Lucy McBath

Mr. Speaker, I thank so much, once again, our esteemed colleague Representative Jennifer McClellan from Virginia who consistently, over and over again, has always been steadfast in holding Special Order hours for the Congressional Black Caucus. She understands the relevance and the importance of our history and all that this means to communities of color that we make sure that we have our say here on the House floor and all these words are kept in the record for perpetuity.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues and the CBC for hosting tonight's CBC Special Order hour to honor what we all know is a really, really great man. I think everyone, whether you are Republican or Democrat, has always understood the importance of having John Lewis as our esteemed colleague.

It is hard to believe that it has been 6 years since the passing of our dear friend and colleague Congressman John Lewis, or as he would always say, ``I am the boy from Troy.''

Despite years lacking his presence, his spirit and his soul still fill this Chamber every single day. There are so many of my colleagues that continue to use his words and his phrases and his thoughts every single day as they want to be able to emulate the work that he has done for democracy, the work that he has done for the United States of America on behalf of every community in America.

Renowned as the conscience of Congress--and I don't think there will be anyone else ever to come along in this esteemed body, for years to come, long after we are all gone, that can ever be revered as the conscience of Congress--John leaves behind a legacy that serves as a guiding light toward what is right and what is just in America.

In a world where Federal protections for communities indeed are under constant attack every single day, where the Voting Rights Act is being systematically dismantled, and where some children born today have fewer protections than their parents had, it has never been more important to let his words guide our actions.

As John would often say, and it has been quoted a million times over, we have a moral obligation, a mission, and a mandate to do what we can to make our country and our world a better place, and to help usher in a loving community where no one is left out or left behind.

John was probably one of the only politicians that I truly believe lived by those words and was absolutely unafraid to do what was necessary to realize them, no matter if he was marching for freedom in Selma or sitting in on the House floor in support of safer gun laws.

I remember that night so distinctly because at that time, I was the national spokesperson for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. While all of my now colleagues were sitting on the House floor asking for background checks for all gun sales, asking for safer communities, legislation that would keep our families safe, I was on the outside leading the rally, leading the charge for the very same thing.

John reminded each of us of the importance of getting into good, necessary trouble. You will hear that said by my colleagues again and again because the trouble is absolutely necessary.

John's story is one of faith. It is one of resilience and perpetual belief that it is our responsibility--especially those of us who serve in this body--to fight for the change that we wish to see, that our constituents and our communities are crying out for.

From the son of Alabama sharecroppers to a renowned civil rights activist to a Member of Congress, John's life was a true testament to the American Dream. He embraced a country that did not always embrace him because he believed in the promise of a better tomorrow and was willing to fight for it. He was willing to even die for it.

He fought for it on the streets of Montgomery. He fought for it while bruised and bloodied on a bridge in Selma. He fought for it for 33 years representing his community in the Halls of Congress.

He was a mentor to me when I first came to this Chamber ready to make life better for families in Georgia. In fact, I remember the very first day I was here, after I was sworn in. The Democratic Caucus always welcomes the brand-new Members. It was John, who was the leader of our delegation, who introduced me to the entire Democratic Caucus.

That moment was so monumental for me, so monumental for me that I had the John Lewis, our civil rights icon, introduce me to the Democratic Caucus as one of his very own. It takes my breath away even to this day.

I will never forget the day that he accompanied me and other survivors of gun violence and those who have lost loved ones as we marched our way over to Senator Mitch McConnell's office. We were demanding that he pay heed to our stories, that he pay attention to the hundreds of thousands of people in this country that are dying unnecessarily to gun violence every single day.

I remember dancing with John Lewis. He loved to dance. Despite everything that happened to him in his life, he believed in the good of man. He believed in the best of man. That joy came through whenever he was with organizations and people that had come to celebrate all the work that he had done. He would celebrate and give them love through dance.

I remember even before I came to Congress, I asked John, when I was national spokesperson for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America in Atlanta, I was holding a rally and asked him if he would be my keynote speaker, never imagining he would say yes. Never in a million years did I believe that John Lewis would listen to me, just an average mom who had lost her own son to gun violence, but just asking for a little bit of his time. He came and spoke at my rally.

