PRINTER'S NO. 4286
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 986
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY KINSEY, KENYATTA, HARRIS, MADDEN, PASHINSKI,
DELLOSO, GAINEY, KIRKLAND, SNYDER, ZABEL, McCARTER,
SCHLOSSBERG, BURGOS, A. DAVIS, ROTHMAN, RYAN, D. MILLER,
LONGIETTI, HILL-EVANS, SCHLEGEL CULVER, ULLMAN, FREEMAN,
WEBSTER, McNEILL, NEILSON, GALLOWAY, DERMODY, MURT, SAPPEY,
BARRAR, BURNS, SAMUELSON, McCLINTON, JONES, DONATUCCI,
SAINATO, KORTZ, HOWARD, ROZZI, DALEY, YOUNGBLOOD, PETRARCA,
HARKINS, HOHENSTEIN, ROEBUCK, WILLIAMS, CALTAGIRONE, SANCHEZ,
GREGORY, MEHAFFIE, MALAGARI, WARREN, DRISCOLL, DeLUCA, DEASY,
FRANKEL, SHUSTERMAN, CIRESI AND HEFFLEY, AUGUST 25, 2020
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
AUGUST 25, 2020
A RESOLUTION
1 Expressing condolences and honoring the life and legacy of
2 Congressman John Lewis.
3 WHEREAS, Congressman John Lewis, an American civil rights
4 icon and moral visionary, passed away on July 17, 2020, at the
5 age of 80 years old; and
6 WHEREAS, He was born outside of Troy, Alabama on February 21,
7 1940, to a family of sharecroppers and attended segregated
8 public schools throughout his childhood; and
9 WHEREAS, After being inspired by the words of Rev. Martin
10 Luther King Jr. and the activism surrounding the Montgomery bus
11 boycott, Congressman Lewis made a decision to become an integral
12 part of the Civil Rights Movement; and
13 WHEREAS, When studying at Fisk University, Congressman Lewis
 1 organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in
2 Nashville, Tennessee and volunteered to participate in the
3 Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation at bus terminals
4 across the South; and
5 WHEREAS, From 1963 to 1966, he was named Chairman of the
6 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which he helped form,
7 and was responsible for organizing student activism during the
8 Civil Rights Movement; and
9 WHEREAS, At the age of 23, Congressman Lewis was recognized
10 as a national leader by being named one of the Big Six leaders
11 of the Civil Rights Movement and a keynote speaker at the
12 historic March on Washington; and
13 WHEREAS, In 1965, Congressman Lewis led peaceful protestors
14 across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama that turned
15 into a brutal confrontation with State troopers and became a
16 landmark event in the Civil Rights Movement known as "Bloody
17 Sunday"; and
18 WHEREAS, Congressman Lewis remained active in the Civil
19 Rights Movement and became an Atlanta city councilman in 1981
20 and then began representing Georgia's 5th Congressional district
21 in the United States House of Representatives in 1986; and
22 WHEREAS, He was one of the most respected members of Congress
23 who continuously called for measures to fight poverty,
24 improvements in education and most importantly overseeing
25 multiple renewals of the Voting Rights Act; and
26 WHEREAS, During his time in Congress, Congressman Lewis
27 pushed for the creation of the Smithsonian National Museum of
28 African American History and Culture and helped create the FBI's
29 Cold Case Initiative, which reopens cases of racially motivated
30 murders from past decades; and
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 1 WHEREAS, Over the years, Congressman Lewis received numerous
2 honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom
3 in 2011 presented by President Barack Obama; and
4 WHEREAS, He reached out to a younger generation by helping to
5 create a series of graphic novels noting his work in the Civil
6 Rights Movement and won the 2016 National Book Award for the
7 third installment in the series; and
8 WHEREAS, Congressman Lewis received multiple tributes from
9 the city of Atlanta for his continuous dedication to protecting
10 human rights and civil liberties, including numerous exhibits
11 across the city in his honor and Freedom Parkway being renamed
12 to "John Lewis Freedom Parkway;" and
13 WHEREAS, His life was devoted to activism and advocacy for
14 equal justice in America, and his actions have inspired so many
15 today; therefore be it
16 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives express
17 condolences and honor the life and legacy of Congressman John
18 Lewis; and be it further
19 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution will be transmitted
20 to the family of Congressman Lewis as an expression of
21 condolence for their loss.
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