Camp) 15. Unemployment Insurance 16. Pensions 17. Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations 18. Employer Health Care Insurance 19. Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees 20. Wrongful Termination Laws 21. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 22. Whistleblower Protection Laws 23. Employee Polygraph Protect Act (Prohibits Employer from using a lie detector test on an employee) 24. Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS) 25. Compensation increases and Evaluations (Raises) 26. Sexual Harassment laws 27. Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) 28. Holiday Pay 29. Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance 30. Privacy Rights 31. Pregnancy and Parental Leave 32. Military Leave 33. The Right to Strike 34. Public Education for Children 35. Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work) 36. Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United States I urge all members to join me in supporting H.R. 842, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, of 2021.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, over 500,000 dead; 44,000 or more dead in the State of Texas. The State of Texas, throughout the entire pandemic, remained one of the top hot spots of the Nation. They started testing late. We started vaccines and still have not reached a certain percentage, but yet, tomorrow, on March 10, 2021, our Governor has announced that there will be no mask mandate, and there will be no restrictions on any form of entertainment, restaurants, any large gatherings. Tomorrow, March 10, the people of Texas get a death notice. I am asking my friends in Texas to wear your masks, socially distance, wash your hands. We are vaccinating as fast as we can, but I am letting you know that Texas has all five of the variants of COVID-19. They have long- haulers in Texas, people who have continued to have COVID-19. To save lives, I am asking my fellow Texans--as I know President Bush always used to call us, his ``fellow Texans''--to wear your masks, wash your hands, socially distance to save lives. Let's ignore wrong-headed advice and do what is right to save lives.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is my great honor that I will be introducing members of the Congressional Black Caucus for this Special Order, including the distinguished chair, who has led us to understand our power-hour message. I thank the distinguished CBC chair, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty. As we begin to do a Special Order on Bloody Sunday and a tribute to the honorable late John Robert Lewis, who was and continues to be the conscience of the Congress, it is my privilege to yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Ohio for setting just the right tone of why members of the Congressional Black Caucus are on the floor today. Let me acknowledge the gentleman from New York, who is now Speaker pro tempore, who is my co-anchor. How appropriate for him to be presiding over this Special Order dealing with the deeply embedded segregationist, violent period when we were fighting for voting rights. Isn't it interesting that we are now in the midst of fighting for the passage of H.R. 1, but we are in the midst of a battle to ensure the passage of H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act? Let me just briefly set the tone, as my members continue to do, and to tell the story. Maybe many of us may not know the significance. I realize that there has been some discussion on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which I have crossed now for almost 30 years during Bloody Sunday, which was, in fact, yesterday, March 7. It was named after Edmund Pettus. Isn't it interesting that it was named more than three decades after his death? They wanted to honor a symbol of the Confederacy. They wanted to honor someone who was soaked in the blood and the anguish of slavery. This river, the Alabama River, was a key route for the slave plantation and cotton economy during slavery. That is what the Edmund Pettus Bridge was, a key route for the cotton economy during slavery and Reconstruction. The route for the slave plantation and cotton economy crossed this bridge during our darkest hour. That is who the bridge is named after, and this is the bridge that the foot soldiers Martin King, Hosea Williams, Andy Young, John Robert Lewis, Albert Turner, and many others crossed. This 56th commemoration is extremely important today, and it is to recognize that the fight and struggle still goes. It is to recognize that this was not, in fact, a simple process. This was not a circumstance where this was an easy task. This was a dark moment. It was based on the courage of those who were willing to lose their life. It was based on the courage of these men and women and little children as young as 8 years old. It was based on the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, in 1964, who had gone to one of the meetings and was actually shot by a law enforcement officer. Tonight, this is a serious moment in history. This is a moment in history that the Congressional Black Caucus is more than able to present to the American people. Listen to us over these 60 minutes as we tell the story of how imperative it is to ensure that the Voter Advancement Act named after John Robert Lewis is actually passed. Let me just give you the words of John Robert Lewis as we also pay tribute to him. John Lewis said recently: ``My philosophy is very simple. