Terri Sewell condemns redistricting decision on House Floor

Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) took to the House Floor during a special order hour by the Congressional Black Caucus to speak against the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Louisiana v. Callais. 

During her speech, Sewell spoke of her childhood in Selma and said that the decision "undermines" the Voting Rights Act passed in the Civil Rights Movement. 

See below for her remarks: 

“For me, this fight is personal,” said Rep. Sewell. “I grew up in Selma in the shadow of the Civil Rights Movement. I represent the historic cities of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Marion, and the Black Belt. Our communities carry the scars of Bloody Sunday, the Birmingham church bombings, fire hoses, police dogs, and violent resistance to the simple idea that Black Americans deserve the full promise of citizenship.”

Sewell condemned the systematic effort to dismantle the protections guaranteed under the Voting Rights Act.

“People in my district bled for the right to vote. Some died for it,” Sewell said. “And now, six decades later, extremists are trying to drag this country backward. They are trying to erase our hard-fought progress and silence the voices of the very communities that marched, that sacrificed, that organized to make American democracy real for everyone.”

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During the Special Order Hour, Sewell connected the Court’s ruling in Callais to the broader weakening of federal voting rights protections since the Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder.

“In 2013, the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Shelby v. Holder gutted the heart of the Voting Rights Act...” Sewell said. “And what happened next? Exactly what voting rights advocates warned would happen. States across the South rushed to impose restrictive voting laws. They closed polling places, purged voter rolls, and redrew maps designed to dilute Black political power.”

“Now, with the Court’s recent decision in Callais, we are witnessing yet another dangerous step backward, another attack on the principle of fair representation and equal justice under the law,” she continued.

Sewell also renewed her call for Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, legislation she introduced to restore and modernize the protections of the Voting Rights Act.

Closing her remarks, Sewell delivered a forceful call to action and highlighted the upcoming "All Roads Lead to the South" mass rally planned for Saturday, March 16 at 1:00 p.m. at the Alabama State Capitol.

“If your vote didn’t matter, they wouldn’t be working so hard to take it away,” Sewell said. “We are not going back. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever... We will march, we will fight, we will organize, and we will vote until victory is won.”