Atlanta, GA – Following today’s historic action to rename H.R. 4 as the “John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act” in honor of the civil rights icon and Georgia congressman, Senior Pastor of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Ebenezer Baptist Church and U.S Senate candidate Raphael Warnock issued the following statement:
“John Lewis devoted his life to ensuring the American promise of ‘one person, one vote.’ Today, his colleagues in the House honored that legacy by giving this bill his name. With voting rights under attack in Georgia and all across the South, there is no better way to remember him than to fight against voter suppression with the courage and conviction that John Lewis brought to the House every day.
This bill, which will repair the Voting Rights Act, is the first step in the fight necessary to ensure that every American can vote. More than pious platitudes, we need leaders who will get busy in Congress restoring the Voting Rights Act and expanding access to the ballot box.
You cannot honor John Lewis while at the same time obstructing those policies. Today, the U.S. House stood proudly beside John Lewis in his struggle for voting rights.”
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