Terri Sewell urges approval of John Lewis Voting Rights Act

Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) urged that the John Lewis Voting Rights Act recently passed in the House of Representatives to be approved by the senate, mentioning Selma's civil rights history in her remarks. 

Sewell spoke on Thursday, Jan. 13 about the act that she introduced, as well about the Freedom to Vote Act, which would change certain policies regarding elections, such as voting by mail. 

See the online announcement for further details on the bills. 

In her remarks to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Sewell stated the following: 

Mr. Speaker, as you know, voting rights is 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. Thirty-four passed in nineteen states.

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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, surely you can protect 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.