A Reminder of What Progress Looks Like

AP Photo

John Lewis reminds us that he was beaten to over-turn
unjust laws like those that asked blacks to pay poll taxes
or pass tests in order to vote. Then he raised the question,
are voter ID laws all that  different?

Civil rights icon and Georgia Congressman John Lewis spoke to the Democratic National Convention Thursday, prior to the president.

He talked about how this country  has progressed from his brutal experiences as a Freedom Rider, to having a black man as president.

Then, in a depressing development, he highlighted our Commonwealth as a place where that progress is being rolled back with Voter ID laws.

He even cited the unusually frank comments made by Mike Turzai, PA House Majority Leader, who said the passage of the law would allow Mitt Romney to win Pennsylvania.

It was not Pennsylvania's proudest day.

Below is the text of his speech as it was prepared for delivery:

I first came to this city in 1961, the year Barack Obama was born. I was one of the 13 original "Freedom Riders." We were on a bus ride from Washington to New Orleans trying to test a recent Supreme Court ruling that banned racial discrimination on buses crossing state lines and in the stations that served them. Here in Charlotte, a young African-American rider got off the bus and tried to get a shoe shine in a so-called white waiting room. He was arrested and taken to jail.

John Lewis as a Freedom Rider put his life on the
line for an equal chance to vote. Can we really
turn our back on that legacy?

On that same day, we continued on to Rock Hill, South Carolina, about 25 miles. From here, when my seatmate, Albert Bigelow, and I tried to enter a white waiting room, we were met by an angry mob that beat us and left us lying in a pool of blood. Some police officers came up and asked us whether we wanted to press charges. We said, "No, we come in peace, love and nonviolence." We said our struggle was not against individuals, but against unjust laws and customs. Our goal was true freedom for every American.

This is what John Lewis and other Freedom Riders faced
when they tried to ensure equal ballot access for all.

Since then, America has made a lot of progress. We are a different society than we were in 1961. And in 2008, we showed the world the true promise of America when we elected President Barack Obama. A few years ago, a man from Rock Hill, inspired by President Obama's election, decided to come forward. He came to my office in Washington and said, "I am one of the people who beat you. I want to apologize. Will you forgive me?" I said, "I accept your apology." He started crying. He gave me a hug. I hugged him back, and we both started crying. This man and I don't want to go back; we want to move forward.

Brothers and sisters, do you want to go back? Or do you want to keep America moving forward? My dear friends, your vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful, nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union. Not too long ago, people stood in unmovable lines. They had to pass a so-called literacy test, pay a poll tax. On one occasion, a man was asked to count the number of bubbles in a bar of soap. On another occasion, one was asked to count the jelly beans in a jar—all to keep them from casting their ballots.

Mike Turzai told the truth when he said PA's voter ID
law was passed so Mitt Romney would win the state.

Today it is unbelievable that there are Republican officials still trying to stop some people from voting. They are changing the rules, cutting polling hours and imposing requirements intended to suppress the vote. The Republican leader in the Pennsylvania House even bragged that his state's new voter ID law is "gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state." That's not right. That's not fair. That's not just.

And similar efforts have been made in Texas, Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia and South Carolina. I've seen this before. I've lived this before. Too many people struggled, suffered and died to make it possible for every American to exercise their right to vote.

And we have come too far together to ever turn back. So we must not be silent. We must stand up, speak up and speak out. We must march to the polls like never before. We must come together and exercise our sacred right. And together, on November 6, we will re-elect the man who will lead America forward: President Barack Obama.

May the Schwartz Be With You

Schwartz speaks, briefly, at the Democratic National Convention

It wasn't long and it wasn't featured on TV, at least that I saw, but one of our local representatives in Congress was among the speakers Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention.

U.S. Rep Allyson Schwartz, D-13th Dist., was among a group of female House members who spoke, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to be U.S. Speaker of the House.

Her district includes New Hanover and Schwenksville and she is one of only two Pennsylvania politicians to speak at the convention.

According to The Morning Call, she spoke "for exactly one minute and 30 seconds."

And The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday that Schwartz's political profile is on the rise and that  "persistent political buzz has her aiming to run statewide, for either governor in 2014 or U.S. Senate in 2016."

"Some Democrats around the state are encouraging her to consider a run at higher office. She was in charge of recruiting candidates for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this election cycle, and insiders consider her a possibility to head the party's House campaign arm should she stay there - traditionally a fast track to party leadership," wrote the Inky's political correspondent Thomas Fitzgerald.

He further observed:

"She has run statewide before, seeking the Democratic nomination to oppose then-U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in 2000. Then a state senator, she finished second, with 26 percent of the vote, in a field of five candidates. Four of those were from the eastern part of Pennsylvania, and the ultimate primary winner, then-U.S. Rep. Ron Klink, won with 41 percent of the vote by maintaining his hold on the 12-county Pittsburgh media market that made up his geographic base.

Klink opposed abortion rights. The party's major donors, many of whom were on the opposite side on that issue, did not warm to him, and Santorum rolled to reelection."

Mercury Photo by John Strickler

Schwartz spoke to The Mercury
about the health care law in
January, 2011

Schwartz helped write some provisions of the Affordable Care Act, more often called Obamacare, and she has been vocal in her defense of it.

In her comments to The Mercury in January, 2011, after the new House Republican majority voted to repeal the new health care law (a vote blocked by the Senate), Schwartz said if the Republicans were successful, "people under 65 with pre-existing conditions, whether it is asthma, cancer, diabetes would lose the coverage they have been able to buy."

She added, "very quickly, this law has made a positive difference in the lives of millions of Americans."

In addition to continuing that defense in her comments to the convention, The Inquirer reported she also used a luncheon in Charlotte Tuesday: for the same purpose; and to denounce Republicans for vowing to repeal expanded health-care access for millions and, in her view, attacking women's rights.

"Do they really want to change the definition of rape?" she told the lunch group. "Do they really want to take away our right to contraception? Do they want to deny little kids coverage for health insurance? Yes. This is their platform. They've introduced legislation [in Congress], and they've voted for it. If that's not enough, they want to take away our Medicare - for those of us who have it and those of us who want it someday."

Schwartz spoke to the convention on a night dedicated very much to women's voices, ending with a well-received speech by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Below are Schwartz's remarks to the convention, sent by her office:

“I'm Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania.

“Moving America forward means never going backward on America's great promise of health care for our seniors: Medicare.

“As a daughter who cared for an elderly parent, I know medical care is not optional for seniors.

“Americans have worked for their Medicare. They have paid for their Medicare. And whether you’re 65, 55, 45, or 35 you’ve earned Medicare.

Schwartz is in there somewhere.

“We will not let the Republicans end the guarantee of Medicare------costing our seniors thousands and endangering the health and retirement security of millions of Americans.

“Americans deserve the security Medicare provides. President Obama will strengthen and protect Medicare.

“Democrats will make the tough choices –the right choices- to reduce the deficit, and to preserve Medicare, for this generation, and the next.

“The Democratic women of the House know a secure retirement move America forward.”

Schwartz's district includes parts of Philadelphia and the following Montgomery County communities:  Rockledge, Abington, Jenkintown, Lower Moreland, Upper Moreland, Hatboro, Horsham, Upper Dublin, Ambler, Lower Gwynedd, Upper Gwynedd, Whitpain, Springfield, Whitemarsh, North Wales, Towamencin, Lower Salford, Upper Salford, Schwenksville, Lower Frederick, Upper Frederick, New Hanover, Montgomery, Lansdale, Hatfield Boro and Hatfield Township.