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, say something, do something. Get in trouble, good trouble.'' Recently, of course, preceding his death, this is something we are always reminded of. We can see John Lewis, who gave all that he could so that we, in America, African Americans, Black Americans, and all people, could have the precious right to vote. Tonight, you will hear these stories in tribute to him, in tribute to all those whose lives were lost in that battle, that their memory never be forgotten, their fight never be forgotten. The Congressional Black Caucus makes them a promise that it will not. Mr. Speaker, fifty-six years ago, in Selma, Alabama, hundreds of heroic souls risked their lives for freedom and to secure the right to vote for all Americans by their participation in marches for voting rights on ``Bloody Sunday,'' ``Turnaround Tuesday,'' or the final, completed march from Selma to Montgomery. Those ``foot soldiers'' of Selma, who were led by our beloved colleague, the late Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, were brave and determined men and women, boys and girls, persons of all races and creeds, who loved their country so much that they were willing to risk their lives to make it better, and to bring it even closer to its founding ideals. The foot soldiers marched because they believed that all persons have dignity and the right to equal treatment under the law, and in the making of the laws, which is the fundamental essence of the right to vote. On March 15, 1965, before a joint session of the Congress and the eyes of the nation, President Lyndon Johnson explained to the nation the significance of ``Bloody Sunday'': I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy. . . . At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama. The previous Sunday, March 7, 1965, more than 600 civil rights demonstrators, including our beloved colleague, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia whose skull was battered by police batons, were brutally attacked by state and local police at the Edmund Pettus Bridge as they marched from Selma to Montgomery in support of the right to vote. ``Bloody Sunday'' was a defining moment in American history because it crystallized for the nation the necessity of enacting a strong and effective federal law to protect the right to vote of every American. No one who witnessed the violence and brutality suffered by the foot soldiers for justice who gathered at the Edmund Pettus Bridge will ever forget it; the images are deeply seared in the American memory and experience. Mr. Speaker, what is so moving, heroic, and awe-inspiring is that the foot soldiers of Selma faced their heavily armed adversaries fortified only by their love for their country and for each other and their audacious faith in a righteous cause. The example set by the foot soldiers of Selma showed everyone, here in America and around the world, that there is no force on earth as powerful as an idea whose time has come. These great but nameless persons won the Battle of Selma and helped redeem the greatest nation on earth. But we should not forget that the victory came at great cost and that many good and dear persons lost their lives to win for others the right to vote. Men like Jimmy Lee Jackson, who was shot by Alabama state trooper as he tried to protect his mother and grandmother from being beaten for participating in a peaceful voting rights march in Marion, Alabama. Women like Viola Liuzzo, a housewife and mother of five, who had journeyed to Selma from Detroit to join the protests after witnessing on television the events at Edmund Pettus Bridge on ``Bloody Sunday'' and who was shot and killed by Klansmen while driving back from a trip shuttling fellow voting rights marchers to the Montgomery airport. Persons of faith, goodwill, and non-violence like the Reverend James Reeb of Boston, a minister from Boston who heeded the call of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to come to Selma and who succumbed to the head injuries he suffered at the hands of his white supremacists attackers on March 9, two days after ``Bloody Sunday.'' Mr. Speaker, in the face of unspeakable hostility, violence, brutality, and hatred, the foot soldiers of Selma would not be deterred--would not be moved--would not be turned around. They kept their eyes on the prize and held on. And help came the very next week when President Johnson announced to the Nation that he would send to Congress for immediate action a law designed to eliminate illegal barriers to the right to vote by striking down ``restrictions to voting in all elections--Federal, State, and local--which have been used to deny Negroes the right to vote.'' On August 6, 1965, that legislation--the Voting Rights Act of 1965-- was signed into law by President Johnson and for the next 48 years did more to expand our democracy and empower racial and language minorities than any act of government since the Emancipation Proclamation and adoption of the Civil War Amendments. But our work is not done; the dreams of Dr. King and of all those who gave their lives in the struggle for justice are not behind us but still before us. Mr. Speaker, in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, which severely crippled the Voting Rights Act, we have seen many states across