Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life and legacy of Lula Marie Edwards, an entrepreneur, exemplary community leader, and pioneering nurse during the Civil Rights Movement who passed at age 92 on February 1, 2022.

Mrs. Edwards was born one of six children on September 6, 1929, in Orville, AL, to the late James and Mary Scott-Harris. Valuing education even as a child, Mrs. Edwards was the first person in her family to graduate from high school at the top of the 1948 Keith High School inaugural graduating class. She continued her education at Selma University, where she studied to become an educator. However, after caring for her ailing brother Robert, Mrs. Edwards gained the attention of the nuns at Good Samaritan Hospital, and they encouraged her to become a nurse. Upon completing her LPN training at Good Samaritan School of Nursing in 1953, she served as a pioneering African American nurse treating the Foot Soldiers who were bludgeoned during ``Bloody Sunday'' in 1965, as they peacefully demonstrated for the equal right to vote.

During her time at Good Samaritan Hospital, Mrs. Edwards served dutifully, working in every area of the hospital from 1953 until the hospital's closure. Continuing to serve her community as a healthcare professional, she went on to work at Vaughan Regional Hospital and Dr. Ernest Okeke Family Medicine before ultimately retiring from nursing in 1995 at 42. Upon her retirement, she was honored by Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sorority, Inc. for her extraordinary contributions to the nursing profession.

Spending much of her childhood in Siloam Baptist Church, Mrs. Edwards devoted her life to Christ at an early age. She was a member of the Queen of Peace Catholic Church before joining the Mt. Zion Primitive Baptist Church, where she faithfully served in various capacities including, the Mother of the church, a member of the Missionary Society, and an active Sunday school member. Mrs. Edwards was also an ardent fundraiser for the church and consistently encouraged the youth and supported all church activities.

Dedicating her life to helping others, Mrs. Edwards exuded a sense of community, continuing, to help people outside of the hospital setting by opening her home to provide healthcare to people who otherwise would not have had access to it earning her the title ``neighborhood doctor.'' As an enterprising woman, she also served as a landlord opening homes on her property once again, to those in need providing affordable housing for her tenants and creating a safe haven for the entire community.

Mrs. Edwards was preceded in death by her parents James and Mary Harris, loving husband Amos Edwards, son James ``Ebo'' Ervin, sister Nellie B. Jackson, brothers Andrew Jackon (A.J.) Harris, James ``Lil Buddy'' Harris, Jr., and grandson Kenneth ``Ken Bear'' Edwards Sr. She is survived by her children, Brenda (Steven) Brazzell, Anthony Edwards, Amy (Roosevelt) Marzette, Stephanie Menifee, Louis (Lisa) Edwards, Bonita (Calvin) Andrews, and Derrick (Adrein) Edwards, sixty-two grandchildren, seventeen great-grandchildren, seven great-great grandchildren, brothers Robert Harris, Sr. and Lovie Lee Harris, faithful God daughter Nancy Clark Jackson, and a host of additional relatives, members of her church family, friends, and community children.

On behalf of Alabama's 7th Congressional District, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the life and legacy of Lula Marie Edwards and her contributions to the Selma community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the America COMPETES Act.

I am especially proud that my legislation, H.R. 6121, the Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0, was included in this bill. This bipartisan legislation sponsored by myself and my Republican colleague, Bill Johnson, will modernize our outdated trade remedy laws to push back against many of China's most aggressive anti-free market practices.

For years, a number of American industries have faced repeated dumped and subsidized imports into the U.S. market. In 2000, China produced about 18 percent of the world's steel. Today, it produces roughly 50 percent.

This overcapacity has undermined U.S. steel manufacturing and has put our steelworkers and steel manufacturers like those in my district, U.S. Steel and Nucor, at a big disadvantage.

At the end of the day, this bill will promote global competitiveness. When America competes fairly, America's workers win, and America's businesses win.

Madam Speaker, this great Nation was founded on a fundamental promise, a promise that, as

Americans, we shall all have a say in the decisions that affect our lives.

But as you know, this Nation has not always lived up to that promise. Indeed, the story of American democracy is a story of ordinary Americans daring to make extraordinary sacrifices in order for the promise to become a reality for all Americans, regardless of their race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or class.

Madam Speaker, today is a day of great significance and great consequence. We, in the House, passed the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Act, as well as the Freedom to Vote Act. Now, today, the Senate will take up and debate both bills and vote on the future of our democracy.

What is at stake is clear. The current state of voting rights is very clear. Old battles have become new again, as State legislatures across this Nation have erected deliberate barriers to the ballot box in an all-out assault on the right to vote.

Though we no longer have a poll tax, nor do we have to count how many jelly beans are in a jar, we do know that the modern-day restrictions are no less pernicious: Long lines, closed polling stations, purged voter rolls, bans on early voting, and the list goes on and on. In Georgia it is now a crime to hand out food and water to a voter in line. And so I ask you, What are we afraid of?

Madam Speaker, the significance of this moment is not lost on me for, you see, representing Alabama's 7th Congressional District, voting rights are very personal. People in my district fought, marched, prayed, and, yes, some died for the equal right of all Americans to vote.

I know that this body reveres our late, great Congressman John Lewis. It was John who said that the struggle for voting rights is not a struggle for one day or one year, it is a struggle for a lifetime.

