Congresswoman Lee Statement on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) issued the following statement in recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which is observed annually as a national day of service on the third Monday of January in honor of the civil rights leader’s birthday on January 15, 1929:
“In his 1957 ‘Give Us the Ballot’ address delivered at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom in Washington, Dr. King described the denial of the right to vote as ‘a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition.’
“Eight years later, President Johnson signed the monumental Voting Rights Act into law, largely thanks to activism, organizing, marching, and pressure from Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Council. The VRA revolutionized African American political participation, banning many of the strategies white supremacists had used to disenfranchise voters. But efforts to disenfranchise Black voters never ceased, and the devastating Supreme Court decisions in recent years have catalyzed a legal assault on minority voter participation across the country.
“This past year alone has seen the greatest onslaught of voter suppression laws since the Jim Crow era, with nearly 500 bills across 49 states. At least 19 of those states passed laws that restrict access to the ballot, with many more on the way. This wave of voter suppression and election sabotage will only intensify in 2022.
“In his speech that day in 1957, Dr. King pleaded with the president and members of Congress to provide ‘a strong, moral, and courageous leadership,’ for this was not ‘an ephemeral, evanescent domestic issue that can be kicked about by reactionary guardians of the status quo; it is rather an eternal moral issue which may well determine the destiny of our nation.’ As we pause to commemorate the life of Dr. King, we cannot in good faith celebrate his legacy without action to address the racist, discriminatory forces undermining it today. The Senate must do whatever it takes to pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act to protect millions of voters—especially those of color—and defend the civil rights and basic freedoms this country has fought so hard for.”
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Congresswoman Lee is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and Chair of the Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. She serves as Co-Chair of the Steering & Policy Committee, former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Chair Emeritus of the Progressive Caucus, Co-Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Health Task Force, and Co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus. She also serves as Chair of the Majority Leader’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity. As a member of the House Democratic Leadership, she is the highest ranking Black woman in the U.S. Congress.