Hoyer Statement on 60th Anniversary of "Bloody Sunday"

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) released the following statement today regarding the 60th anniversary of the first civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama where 600 people were attacked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, commonly referred to as "Bloody Sunday": 

"Sixty years ago today, my dear friend and brother John Lewis set out from Selma, Alabama, with a band of peaceful patriots in pursuit of the right to vote. Their destinations was the state capitol in Montgomery some 54 miles away. As the Freedom Marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge at the start of their journey, however, state troopers descended on them with clubs, whips, and tear gas. They beat John nearly to death and left hundreds of others severely injured. 
 
"Photos and newsreels from that day left a searing image in the minds of people across the country and around the world, myself included. The courageous nonviolence that the Freedom Marchers displayed in the face of such vicious cruelty that day helped awake America to the wickedness of Jim Crow. Two weeks later, the Freedom Marchers – accompanied by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a National Guard escort – safely made the journey to Montgomery. The steps they took across that bridge brought America closer to living up to its founding principles of freedom, justice, and equality. 
 
"Each year on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, I am honored to join a bipartisan pilgrimage to Selma and Montgomery to pay tribute to the Freedom Marchers and the progress our nation has made since Selma. One of the greatest privileges of my life was to march arm in arm with John Lewis across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on numerous occasions before his passing five years ago. His spirit will march with us as we cross that bridge again today.

"Crucially, the memory of John's courage and moral clarity will continue to guide us as we build on the progress he and so many other civil rights activists made over the years. I will continue pushing our Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. As this Administration seeks to undermine civil rights protections across the board, we will ensure these efforts meet the same determined resistance that the world saw that fateful day six decades ago."