One thing I know about John is he always showed up for people, the people. They were his cause. Democracy was his cause. Freedom was his cause.

At this moment in our Nation's history, we draw upon the wisdom of his words and look to his legacy for strength and guidance as we carry the torch that he lit for civil and human rights, for not only people of color but for everyone in America. Because even today, we painfully have to be reminded that our work is still unfinished and not everybody in this country has been set free.

Before we mourn the death of John Lewis, we grieve the loss of the Federal protections the Voting Rights Act once afforded every American in this country, rights that John nearly gave his life for long before he ever had the chance to even serve in Congress.

Since his passing, those protections have eroded further, and the struggle to protect voting rights continues in his name here with legislation, back home in my home State of Georgia, and in State legislatures all across this country.

Progress is rarely linear. Despite this tumultuous time in our Nation's history, John's story reminds us that the fight to make our country a better place is never-ending. It is generation after generation. There is no end.

It was one of the greatest honors of my life to be his colleague and a fellow member of Georgia's congressional delegation.

Let's not forget the impact that he had on our country because his legacy is what guides us towards the future. It was a pure legacy for everyone in this country.

John cared so deeply about what he used to say all the time was the Beloved Community. The members of the CBC that I am so blessed to be able to serve with, we are always going to carry that mantle. That is our charge: to carry that mantle, uplifting the community that he loved so much.

We will continue to speak up, and we are going to continue to speak out against bigotry, against hatred, inequity, and injustice because that is what we know best. As people of color, that is what we know best.

So we will continue to speak up against all of these forms of inequity. In all of its forms, we will continue to fight against it. This will always be our charge, as we are tasked to be the protectors and the armor-bearers of democracy.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Virginia so very much for holding this Special Order hour on behalf of the Congressional

Black Caucus, but more so, because this is National Gun Violence Awareness Month, and I am very, very aware of this month.

I make time and effort every single year during this month to continue to highlight the scourge of gun violence in America as a public health crisis. I thank the gentlewoman very much for hosting this Special Order hour.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today during National Gun Violence Awareness Month to address a crisis that continues to devastate our families and communities all across our Nation.

For far too many Americans, especially Black Americans and other marginalized groups, gun violence is not an abstract policy debate. Gun violence is a daily threat, a lived reality, and, too often, a source of unimaginable pain and loss.

For me, this mission is deeply, deeply personal. Nearly 14 years ago, my son, Jordan, was taken from me by senseless gun violence. I know that I have told the story a thousand times on this floor to this body, and I will continue to do so because his life and his story do matter.

My son was simply going shopping with his friends, from one mall to the next. They stopped at a convenience store gas station to get chewing gum because my son Jordan said: If we are going to pick up girls at the next mall, we have to have fresh breath.

They stopped at a convenience store gas station in Jacksonville, Florida. Within 3\1/2\ minutes, a man drives up next to them and parks next to them, on the passenger's side. He labels the boys gangbangers and thugs, and racially profiles them because of the music that they were playing. He started a verbal altercation with the boys, in particular, my son, Jordan.

My son, as I had trained him to do, defended himself. He basically said: We are not bothering you. We are not doing anything wrong. We are just playing music. Can you just roll up your window?

This man proceeds to tell him: You can't talk to me that way.

He took his gun out of his glove box, got out of his car, and took a shooter's stance. As the boys were trying to move out of the line of fire and backing out of the parking lot, he took a shooter's stance and shot 10 bullets into their car.

Three of those bullets hit my son, and he lay dying in the back seat of the car, in his friend's arms. Thank God, the other boys were not hurt.

I recount this story over and over and over and over again because there is no measure of time that can dull this open wound and this pain. My son Jordan's memory inspires me to ensure that there is no other parent in this country who will ever have to endure what I have endured and what so many families in the United States continue to endure.