So we have to fight--every generation does--to protect the progress of the past and to advance it. And that is exactly what the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act does.

I ask our Senators; how will they be remembered? Years from now, when our children and grandchildren look back on this moment and ask, What did you do to fight for voting rights? How will you be remembered?

Now, we are not asking our Senators to march. We are not asking them to sacrifice. We are not asking them to bleed on a bridge.

We are asking them to do their jobs.

To do their jobs.

We are asking them to have the courage of their convictions, to use their position of great power to save our democracy in this critical moment.

Madam Speaker, to my colleagues, voting rights advocates, and stakeholders, I say, no matter what the outcome is today, we cannot be deterred. John Lewis and those brave foot soldiers did not give up. Think of where our country would be if John and Hosea Williams and those that were bludgeoned on that bridge hadn't picked themselves up 2 days later and marched again.

Voting rights is a struggle of a lifetime, and we have to be in that fight. We cannot be tired. We can be frustrated. We can be downright mad. But we cannot give up. We have so many more miles to go before we declare victory. And victory we must have because our democracy depends on it.

Our colleague, Jim Clyburn, this past weekend invoked the Bible. He said, it is darkest before the dawn. Indeed, by not taking this moment to protect the right to vote, we are allowing extremists to strip away the power of the people.

We all celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday on Monday. Dr. King said that `` . . . the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.'' But it only bends if we Americans decide to challenge it, decide to make sure that this Constitution lives up to its ideals. It is time for the Senate to do their part.

In remembrance of the sacrifices of others, the Senate must reform its rules. We all have a role to play. And I say to the activists and to the Senators, the time to act is always now.

King said it is always time to do what is right. We must get into some good trouble. We must keep our eyes on the prize, and the prize is our democracy and restoring the right to vote.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, voting rights are personal to me. It was in my hometown in 1965 on a bridge in Selma, Alabama, where John Lewis and the foot soldiers shed blood for the equal right of all Americans to vote. Fifty-six years later old battles have become new again as State legislatures erect direct barriers to the ballot box-- 400 bills introduced and 34 passed in 19 States.

Once again, our Nation is at an inflection point. Today, the House of Representatives will, once again, send voting rights over to the Senate, and it must pass, Mr. Speaker.

I implore our Senators: Do what is right. You have changed your rules 150 times, most recently to raise the debt ceiling. If you can protect the full faith and credit of the United States, then surely you can protect the democracy.

The time is now. What we need is courage.

As we prepare to observe the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, let us remember that justice delayed can be justice denied.

Senators, we need your leadership. We need it now.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life and legacy of my cousin, Elder Lovell Jerome Jenkins, an eminent pastor and educator who passed away on December 1, 2021, at 66 years old.

Elder Lovell Jenkins was born first of four children on December 23, 1954, in Hope Hull, Alabama; to Dorothy Gardner Jenkins and the late Reverend Leroy Jenkins. After graduating with honors from Calhoun High School in 1971, Lovell received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Alabama State University.

Accepting Christ into his life at a young age under the pastorate of his grandfather, the late Elder Tom Gardner, Jr., Lovell was a faithful member of Beulah Primitive Baptist Church in Hope Hull, Alabama. At Beulah, Lovell sang in the adult and male choruses until he received the divine call of God to preach the gospel.

Lovell began his career in education serving as a math teacher and coach at Jefferson

Davis High School in Montgomery, Alabama. During his 36 years of service at Jefferson Davis High School, Lovell taught multiple courses, including business, math, geometry, algebra, and calculus. While at Jefferson Davis High School, he also served as the Assistant Basketball Coach.

In addition to his career as an educator, Lovell was also the beloved pastor of the Canaan Hill Primitive Baptist Church in Lowndes County, Alabama, where he served for twenty years. He accepted the Call of ministry in 2000, and after being installed as pastor of Canaan Hill Primitive Baptist Church in 2001, Lovell dedicated his life to teaching the word of God. As pastor of Canaan Hill Primitive Baptist Church, Lovell worked to develop the church by forming various departments and working with organizations throughout the Montgomery community, including the formation of a mission and matron department, the young adult choir, and a partnership with the Montgomery Biscuits for a family and friends day fundraiser. Also, under his leadership, Deacon Emory McGhee Sr. and Deacon Bobby Bennett were ordained, the Board of Trustees was established, restrooms were made handicap accessible, a new air conditioning unit was purchased, along with the purchase and renovation of the property behind the church itself.

Elder Lovell Jenkins was preceded in death by his son Lovell Jermaine Jenkins, his father Reverend Leroy Jenkins, and his brother Jeffery Lydell Jenkins.

He is survived by his devoted and loving wife Marcia Royal Jenkins, mother Dorothy (Eddie) Sanders; three sons Cortez (Nicole) Jenkins, Jawuan (Queena) Jenkins, and Llewellyn (Tarrient) Royal; three daughters De' Andra (Derrick) Bolling, Tamika Wray Dixon, Ann Marie Upthegrove; two sisters, Vanessa (Mark) Pettway and Felicia (James) Kelley; three sisters-in-law Norma Lyons, Nair Gibbons, Doreen (Michael) Layne, one brother-in-law Alston Royal; thirteen grandchildren Cameron, Caden, Jaxen, and Jaden Jenkins, Deja (Jarred) Turner, Vallet Upthegrove, Beau Harvest, Asa Bolling, Llewellyn Royal, Jr., Juirien Royal and Akira Williams, Maliyah and Makari Dixon; six great-grandchildren Jarred, Jr., Joan, Jade, Jayla, Jamya and Carter; four god-children, Consquelo (Kenneth) Bell, Kelvin Thomas, Jr., Delshaun and Faith Gatson; four aunts Negatha Holt, Gloria (Frank) Humphrey, Theresa (Charlie) Douglass, and Delphia Jenkins; four uncles, Elder Tom (Estella) Gardner, Reverend Mack (Ruby) Jenkins and Willis Jenkins, and John (Barbara) Gardner; six nieces Markia and Gabrielle Pettway, Karen Banks, Hazel Samuel, Sherilyn (Howard) Houston and Alexandria Johnson, devoted friends, Elder Dwight and Cheryl Johnson, and a host of cousins, friends and students.

On a personal note, Lovell was my amazingly thoughtful and loving first cousin who radiated goodness and kindness to all he met and to those he loved. A man of tremendous faith whose guidance and tutelage of his students, parishioners and family members was an inspiration to all. Lovell loved his family and showed it in his smile, his laughter, and his generous heart. He was tender with his loving wife Marcia, gentle in the care of his beloved mother Dorothy, supportive to his devoted siblings, and instructive to his dear children. May we find comfort in knowing that Lovell's legacy will live on in the many lives that he impacted. Rest in power, my sweet cousin.

On behalf of Alabama's 7th Congressional District, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the life and legacy of my cousin, Elder Lovell Jerome Jenkins and his exemplary contributions in education and ministry to the Montgomery community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the leadership of Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr., the 11th President of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M University), who is retiring on December 31, 2021, after 12 wonderful years of service to the University and the surrounding community. Dr. Hugine obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics from South Carolina State University. He went on to earn his doctorate in Higher Education and Institutional Research from Michigan State University.

Prior to his tenure at Alabama A&M University, Dr. Hugine served as the President of South Carolina State University and held numerous positions in education including Interim Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs; Director of Special Services Program; Director of University Year for Action Program--a service-learning program; Research Fellow; Assistant and Director of Institutional Self-Study; Professor of Mathematics and high school mathematics teacher. Dr. Hugine has been recognized both nationally and internationally for his leadership in education and adept administrative skills.

Under the exceptional guidance of Dr. Hugine, Alabama A&M University has made many advancements. By making bold financial decisions, increasing academic programs, and fostering tenacious alumni and student connections, Dr. Hugine dedicated himself to ensuring that the university is more competitive in the 21st century.

Partnering with various organizations including, those of the National Pan-Hellenic Council along with the support of public and private entities, helped the university gain additional streams of external funding to increase financial opportunities for prospective students. As a result of Dr. Hugine's efforts, the university increased its total endowment by almost 50 million dollars, completing its first- ever capital campaign raising over 27 million dollars, and establishing the Normal Legacy Society, which has contributed over 5 million dollars to the university.

Along with financial improvements, academic programs have shown tremendously growth under Dr. Hugine's tenure. Nine new academic programs were formed, including Animal Bio-Health Technology, Communication Specialist, Construction Management, and many more to give the students versatility while pursuing the careers they desire. As a result of these academic developments, there have been record- breaking highs in Alabama A&M University's recent fall enrollment with 1,690 students enrolling into the freshman class.

Increasing pride in this historic institution remained a focal point of Dr. Hugine's presidency. With the vision of First Lady Abbiegail Hugine and the help of the Bulldog Pride Committee, several initiatives were implemented to beautify the campus, enhance customer service, promote character development, and increase the wearing of Alabama A&M University paraphernalia as a display of pride. Other incredible programs and scholarships were established such as the ``Quad,'' a program focused on student activities, the First Lady's Endowed Scholarship Program, and the Normalite Walkway Pavers' Scholarship.

Under the direction of Dr. Hugine Alabama A&M University has strengthened its nurturing environment for students to thrive and become remarkable contributors to society. Although I know he will continue to serve his community through volunteering, I sincerely hope that his retirement is filled with the joy of becoming a new grandparent and spending time with family and friends.

On a personal note, I was privileged to get to know Dr. Hugine and to witness first-hand his remarkable leadership as President of Alabama A&M University. Dr. Hugine is a visionary leader, dynamic educator, effective administrator, solid steward of the University's finance, and true champion of the students, faculty, alumni, and trustees of Alabama A&M University. Under his twelve-year tenure as the 11th President of Alabama A&M University, Dr. Hugine made a lasting contribution to the education and administration of AAMU. Upon his retirement, his legacy will continue to live on in the numerous lives that he impacted and the outstanding contributions that AAMU students will make to this Nation. I wish him and his lovely wife Abbiegail, of over 40 years, much success in their future endeavors. They have truly been a blessing and left an indelible mark on the State of Alabama. For all he has done, we thank him for his exemplary service.

On behalf of Alabama's 7th Congressional District, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the extraordinary leadership and service of Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr., and his contributions as President of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a true American hero and one of our Nation's most distinguished civil rights lawyers, Attorney Fred Gray, Sr., as he celebrates his 91st birthday on December 14, 2021.

