Bill Text: TX SR41 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 2nd Special Session | Introduced

Texas Senate Resolution 41 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Commemorating the first anniversary of the death of U.S. Congressman John Lewis.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12)

Status: (N/A - Dead) 2021-08-25 - Received by the Secretary of the Senate [SR41 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SR41-Introduced.html



	By: Miles, et al.	S.R. No. 41



	SENATE RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, July 17, 2021, marked the first anniversary of
	the death of civil rights icon and longtime congressman John
	Lewis; and
	WHEREAS, The son of sharecroppers, John Robert Lewis was
	born in Troy, Alabama, on February 21, 1940; while trying to win
	admission to segregated Troy State University, he sought the
	guidance of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and became a
	valued colleague in the civil rights movement; he challenged
	segregated interstate travel in the South as one of the original
	13 Freedom Riders, and when an angry mob attacked the group, he
	was left in a pool of his own blood outside a bus terminal in
	Montgomery, Alabama; as a cofounder and chair of the Student
	Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, he coordinated lunch counter
	sit-ins to protest segregated facilities; in 1963, he was one of
	the "Big 6" who organized the historic March on Washington, and
	he energized the crowd as the event's youngest and fieriest
	speaker; and
	WHEREAS, While leading demonstrations, Congressman Lewis
	stood strong in the face of violence, police beatings, and more
	than 40 arrests; his skull was fractured by state troopers during
	a voting rights march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma,
	Alabama, on a day known ever since as Bloody Sunday; televised
	images of the violence galvanized support for the Voting Rights
	Act that was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson five
	months later, in August 1965; and
	WHEREAS, Congressman Lewis worked his way through college,
	graduating from the American Baptist Theological Seminary and
	completing his bachelor's degree in religion and philosophy at
	Fisk University; he led the Voter Education Project,
	participated in anti-poverty efforts, and after serving on the
	Atlanta City Council, he won election to the U.S. House of
	Representatives in 1986; working tirelessly in behalf of the most
	vulnerable, he became known as "the conscience of the Congress";
	he rose to become chair of the Oversight Subcommittee of the
	House Ways and Means Committee and advocated passionately for the
	Voter Empowerment Act, which seeks to modernize the electoral
	process and increase access to the ballot; and
	WHEREAS, Over the course of more than three decades in
	office, Congressman Lewis continued to engage in nonviolent
	protest, community organizing, and grassroots activism;
	following the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016, he led Democrats
	in a 26-hour sit-in on the House floor to demand a debate over gun
	control measures; he reminded the many audiences he addressed to
	embrace "good trouble," and every year, he journeyed to Selma to
	lead a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge; despite severe
	health challenges, he made one last trip in 2020 for the
	observance of the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday; and
	WHEREAS, Congressman Lewis received such accolades as the
	NAACP Spingarn Medal, the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage
	Award, and the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential
	Medal of Freedom; he was presented with honorary degrees by
	universities across the country, among them Duke, Howard,
	Brandeis, and Emory Law, which also established the John Lewis
	Chair for Civil Rights and Social Justice; in 2016, he won a
	National Book Award for the third volume of his graphic novel
	about the civil rights movement, March; and
	WHEREAS, A lifelong student of history, John Lewis
	introduced a bill every session for 15 years to create an
	institution dedicated to the unvarnished truth about the
	struggles and triumphs of the African American people; when the
	National Museum of African American History and Culture finally
	opened on the National Mall in 2016, he wrote, "By bringing the
	uncomfortable parts of our past out of the shadows, we can better
	understand what divides us and seek to heal those problems
	through our unity"; and
	WHEREAS, The year since the death of John Lewis has been
	one of the most challenging and tumultuous our nation has ever
	seen, but his life continues to stand as a beacon of hope for the
	unity that can only be achieved through the steadfast pursuit of
	equal rights and justice for all; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the Senate of the 87th Texas Legislature,
	2nd Called Session, hereby commemorate the first anniversary of
	the death of Congressman John Lewis and pay tribute to his
	remarkable legacy.