We often talk about the lives of people who are lost. We rarely acknowledge the lives saved and people who are still with us because someone intervened or because a program worked. As my colleague has expressed, all the work that we did with the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act has saved lives. That is because the community stepped in before a trigger was actually pulled.

We can't quantify those victories, but we know that they matter. We know that they worked. They remind us that prevention is possible, but more so that prevention is absolutely necessary.

The pandemic revealed just how quickly gun violence can escalate. In 2020, the United States experienced the largest single-year increase in homicides in modern history. That spike was not inevitable. It was a warning about what happens when communities' safeguards and resources are strained, taken away, or diminished.

In 2021, we passed the American Rescue Plan Act. We delivered $350 billion to State and local governments, including $15 billion specifically for public safety and violence prevention.

These dollars helped cities hire crisis responders and people who were doing work for gun violence intervention on the ground. They were targeting those elements in our communities that precipitated a lot of the gun violence. They were expanding community violence intervention programs in America.

In 2022, we passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It is the most significant, comprehensive gun violence legislation we have ever enacted in this country. It strengthened our background checks, cracked down on gun trafficking, and invested in mental health and community safety initiatives. These were meaningful steps forward. They were making a difference.

Yet, instead of building on these protections, the Trump administration has used the last 18 months to dismantle these safeguards and make it easier for dangerous individuals to have access to firearms.

These choices have put American lives at risk, and they undermine the progress the communities fought so hard to achieve.

Our work is far from finished. Gun violence remains one of the most urgent public health crises of our day. It is a public health crisis. We cannot allow the voices of our survivors, our families, and frontline communities to be drowned out or to be dismissed.

I remain committed to advancing legislation that protects our children, strengthens our neighborhoods, and prevents the next tragedy from happening. I am so proud to continue to fight alongside my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus and gun sense champions here in Congress who have long led the charge for justice and equity.

Shortly after my son was murdered, I, along with other mothers of the movement, as we were called--it was the mother of Trayvon Martin, the mother of Hadiya Pendleton, the mother of Eric Garner, the mother of Michael Brown, the mother of Dontre Hamilton, and, of course, my son, Jordan. We had the very rare opportunity to travel around the country with Secretary Clinton, who was then running in the 2016 campaign for President. We were allowed to campaign alongside her as the face of gun violence in America.

That is the first time in the history of any campaign that gun violence survivors and victims were allowed to tell their stories, were allowed to remind Americans of the scourge of gun violence, and that no one in this country, at any point in time, is immune from being hurt by unnecessary gun violence.

In this country, the industrialized United States of America, you are 25 times more likely to die by gun violence. In this country, our children are dying by gun violence, because it is the leading cause for them to die by unsecured firearms in households.

We are the most violent industrialized nation in the world. Our children suffer from the trauma of lockdown drills, not drills for tornadoes or hurricanes. They are traumatized by those alone, even if there is not an incident in their schools.

There is violence in every corner of the United States, in every district. Every Member in this body has constituents who have been hurt, maimed, affected, or influenced by gun violence.

We have domestic violence by gun, suicide by gun, child deaths by gun, and homicide by gun. Gun violence in America is a public health crisis, and it should be dealt with as such.

Gun violence prevention is not about infringing upon people's Second Amendment rights. It is about sensible gun ownership, about law-abiding citizens having access to firearms to hunt and to be gun enthusiasts, but also having a balance to make sure we are preventing people from being hurt, maimed, and suffering from gun violence.

We owe it, I owe it, to every family member touched by gun violence and to every family that we can still protect to meet this moment with courage and conviction.

People are crying out, and how dare we, this body, be deaf to it?

If we say we are going to be pro-life, pro-life isn't just about what happens in the womb. Pro-life is about existing life and people having the ability to live in their communities and their homes and our children to go to their schools and live in their neighborhoods without being afraid of being gunned down. That is pro-life.

So as a survivor of gun violence, I have vowed to my deceased son and to every survivor that I have met over the years to never ever let this body forget

and to never let anyone forget our responsibility to keeping them safe.