A native of Alabama's Seventh Congressional District, Attorney Gray was born in Montgomery, Alabama, and came of age during the height of the Jim Crow segregation era.

One of Alabama's first Black lawyers, he successfully litigated groundbreaking civil rights cases, representing the likes of Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, Reverend Martin Luther King, and even our own John Lewis and those protesters who dared to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. His trailblazing work dared this Nation to live up to its highest ideals, leading to the desegregation of the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and Alabama's public schools.

Attorney Gray's long and accomplished career fought back against injustice wherever it existed. To paraphrase one of his clients, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Attorney Gray was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness.

As we celebrate another year of Attorney Gray's life, it is my hope that President Biden will strongly consider awarding him our Nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. There is no one more deserving. Let's give him his flowers as he lives.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an American pioneer and one of the greatest heroines of our time, Mrs. Rosa Parks on the 66th anniversary of her arrest in Montgomery, Alabama.

Today, 66 years ago, Rosa Parks took a bold stand against racial discrimination by refusing to give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat did more than simply desegregate the bus systems of Montgomery. Her dignified courage inspired a movement that changed our Nation.

Rosa Parks' quiet refusal to surrender her seat to a White passenger on December 1, 1955, sparked a city-wide boycott of the Montgomery bus system that lasted 1 whole year and broke the very will of a city heavily steeped in segregation.

Biographer Douglas Brinkley recounted the powerful moment in his biography of Rosa Parks, he writes:

Are you going to stand up? the driver demanded. Rosa Parks

looked straight at him and said, No. Flustered and not quite

sure what to do, the bus driver retorted: Well, I'm going

to have you arrested. And Rosa Parks sat next to the

window, and quietly said: You may do that.

Her soft yet forceful response led to an arrest, a $10 fine, and the beginning of the most important demonstration in American history. The Montgomery bus boycott stands as a powerful testament of the will of a disenfranchised people to work collectively to achieve extraordinary social change.

Today, while we commemorate the progress that has been made, we must also recommit ourselves to the struggle and the fight for equal justice. We must remain vigilant in the struggle for voting rights, criminal justice reform, and economic equity.

Foot soldiers like Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, and Attorney Fred Gray, whose lifelong work in the fight for justice and equality still resonate with us today and reminds us that we cannot take for granted the battles endured by those before us; nor must we neglect our own responsibility to ensure liberty and justice.

As benefactors of the sacrifices of these brave men and women, we must be willing to answer the modern day call and to dare to be trailblazers on our own. Rosa Parks' quiet refusal to surrender her seat on December 1, 1955, inspired generations of others to continue her legacy by standing up for the values that our democracy holds dear.

Because of her contributions, I am proud to join with Congressman Jim Cooper and CBC Chairwoman Joyce Beatty in introducing the Rosa Parks Day Act, which would designate today, December 1, as a new Federal holiday in her honor.

This bill will ensure that her brave sacrifice lives on in American history and serves as a reminder to continue to protect the gains that we have made over 60 years ago while tackling the challenges that plague this Nation today.

While we honor the guardian of the Montgomery bus boycott today, we must also acknowledge her sacrifices and do our own responsibility as a call to action. Though Jim Crow is no more, there are modern-day challenges that require the time and talents of each of us. We must remain vigilant in seeking justice for the countless Black Americans that fall victim to police brutality.

We must remain vigilant in our commitment to continuing the fight to protect the sacred right to vote. We owe Rosa Parks and so many others nothing less.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 389.

members recorded pursuant to house resolution 8, 117th congress

Barragan (Beyer)

Bucshon (Walorski)

Bustos (Brownley)

Cardenas (Soto)

Casten (Foster)

Crist (Wasserman Schultz)

DeFazio (Carbajal)

Demings (Soto)

Fulcher (Johnson (OH))

Hagedorn (Moolenaar)

Johnson (TX) (Jeffries)

Khanna (Raskin)

Lawrence (Johnson (GA))

Lawson (FL) (Evans)

Lesko (Miller (WV))

Moore (UT) (Curtis)

Palazzo (Fleischmann)

Payne (Norcross)

Porter (Wexton)

Posey (Cammack)

Ruiz (Aguilar)

Rush (Quigley)

Schneider (Wasserman Schultz)

Stewart (Curtis)

Swalwell (Gomez)

Tiffany (Arrington)

Underwood (Quigley)

Vela (Gomez)

Watson Coleman (Norcross)

Wilson (FL) (Hayes)

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 951, the Maternal Vaccination Act. The pandemic has laid bare the historical inequities that exist in our health care system for Black Americans, especially for Black parents. My constituency is painfully aware of the pervasive, systemic and institutional influences that have contributed to these disparities.

And let's be clear, these disparities have only been exacerbated by the pandemic, which is why me and my colleagues have been so adamant in the inclusion of policies to end our nation's maternal mortality crisis and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health outcomes.

As we are almost two years into a global pandemic that has disproportionately harmed communities of color, the risks facing Black women and other birthing people of color are at a crisis point. Any legislative proposal that will successfully and meaningfully address the pandemic's impact on people of color must directly address the effects of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) on pregnant people and new moms.

As many of us know, the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any high-income country and the only rate that is rising. The pregnancy-related mortality rate for Black women in the U.S. is three to four times higher than the rate for white women, and other women and birthing people of color also face elevated rates of mortality and morbidity.

