Illinois Congresswoman Bustos Participates in Annual Civil Rights Pilgrimage
Over the weekend, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) traveled to Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma, Alabama with colleagues and civil rights leaders as a part of the annual Faith and Politics Institute Civil Rights Pilgrimage. Bustos was among the nearly 20 members of Congress in attendance. Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris joined the lawmakers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
“Fifty-seven years ago, my late colleague Congressman John Lewis and hundreds of peaceful civil rights activists began a march from Selma to Montgomery to demand an end to discrimination in voting rights law,” said Congresswoman Bustos. “In honor of the blood he spilled on the Edmund Pettus Bridge that day and his decades working to protect civil rights as a Member of Congress, we must pass legislation in the House and Senate to protect voting rights for every American.”
Congresswoman Cheri Bustos and Peoria Native Haleigh Hoskins on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL. Hoskins is a John R. Lewis Social Justice Policy Fellow with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in Washington, DC.
Stops on the pilgrimage included Birmingham Sixteenth Baptist Church, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the New Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Edmund Pettus Bridge, Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and First Baptist Church.
In the 117th Congress, Congresswoman Bustos has voted to pass the following bills to protect voting rights:
- For the People Act – a sweeping package to clean up corruption in Washington, protect and expand voting rights, and restore ethics and integrity to government to ensure Congress is accountable to the people.
- John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act – legislation to restore and strengthen key protections from the 1965 Voting Rights Act that were invalidated by the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision. In the years since the Supreme Court gutted these vital voting protections, states and localities throughout the country have passed sweeping laws that disproportionately suppress the voting rights of many. These laws have left voters without the protections they need to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
- Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act – legislation to improve access to the ballot for Americans, advance commonsense election integrity reforms, and protect our democracy from relentless attacks. It also elevates the voices of American voters by ending partisan gerrymandering and helping to eliminate the undue influence of secret money in our elections.