Mr. Speaker, I will do my part, and I pray that this body has the courage to do theirs.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia, our esteemed colleague and our good friend, Representative McClellan, for her historical context, for telling the truth, and for always, always standing up to defend the democracy and the rights of African Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Juneteenth and reflect on this enduring significance for Black Americans and, in particular, for this Nation.

On June 19, 1865, more than 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned that they were free.

Juneteenth stands as a powerful reminder that freedom, justice, and equality have never ever been guaranteed in the United States. They have been hard-fought and hard-won.

As we prepare to celebrate our Nation's 250th anniversary, Juneteenth calls on us not only to honor the resilience and sacrifices of those who came before us, but also to confront the work that remains unfinished.

While we celebrate progress, we cannot ignore the challenges facing Black communities today. Recent developments, including the Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais and the rollback of programs and resources that have helped expand opportunity and representation, remind us that progress is not inevitable. It requires vigilance.

We cannot ignore the urgency of this moment. Many programs that expanded educational access, strengthened healthcare, and supported affordability for working families are being rolled back under this administration's policies. These setbacks deepen inequities and threaten hard-won gains.

That is why we must continue pouring into the programs and community- led efforts that uplift Black families. By uplifting Black families, we are uplifting all families in America.

At every step, we have a responsibility to speak out against policies that undermine opportunity. The pursuit of equal justice demands our continued commitment.

Yet, Juneteenth is ultimately a story of hope. It is a testament to the strength, perseverance, and determination of generations who refused to give up on the promise of America.

As Members of Congress, we have a responsibility to continue to do this work, whether you want to do it or not. I remain committed to working alongside my colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus and across this Nation to advance policies that promote equity, expand opportunity, and strengthen our democracy for future generations.

I hope that everyone in Congress would be willing to honor the legacy of Juneteenth, not only through remembrance but through action.

I grew up in the civil rights movement. At the tender age of 3, I was in the stroller at the March on Washington, so fighting for civil rights is not just talk because I understand that faith without works is dead.

What I do understand is that, in this body, we profess to be Christians. We profess to be people of faith. Yet, at the same time, on one hand we profess to be Christian, and on the other hand, we want to break down the barriers, break down all the hard-earned work, break down the legislation, and break down the policies, the safety nets, and all the work that has been done through the civil rights movement. We want to break it down. Individuals who have worked and toiled in this country to be free yet again, in 2026, are fighting for their freedom.

In this country, we are under a great assault on our ability to be able to vote. Democracy stands right now in a place where I never ever thought that I would ever see again in my lifetime.

All the civil rights leaders and people who gave their lives, volunteers and foot soldiers, for the ability for African Americans and all people of color in this country to be able to exercise their right to vote is completely under assault. I truly believe that our civil rights leaders would roll over in their graves if they knew the assault on democracy and what we are dealing with in today's Congress.

It is unconscionable what is happening here. It is despicable what is happening here. It is deplorable what is happening here.

The Constitution affords every man and woman the ability to be able to exercise their right to vote, to exercise what is important to them. It gives them the ability to be able to live the American Dream and work for the American Dream to be educated, to be given affordable, quality healthcare, and to live in affordable housing. This Congress and the United States continue to strip away the voting rights of African Americans. That is truly at stake.

Where is the promise? What promise is being kept by this Constitution and by the Declaration of Independence?

The words of the Congressional Black Caucus continue to fall on deaf ears here in these Chambers. Shame on America. Shame on the body.

I pray every single day. I pray over every Member in this body. I pray for wisdom for our colleagues. I pray for the strength to stand and defend democracy and do the right thing. That is because democracy is for everyone in the United States, and we don't get to pick and choose who has access and who doesn't.

They don't get to pick and choose who gets to have a vote and who doesn't. We don't get to pick and choose who has healthcare and who doesn't. We don't get to pick and choose who has access to a good public education and who doesn't.

I, along with the Congressional Black Caucus, will stand and defend our ability to be able to hold dear and hold fast to what was promised to us by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

As the great woman from Virginia just mentioned, we are not backing down.