The risks for pregnant people have only grown during COVID-19: according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ``pregnant and recently pregnant women are at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 compared to nonpregnant women.'' The CDC also found that pregnant people with COVID-19 are at an increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes. In addition to clinical risks, the pandemic has affected social determinants of health that contribute to maternal health disparities, like increased food insecurity, which disproportionately impacts Black and Hispanic families.

Without bold and immediate action to address the heightened clinical and non-clinical threats to pregnant people and their growing families, our national recovery from COVID-19 will only exacerbate the inequities that existed before the pandemic and worsened over the past year.

Recognizing the urgent need to address these alarming trends, President Biden's American Families Plan includes a much-

needed $3 billion investment in maternal health. The President's proposal provides an opportunity to make considerable investments in federal funding to address this crisis, including policies included in the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021 and a permanent expansion of yearlong postpartum Medicaid coverage. By advancing these two priorities in the recent recovery package, we comprehensively addressed every driver of our nation's maternal health crisis.

The Momnibus includes investments that will be needed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, including investments in community-based organizations, policies to grow and diversify the perinatal workforce, expanded access to maternal mental health care treatments and support, measures to address the impacts of climate change on maternal and infant health outcomes, and provisions to protect pregnant people during this pandemic and any future public health emergency.

My bill, the Maternal Vaccination Act or H.R. 951, directly addresses the health of both moms and babies. This bill is critically important because although we know that maternal vaccinations are important for the health of moms and babies, only half of pregnant people get their flu vaccines and less than half get Tdap vaccinations to protect against pertussis.

With pertussis on the rise and outbreaks occurring across the United States, we need to invest in initiatives to promote maternal immunizations and address racial and ethnic disparities in maternal vaccination rates. Even though, white adults have higher vaccination coverage than Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American adults, there is more that can be done to close this gap.

I was proud to author the Maternal Vaccination Act because it provides funding for programs to increase maternal vaccination rates, protecting both new moms and their babies.

Specifically, the Maternal Vaccination Act will provide funding for a public and provider awareness campaign to promote maternal and child vaccinations. This includes initiatives to increase awareness about the safety, importance, and effectiveness of vaccines for pregnant and postpartum people and their children; provide targeted, evidence-based, culturally and linguistically appropriate resources about vaccines to pregnant and postpartum people, particularly in communities with historically low vaccination rates; and provide evidence-based information and resources on the safety and importance of maternal and child vaccinations to public health departments, maternal health care providers, and perinatal health workers.

This bill, like the Build Back Better Act legislation, will provide historic investments from the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act to save moms' lives, end racial and ethnic maternal health disparities, and advance birth equity across the United States.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote in favor of President Biden's historic Build Back Better agenda.

Already, congressional Democrats have come together to pass part one of the Build Back Better agenda. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is the largest investment in United States infrastructure in nearly a century, and it will benefit my State of Alabama in so many ways.

It will provide $5.2 billion to repair Alabama's roads, $225 million to fix Alabama's bridges, and $100 million to connect every Alabamian to high-speed internet.

Now we have the opportunity to pass part two, the Build Back Better Act. That, too, will invest in Alabama by creating millions of good- paying jobs; providing affordable childcare for over 300,000 Alabamians; lowering healthcare costs for families, including 300,000 Alabamians who fall into the Medicaid coverage gap; and delivering universal pre-K to over 110,000 Alabama 3- and 4-year-olds.

As co-chair of the Ways and Means Racial Equity Initiative, I have fought to ensure that equity remains a central focus, and I am proud that these bills will uplift our most vulnerable communities in so many transformative ways.

It is fully paid for. I ask my colleagues to vote in favor of the Build Back Better Act.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the illustrious chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Joyce Beatty, for her leadership. I want to thank Richie Torres for leading us in this Special Order hour. Nothing could be more profound in this hour than to be talking about voting rights.

As we speak, our Nation is facing the most concerted effort to restrict the right to vote in a generation. Just this year, 400 bills have been introduced in State legislatures across this Nation to restrict the right to vote. In 19 States, at least 33 of these bills have become law, including the most egregious of State legislatures, Georgia, where now it is a crime to give a bottle of water to a voter as they stand in line.

Even as our democracy comes under attack, we see Republicans standing firm in their opposition to protecting the right to vote, a bedrock principle that should never be partisan.

Just last week, we watched as every Senate Republican voted to block debate on the Freedom to Vote Act, a commonsense bill that would ensure that every American has access to the ballot box.

What are they afraid of, I ask? What are they afraid of?

Last week's vote made clear that Senate Republicans are unwilling to even debate voting rights, let alone hold a fair vote. This just further demonstrates that in order to protect our democracy and the sacred right to vote; we must reform the filibuster to create a path forward for must-pass pieces of legislation.

Madam Speaker, almost 3 weeks ago we saw Senator Leahy introduce S. 4, the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the Senate. But unless we take action on the filibuster, and take action now, this critical bill

will face the same fate as the Freedom to Vote Act.

The way I see it, every Senator is now faced with a choice: it is voting rights or the filibuster; it is protecting our sacred right to vote and our democracy or the filibuster; it is advancing the legacy of John Lewis and the foot soldiers or it is a filibuster.

Now, I know which side I am on. I hope our Senators will choose to do what is right and do away with an archaic procedural rule that has been used for decades to block racial justice in this country.

