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