Should Congress Award Their Highest Honor To Those Who Fought For Voting Rights? (H.R. 431)
Do you support or oppose this bill?
What is H.R. 431?
(Updated June 19, 2021)
This bill was enacted on March 7, 2015
The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor Congress can grant to a civilian. It is awarded to those whose achievements influenced the nation’s history.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Movement and the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, this bill would prompt Congress to award a Gold Medal to those who fought against racial discrimination in voting. This includes those who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March in 1965.
The bill also acknowledges America’s history of discrimination in voting; its first section outlines the actions taken by voting rights activists and the violent actions employed to stop them. If passed, the Medal will be specially designed and displayed at the Selma Interpretative Center in Selma, AL.
Argument in favor
The Foot Soldiers who fought against voting discrimination are the reason all Americans can participate in the democratic processes that defines our nation. They deserve the highest honor.
Argument opposed
Awarding a Gold Medal to Foot Soldiers discounts the contributions of other people and organizations that contributed to the Voting Rights Movement
Impact
People who fought in the events leading up to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, families and descends of people who fought for voting rights
Cost of H.R. 431
A CBO cost estimate is unavailable
Additional Info
In Depth:
In addition to the Voting Rights Act, 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday — when over 525 peaceful marchers were violently assaulted by state police on a march from Selma to Montgomery. The youngest demonstrator in the crowd, Lynda Blackmon Lowery was 15 years old. In an interview about her memoir, she recalls:
"On Bloody Sunday I was very near, very near the front. I was, like, in the 19th line from the front. When we got to the crest of the bridge, the top of the bridge, and we saw all these men in blue — that was the Alabama State Troopers. We saw the Sheriff Jim Clark and his deputies, and we saw his posse. They were on horseback.
I really wasn't afraid that day until we got down there, all the way to the state troopers, and they said we were an illegal assembly and we had to disperse, and I heard this pop pop sound. Later I found out it was teargas. And I remember I couldn't breath, and I was scared. I was on my knees and somebody grabbed the back of my collar, [my] coat, and started pulling me backwards. And I guess I was resisting because they grabbed the front of my lapel and I bit the hand that was on the front of the lapel. And I heard that horrible n-word. And I felt him hit me twice.
I ended up with seven stitches over my right eye. I still have that scar. And 28 stitches in the back of my head, and I still have a knot in the back of my head from that."
In light of the anniversary, Sponsoring Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) expressed the necessity of both honoring the sacrifices of Foot Soldiers and formally acknowledging America’s history in her press release, stating, “We cannot appreciate how far we have come without acknowledging from where we came.”
Media:
Press Release – Reps. Sewell and Roby
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