President Biden also understands the urgency of this critical moment. On Thursday, at his town hall meeting, we heard President Biden express support for reforming the filibuster to pass must-needed voting rights legislation. I am glad that President Biden understands the urgency of this moment and the dire need for Federal oversight.

You know, it was Federal oversight that brought us the Civil Rights Act of 1965. It was Federal oversight that allowed those marchers to march across that Edmund Pettus Bridge in my hometown of Selma, Alabama. You know when State legislatures go amuck, it is Federal oversight that we need to ensure that every American has access to the ballot box.

Madam Speaker, it was foot soldiers like our late, great colleague and my mentor, John Lewis, who shed blood on a bridge in Selma for the equal right of all Americans to vote. If protecting that sacred right is not worth overcoming a procedural rule, then what is?

Madam Speaker, it takes only 51 votes to sit a Supreme Court Justice and for a Supreme Court Justice to have life tenure on the Supreme Court. 51 votes. Yet, it takes 60 votes to stop debate and to allow a fair vote in the United States Senate on voting rights. This is unacceptable. It is un-American. It is unjust.

We, in the Congressional Black Caucus, are saying: This is our message. This is our fight. Voting rights. We have no other choice, we must reform the filibuster and we must do so now.

When I think about the shoulders on which we all stand, I am reminded of being in this House in 2015 during the State of the Union. I had as my special guest none other than Amelia Boynton Robinson, who at that time was 103 years old. She was the oldest living foot soldier that marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with John Lewis and so many others.

In 2015, the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march, she was my special guest. As we waited in a small room off of this Chamber for Barack Obama, then-President of these United States, to deliver that State of the Union, everyone wanted to take a picture with Ms. Amelia Boynton Robinson.

They kneeled by her wheelchair, and said: Ms. Amelia, we stand on your shoulders. Oh, Ms. Amelia, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your sacrifice.

Well, Ms. Amelia was a little tired of people saying that to her over and over again. And when Eric Holder, the then-Attorney General of the United States, came and kneeled beside her, and said: Oh, Ms. Amelia, I stand on your shoulders. She said: Get off my shoulders, all of you, do your own work--is what she said.

Madam Speaker, I am here to say that we, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, are doing our own work. We are standing firm, we are standing solid, we are standing united in our effort to bring back the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

We must do our own work, all of us. It is not enough to say that we stand on the shoulders of giants. We know these giants, our foremothers and our forefathers, they were tacticians, they were strategists. They just didn't happen upon Selma, Alabama. They just didn't happen upon Birmingham and Memphis and Atlanta. They went looking for good trouble, and good trouble they got in. We must do the same. We must take a play from their playbook.

We must stand firm. We must stand united. We must stand undeterred in our efforts to beat down any barrier that stands in the way of protecting that sacred right to vote. It was John Lewis who said that the vote is the most sacred, the most fundamental right, nonviolent tool in our democracy. That is the vote. The vote is fundamental to this democracy, and everything else we do--well, everything else we do will be tainted if every American lacks the right to vote. There is nothing more sacred, more fundamental to this democracy, than the right to vote.

How can a procedural rule stand in the way of that right?

Now, I can tell you that my constituents back home don't understand the filibuster. They don't understand this archaic procedural rule that is in the Senate. When I tell them that that stands in the way of us passing the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, they say: Why? Didn't we go to the polls in record numbers in States all across this Nation, in southern States like Georgia to deliver the democratic majority? And they ask of us to protect that democracy now.

John Lewis said that our fight is not a fight for 1 day, it is not a fight for 1 year, ours is a fight of a lifetime to secure that sacred right to vote. When I close my eyes, I can hear him. Can't you hear him? John Lewis said it firmly, he said it often: When you see something that is not right, that is not fair, that is not just, we have a moral obligation to stand up and do something about it.

We in the Congressional Black Caucus know that our message, our fight, our cause, is nothing if not to defend the sacred right to vote. It is a right that is fundamental to our democracy and that no elected official should seek to undermine, to restrict any voice in this democracy.

Our vote is our voice in this representative democracy. When you squelch the voice of one American who has that sacred right and is unable to exercise it because the lines are too long, because their names have been purged from a roll, it is a fundamental threat to all of us, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

We know that. We live that. Martin Luther King told us that, but we live it every day. Nothing is more fundamental to our rights than our democracy and its foundation, its bedrock, the right to vote.

When Barack Obama came into that small room off of this Chamber, Amelia Boynton Robinson cradled his face. I think all of us understood the import of that moment. Here was the first African-American President of these United States, and here was a woman, at 103 years old, who made the ultimate sacrifice, bludgeoned on a bridge, shedding blood on a bridge in my hometown of Selma, Alabama, so that all of us would have the right to vote and that one day she would see the fruits of her labor. Oh, what faith our foremothers and our forefathers must have had. Faith. Faith that their sacrifices were not in vain.

And President Obama said: Oh, Ms. Amelia, to say thank you doesn't seem adequate. I get to give a speech as the President of these United States, and it is because of you. Without missing a beat, this woman, 103 years old, frail, said: Oh, make it a good one. That better be a very good speech.

