“I think that Trump and the Senate leadership, Mitch McConnell, for their actions if they celebrate this man’s heroism in this way, then we are going to work and pass that bill because it is established in the way that the Supreme Court asked us to do. let’s introduce “. “The South Carolina Democrat and friend of Lewis told CNN’s Jake Tapper about” The State of the Union. “” And if the President signed that, then I think that’s what we would do to honor John. It should be the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020. That’s the way to do it. Words can be powerful, but deeds are long lasting. “
Lewis, a Democrat who served as the United States Representative in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District for more than three decades, died Friday at age 80 after a six-month battle with cancer.
The son of sharecroppers, Lewis was a cloak for the civil rights movement and pushed for voting rights. At age 25, he helped lead a voting rights march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965. That day, which became known as “Bloody Sunday,” he and other protesters were brutally attacked. by the police who fractured his skull. The images from that day shocked the nation and galvanized support for the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
McConnell has declined to introduce legislation for the vote that would reinstate a key part of the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court struck down in 2013. The House passed the measure in December with just one Republican vote. Meanwhile, Trump routinely tweets false information about voting by mail as Republicans support restrictive voter ID laws across the country.
Trump tweeted Saturday that he was “sad to hear” about Lewis’s death. He also ordered that the American flags be raised at half-staff on Saturday “as a sign of respect for memory and long-standing public service” by Lewis.
Massachusetts Democratic Representative Ayanna Pressley, D-Echo, echoed Clyburn’s sentiments in passing the voting legislation to honor Lewis during a separate interview with Tapper on Sunday and criticized the president’s divisive rhetoric.
“I was hoping the President didn’t even tweet about John Lewis yesterday. At this point, we don’t need anyone’s sympathies or tweets. What we need is action,” Pressley said. “If you really want to honor the life of John Lewis, you don’t do things like gut the fair housing laws. You don’t sow the seeds of division. And you don’t delay the introduction of the Voting Rights Promotion Act named after John Lewis to the floor. And that should be brought to the floor immediately. “
CNN’s Maeve Reston, Suzanne Malveaux, Lauren Fox, Faith Karimi and Brandon Griggs contributed to this report.
