Awarding Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers Who Participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the Final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March in March of 1965

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules
and pass the bill (H.R. 431) to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the
Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or
the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March in March of 1965,
which served as a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

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Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as
I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this very important bill,
H.R. 431, a bipartisan bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the
foot soldiers, the courageous men and women who participated in
historic days such as Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, and the final
March from Selma to Montgomery to ensure voting rights for African
Americans.

Mr. Speaker, sometimes, it is hard for people in today's society to
realize the historical significance of the events that took place in
the past. For younger people, it may seem like a lifetime ago, but for
those who lived through those experiences, it may seem like it just
happened yesterday.

One series of events that we cannot and must not allow to fade away
are the historic marches that began in Selma in the spring of 1956. On
March 7, 1965, led by two fearless men, the Reverend Hosea Williams and
a man many in this Chamber know well, Representative John Lewis, 500 of
those brave foot soldiers determined to have their voices heard and
their right to vote be recognized as they bravely lined up at the
Edmund Pettus Bridge.

These initial marchers were then brutally assaulted and beaten by
Alabama State troopers as they attempted to cross the bridge, seeking
to assert their constitutional right to vote. That atrocity became
known as Bloody Sunday.

Two days later, nearly 2,500 foot soldiers, led by Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., peacefully assembled and again attempted to cross the Edmund
Pettus Bridge. The group marched to where the attacks occurred a few
days before on Bloody Sunday, and at Dr. King's request, they stopped
and knelt in prayer. Following the prayer, the marchers turned around
and returned to Selma.

Finally then, on March 21, under the protection of the U.S. Army,
Federal marshals, and the federalized Alabama National Guard at that
point, that group had swollen to 8,000 foot soldiers who were escorted
safely for 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery.

By the time the march reached the steps of the State capitol, that
group had grown to approximately 25,000 people strong there on those
steps in Montgomery.

Mr. Speaker, instead of bringing the campaign to search for voting
rights to a halt, 50 years ago, the photographs and blurry television
images of that violent attack on Bloody Sunday on that bridge
galvanized the national attention. In fact, the first march was a
catalyst for action.

Just 5 short months after the first march, Congress had passed and
President Johnson had signed into law the Voting Rights Act.

Mr. Speaker, we, as a Nation, must do more to ensure voting rights
are protected for all Americans, and in doing so, we must remember the
sacrifices of those individuals who came before us and worked so
tirelessly to make a difference and to create voting rights equality.

It is truly a privilege for me personally to stand before you today
as Congress recognizes these brave men and women and the historical
significance of those marches that began in Selma and forever changed
the direction of our great Nation.

I thank the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell) for highlighting
these historic events, and I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R.
431.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.

I have no interest in politicizing this great bipartisan Gold Medal
act that we currently have before us. And let's not turn this important
act into a debate that will be, frankly, held in the Judiciary
Committee, rather than on the House floor.

We know that the Voting Rights Act--being a man who represents a
significant part of Gerald R. Ford's congressional district, it was men
like him that were hand-in-hand, arm-in-arm with those in that movement
that helped create the original Voting Rights Act. And I know that this
body can rise again to do the right thing and move forward in a bipartisan
manner.

With that, Mr. Speaker, recognizing that the other side has numerous
requests for time on this bill, particularly from the Congressional
Black Caucus, I ask unanimous consent that 7 minutes of the majority's
time be transferred and placed under the control of my good friend and
colleague from Alabama (Ms. Sewell), who is the Democratic manager.

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Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.

To my friend, it is amazing to me today the irony as we talk about
the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a man who served as the grand dragon of the
Ku Klux Klan in Alabama, who just 100 years ago was serving in the U.S.
Senate, and to have that be a symbol and discussed in the same breath
as a man like John Lewis and Martin Luther King and so many others and
in that short 50 years for us, even though we may be of a different
political persuasion, for me to be here and witness the first African
American to be President of these United States, what an amazing
journey this has been.

Gone are the poll taxes, gone are the reading and history tests, gone
are a number of those legal impediments and formal legal impediments
that were there both in the North and in the South that dictated to
someone where they could or couldn't live.

What has not gone--I am struck by this time and time again--is sin
and hatred in human hearts. As C.S. Lewis talks about in his book
``Mere Christianity,'' by means of laws, a man can attempt to change a
man's actions, but they will not succeed without a change to those
men's hearts.

I think that is our legacy. I think that is our duty as Americans,
and I think that is part of what we are doing here today--to honor, to
recognize, and to celebrate, knowing that the journey is not done
necessarily, knowing that we have other areas where we need to work on
this as a society, but knowing that progress has been made.

It is truly an honor to be a part of this with you as well, my
friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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