We should make every day a good one; we who are the inheritors of this legacy, and we who are the beneficiaries of this movement. Every day should be a good one. We should not lay our head on a pillow if we have not advanced the legacy of these foremothers and forefathers. Every day should be a good one.

So we call on the Senate to do what we know is right, to do what John calls good trouble. Get into some good trouble. Let's change those rules. We have it within our power to do so. After all, we control the Senate, we control the House, and we have the White House--gavels given to us by ordinary people who believed that we will take that power and exercise that power on their behalf.

Nothing is more fundamental than the right to vote. So in the name of John Lewis, in the name of Amelia Boynton, and in the name of all of those known and unknown foot soldiers who have the audacity to make this Nation live up to its ideals of freedom, justice, and equality, are those empty words?

We must breathe life into those constitutional principles, and we can do so if we have the will to do what we know is right.

A filibuster or voting rights?

Upholding the legacy of our foremothers and forefathers or a filibuster?

Making sure that we do all that we can to protect this democracy or a filibuster?

The choices are easy from where I sit. They are easy from where our constituents sit.

I ask our Senators to do what they know is right. If ever there is a reason to reform the filibuster, it is for that constitutionally protected right to vote. We must do so, and we must do so now and pass S. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Let us restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Let us pass the Freedom to Vote Act. After all, the first 300 pages were written by John Lewis. His Voter Empowerment Act is about access to the ballot box. It is about making sure that the least of these--the voiceless--have a voice in this democracy. We must restore the vote and the voices of the excluded.

We can do that. Congress can do that. That was what the Supreme Court said in the Shelby v. Holder decision: Only Congress can come up with a modern-day formula to secure the right to vote and to get at the most egregious State actors. We understand that we are threading a thin needle, but we have done our job and now the Senate must do its. Let's get rid of the filibuster. Let's reform the filibuster at the very least and ensure that every American has a right to vote and to ensure that their vote is counted.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life and legacy of Alabama State Representative, Thad McClammy, an exemplary community advocate, public servant, and former president of Trenholm State Community College who passed away at age 78 on August 21, 2021, of natural causes surrounded by family.

Representative McClammy, one of three siblings, was born in Beatrice, Alabama, to Ukla and Thad C. McClammy, Sr. A graduate of Alabama State University, Rep. McClammy earned his Master of Science in Vocational and Adult Education from Auburn University at Montgomery. He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Law degree from Selma University.

In 1981, prior to his career as an elected official, Rep. McClammy served as President of Trenholm State Technical College, now Trenholm Community College, for fourteen years. During his tenure, he conceptualized and successfully spearheaded a concerted effort by five two-year colleges in Alabama, including Trenholm, to receive Congressional delegation as Historically Black Colleges and Universities. By working to secure this designation, he made way for millions of dollars in federal funds year after year to Alabama. Under his leadership, Trenholm State became a catalyst for community revitalization, piloting a new Certification of Participation program to fund the construction of the college's library. After seeing its success, many other Alabama two-year colleges used this approach to finance new construction.

Rep. McClammy served in the Alabama House of Representatives for nearly twenty-seven years, beginning his career as an elected official in 1994. Representing Alabama's 76th District, Rep. McClammy dutifully served his community using his position to further the economic development of both his district and the greater Montgomery area. Capitalizing on his position as a community leader, he was responsible for identifying the site and working with the landowners to get them to band together to make way for the construction of Hyundai's one- billion-dollar plant in Montgomery despite other sites being further along in consideration. He conceptualized the Gateway Recreational Park site on I-65 in Montgomery, the initial Montgomery Enterprise Zone, and the I-65/Regional Airport Business Park in Montgomery. Continuously pushing for the expansion of U.S. 80 and 82, Rep. McClammy left his mark by working hand in hand with the local delegation and the community to secure the economic vitality of Alabama's 76th District.

Continuing to address the needs of the community, Rep. McClammy helped recruit the Baptist Outreach Health Center, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical School branch campus site at Baptist South, advocated the correction of Cloverdale Ditch flood insurance problem, and successfully challenged the lack of minority representation in Montgomery. Forging symbiotic relationships among the business community, Rep. McClammy helped bolster economic development in Montgomery that led to over $70 million worth of construction projects in West Montgomery.

Understanding the importance of historical preservation throughout his district, Rep. McClammy was a fierce supporter and advocate of Civil Rights preservation projects promoting the establishment of the Interpretive Center on the campus of Alabama State University to be managed by National Park Service, the planning and development of the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights Trail and obtaining funding for the preservation of Mrs. Rosa Parks' childhood school to name a few. He also sponsored the bill leading to the passage of the Rosa Parks' Act that pardoned Mrs. Parks and hundreds of other convicted of violating laws aimed at keeping the races separate.

As a dynamic community leader, Rep. McClammy also worked as a real estate broker and developer. His civil engagements include Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the Cosmopolitan Civic Club, as a founder of the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce., and former deacon of The Historic Day Street Missionary Baptist Church.

Rep. McClammy was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia A. McClammy, whom he married in 1966. Together they had two children, Thad Christopher McClammy III and Patrice McClammy. He is survived by his children and a host of other family members.

On behalf of Alabama's 7th Congressional District, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the extraordinary life and legacy of Representative Thad McClammy and his contributions to Alabama's 76th District and the Montgomery community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in full support of H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Madam Speaker, I have the great privilege of not only representing Birmingham, Montgomery, and my hometown of Selma, Alabama, but growing up, literally, at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, I had an opportunity time and time again to see John Lewis in action.

