Transformational moment in history happened 5859 years ago today in
Selma,
AL.
Hundreds of foot soldiers marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge,
named after the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan,
to claim their fundamental right to vote.
They were beaten. They were bloody and left for dead.
Our late friend and former colleague John Lewis was on
that March.
We miss him.
Joining us tonight.
Or other marchers, both in the gallery and on the
floor,
including Betty Mae Fikes, known as the voice of Selma,
the daughter of gospel singers and preachers.
She sang songs of prayer and protest on that Bloody
Sunday to help shake the nations conscience.
Five months later, the Voting Rights Act passed them and
signing the law.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
But 59 years later?
Their forces taking us back in time.
Voter suppression. Election. Subversion. Unlimited dark money.
Extreme gerrymandering. John Lewis is a great friend to many
of us here,
but if you truly want to honour him and all
the heroes of March with him,
then it's time to do more than talk.
Pass the Freedom to Vote Act.
The John Lewis voting right now.
And.
Stop the Nine, another core value of America.
Our diversity across American life.
Banning books. It's wrong. Instead of erasing history,
let's make history. I want to protect fundamental rights.
Pass the Equality Act.
And my message of transgender Americans?
I have your back.
Passed the PRO Act for Workers Rights.