Pope Francis' Visit and Call to Preserve and Defend Dignity of Life

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, last week His Holiness Pope Francis addressed a Joint Session of Congress--an address that I, like many, found to be both profound and provocative.

Pope Francis' first visit to our country coincided with a time when our nation as he stated, is ``marking the anniversaries of several great Americans'', including Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who fifty years ago led the Selma-to-Montgomery marches in order to achieve full civil and political rights for African-Americans.

These marches culminated in the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which offered African-Americans a piece of Dr. King's dream of equality, fairness, and justice.

Yet, our nation continues to struggle with ensuring racial equality and voter enfranchisement; we have, as Pope Francis stated at the White House last week, ``defaulted on a promissory note'', but now is the time to honor it.''

Let us continue to strive to follow the advice of Pope Francis and as envisioned by Dr. King--``to foster a culture which enables people to dream of full rights for all our brothers and sisters, instead of creating one which limits opportunity and growth.''

We could take a big step in that direction by passing the bipartisan Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2015, H.R. 885.

I urge all of my colleagues to cosponsor this important legislation and urge the Republican Leadership to bring it to the floor for a vote without delay.

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