John would come to my home church, Brown Chapel AME Church, to remind us all that what happened on that bridge 56 years ago was that Americans, ordinary Americans, dared to stand up to this country and to make sure that it lived up to its ideals of justice and equality for all.

I am proud to say that I get to walk in the footsteps of John Lewis, but I am more proud of the fact that so many of us in this Chamber walked with him.

The best way that we can live up to the legacy of John Lewis is to remember that he fought for every American to have the equal right to vote, equal access to the ballot box.

I get that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is reserved for the most egregious State actors. But what it says is that Federal oversight is needed when States go amok.

Since the Shelby v. Holder decision, I have introduced, in four successive Congresses, the Voting Rights Advancement Act, and we renamed it the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

We must live up to John's ideals of equality and justice for all in voting rights. What we have seen in States like Georgia and Texas, and around this country, has been State legislatures making it harder for people to vote.

I just want to say that we must get into good trouble, necessary trouble. John reminded us that we must be courageous in the face of adversity and in the face of inequity. I ask for you to please vote for H.R. 4 and vote for the rule that would get it to the floor.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in full support of H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Nothing is more fundamental to our democracy than the right to vote.

Nothing is more precious to my district, Alabama's 7th Congressional District, the home of Birmingham, Montgomery, and my hometown of Selma, Alabama, than the fight to protect the right to vote for all Americans.

It was in my district that ordinary Americans peacefully protested for the equal right to vote for all Americans.

Nothing is more personal to me, nothing more represents America's civil rights district than to be able to stand here, as so many of us have, with John Lewis at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, as I announced with glee that we have reintroduced H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

It was on that same bridge in Selma, Alabama, that a 26-year-old John Lewis was bludgeoned by State troopers with billy clubs in the name of justice.

Their efforts led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the seminal piece of legislation in Congress to protect the right of all Americans to vote.

Those protections were gutted in 2013 by the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby v. Holder, and Section 2 was also affected by the most recent decision in Brnovich.

Today, 8 years after Shelby, Congress is finally answering the Supreme Court's call to action by passing H.R. 4.

H.R. 4 will create a new coverage formula to determine which States have been the most egregious actors and subject them to preclearance that is based on current evidence of voter discrimination.

Madam Speaker, old battles have indeed become new again. While literacy tests and poll taxes no longer exist, certain States and local jurisdictions have passed laws that are modern-day barriers to voting. As long as voter suppression exists, the need for the full protections of VRA will continue. We must fully restore the VRA.

Why? Because as John Lewis would say: When you hear something or see something that is not right, that is not just, that is not fair, we have a moral obligation to do something about it.

We, the Members of the House of Representatives, can today do something about it. Let's pass H.R. 4. Let's do so not just in the name of John Lewis; let's do so for the people, the American people. We must secure the right to vote.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record 14 letters of support and statements of support from all across this Nation, from civil rights groups, from labor groups, from amazing folks who are fighting every day on the front lines for the right to vote.

Statement of Administration Policy

H.R. 4--John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021--Rep.

Sewell, D-AL, and 218 cosponsors

The Administration strongly supports House passage of H.R.

4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021

(VRAA).

The right to vote freely, the right to vote fairly, the

right to have your vote counted is fundamental. In the last

election, all told, more than 150 million Americans of every

age, of every race, of every background exercised their right

to vote.

This historic level of participation in the face of a once-

in-a-century pandemic should have been celebrated by

everyone. Instead, some have sought to delegitimize the

election and make it harder to vote, in many cases by

targeting the methods of voting that made it possible for

many voters to participate. These efforts violate the most

basic ideals of America.

Yet another massive wave of discriminatory action may be

imminent as we enter a new legislative redistricting cycle.

Unfortunately, incumbents too often cling to power by drawing

district lines to favor their own prospects at the expense of

minority communities, choosing their voters instead of the

other way around.

While anti-voter action undermines democracy for all

Americans, we know that communities of color often suffer the

worst effects of these measures--and all too often, that is

not by accident.

The sacred right to vote is under attack across the

country.

The VRAA will strengthen vital legal protections to ensure

that all Americans have a fair opportunity to participate in

our democracy. Among other things, it would create a new

framework for allowing DOJ to review voting changes in

jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to ensure that

they do not discriminate based on race. It would also clarify

the scope of legal tools designed to challenge discriminatory

voting laws in court, ensuring that the Voting Rights Act

offers protection against modern forms of voter suppression.

In an essay published shortly after he died, Congressman

John Lewis wrote, ``Democracy is not a state. It is an

act[.]'' This bill not only bears his name, it heeds his

call. The Administration looks forward to working with

Congress as the VRAA proceeds through the legislative process

to ensure that the bill achieves lasting reform consistent

with Congress' broad constitutional authority to protect

voting rights and to strengthen our democracy.

Madam Speaker, in conclusion, I want to thank the chairman of this committee, Chairman Nadler; the chairman of the subcommittee, Steve Cohen; the chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, Representative Zoe Lofgren; as well as G.K. Butterfield, for the countless hours of testimony and the reams of documents that show that voter suppression is still alive and well.

The price of freedom is not free. Let's pay for it by passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.