our nation move to enact legislation designed to limit the ability of women, the elderly, and racial and language minorities to exercise their right to vote. To honor the memory of the foot soldiers of Selma, we must rededicate ourselves to a great task remaining before us--to repair the damage done to the Voting Rights Act by working to pass legislation like H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019, introduced in the 116th Congress, which I was proud to be one of the original co-sponsors. As I have stated many times, the 1965 Voting Rights Act is no ordinary piece of legislation. For millions of Americans, and for many in Congress, it is sacred treasure, earned by the sweat and toil and tears and blood of ordinary Americans who showed the world it was possible to accomplish extraordinary things. As we remember and honor the foot soldiers of Selma, let us resolve also to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965 so that the Voting Rights Act remains a lasting monument to their heroism and devotion to the country they loved. Our leader on this, who has taken up the mantle, who has worked with John Robert Lewis, is, how should I say, a sister of the South, of Alabama, a scholar and a lawyer, but with a passion and a heart for voting rights, for justice. And, yes, as we both have said, our beloved brother, John Robert Lewis, has a special place in our hearts. I know that he has a special place in mine, and he has a special place in the heart of the distinguished gentlewoman from Alabama, Terri Sewell. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her powerful message on good trouble and doing the right thing. I can hear John Lewis right now. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Johnson), the distinguished chairwoman of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for that question of how long. Now it is my privilege to yield to a distinguished leader of the House, the co-chair of the Steering and Policy Committee, a senior member on Appropriations, the Honorable Barbara Lee.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining, please?

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure now to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from Detroit, the co-chair of the Women's Caucus, and an officer with the Congressional Black Caucus. That is the Honorable Brenda Lawrence.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks. She reminded us that his sacrifice was not a simple one. He shed blood. John Robert Lewis shed blood because of his beliefs and his commitment. Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to be able to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman, the chair and founder of the Historically Black College Caucus, a longtime academician and professor at a historically Black college, and that is the gentlewoman from North Carolina, Alma Adams.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Adams for saying what our power is all about. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford), the first vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and a leader in the fight for labor rights that brought him to the United States Congress. Congressman Horsford is the distinguished gentleman from Nevada, and I hope I have gotten that right because I have been there many times, and I know that I have to get it right.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman. We will carry on the fight. Thank you for challenging us tonight. I think that everyone knows that we will not rest until the Voter Rights Act, H.R. 4, the John Robert Lewis bill is passed. Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans), who stood at this podium some years ago as the leader of the Special Order. And I am delighted to seek to grow as tall as he is in this job, because he is now a leading member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, who has provided our road map that we are going to use to take this long journey, and we are not going to stop until we finish the job. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath). This distinguished Congresswoman has a voice of passion for an issue that John Lewis had a voice of passion for, and I believe that it clearly was before she came, if I am not mistaken, that John Lewis led a floor boycott so that gun legislation could be passed. You see, he is and was the conscience of the Congress. I think he must have known that Congresswoman McBath was coming to Congress.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for reminding us of how broad Congressman Lewis' civil rights fight was. And he was the conscience to change all that was bad to make it good. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege now to yield to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Jones), who has come with a storied history on fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much. Concise but powerful. We know what our guidepost is. Mr. Speaker, I don't think that the history of the United States has had a more civil rights activist as Speaker, one who is a fighter for justice. We are delighted to have her joining us this evening. Her voice has been alongside John Robert Lewis. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), our distinguished Speaker of the House, joining us on the commemoration of Bloody Sunday.

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