Congressman John R. Lewis Election Day Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7820 To establish the John Lewis Election Day holiday on November 3, 2020, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 29, 2020 Mrs. BEATTY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To establish the John Lewis Election Day holiday on November 3, 2020, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressman John R. 4 Lewis Election Day Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) John Robert Lewis was born on February 8 21, 1940, near Troy, Alabama, the son of share- 9 croppers in the segregated South. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7820.IH H7820 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7820 IH (2) Lewis was ordained as a Baptist minister 1 after graduating from the American Baptist Theo- 2 logical Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, and re- 3 ceived a bachelor’s degree in religion and philosophy 4 from Fisk University. 5 (3) As a student, Lewis learned nonviolent civil 6 disobedience from the Reverend James Lawson and 7 participated in the Nashville Student Movement, or- 8 ganizing sit-ins at segregated lunch counters and 9 participating in other civil rights events. 10 (4) Lewis was one of the original 13 Freedom 11 Riders, who traveled through southern states in 12 1961 to pressure the enforcement of the Boynton v. 13 Virginia Supreme Court case that declared seg- 14 regated interstate bus travel unconstitutional. 15 (5) As a Freedom Rider, Lewis was— 16 (A) assaulted while attempting to enter a 17 Whites-only waiting room in Rock Hill, South 18 Carolina; 19 (B) on a bus that was fire-bombed by the 20 Ku Klux Klan outside Anniston, Alabama; 21 (C) among the Freedom Riders beaten 22 with bats, pipes, and chains in Birmingham, 23 Alabama; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7820.IH H7820 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7820 IH (D) hit in the head and left bleeding and 1 unconscious outside a Greyhound bus station in 2 Montgomery, Alabama; and 3 (E) imprisoned several times and spent a 4 month in the Mississippi State Penitentiary. 5 (6) Lewis was a founding member of the Stu- 6 dent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) 7 and was elected its chair in 1963, serving until 8 1966. 9 (7) Lewis was the youngest of the ‘‘Big Six’’ 10 leaders to organize the 1963 March on Washington 11 for Jobs and Freedom and spoke to the crowd of 12 over 200,000 from the steps of the Lincoln Memo- 13 rial. 14 (8) During Lewis’s tenure as chair, the SNCC 15 organized the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer 16 campaign to register Black voters. 17 (9) Lewis and fellow activist Hosea Williams 18 led over 600 marchers over the Edmund Pettus 19 Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965. The 20 marchers were tear gassed and beaten by the Ala- 21 bama State Police. Lewis had his skull fractured by 22 an Alabama State trooper’s nightstick. The day be- 23 came known as Bloody Sunday and inspired nation- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7820.IH H7820 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7820 IH wide support leading to the enactment of the Voting 1 Rights Act of 1965. 2 (10) Between 1960 and 1966, Lewis was ar- 3 rested 40 times as a nonviolent protestor for equal 4 justice. 5 (11) Lewis became the director of the Voter 6 Education Project in 1970, which added millions of 7 minority voters to the rolls during his tenure. 8 (12) President Jimmy Carter appointed Lewis 9 to direct ACTION, the Federal agency overseeing 10 more than 250,000 volunteers, in 1977. 11 (13) Lewis was first elected to the House of 12 Representatives in 1986, representing Georgia’s 5th 13 Congressional District. 14 (14) During his 17 terms in the House of Rep- 15 resentatives, Lewis became known as the ‘‘Con- 16 science of the Congress,’’ and was a stalwart cham- 17 pion for equality and justice. 18 (15) Among the numerous honors and awards 19 bestowed on him, Lewis received the Presidential 20 Medal of Freedom from President Obama in 2010. 21 (16) Lewis passed away on July 17, 2020, at 22 the age of 80 and lay in state in the United States 23 Capitol Rotunda. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7820.IH H7820 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7820 IH (17) Lewis advised: ‘‘Do not get lost in a sea 1 of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is 2 not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a 3 year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be 4 afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, 5 necessary trouble.’’. 6 SEC. 3. JOHN LEWIS ELECTION DAY HOLIDAY. 7 For purposes of any law relating to Federal employ- 8 ment, November 3, 2020, shall be a legal public holiday, 9 to be known and designated as ‘‘John Lewis Election 10 Day’’, described in section 6103 of title 5, United States 11 Code. 12 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING TREATMENT OF 13 DAY BY PRIVATE EMPLOYERS. 14 It is the sense of Congress that private employers in 15 the United States should give their employees the day off 16 on November 3, 2020, to enable the employees to cast 17 votes in the elections held on that day and to honor the 18 life and legacy of John Lewis. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7820.IH H7820 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS