“U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and longtime Lewis friend, called the Voting Rights Act — along with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Medicare and Medicaid Act of 1965 — as some of the greatest legislative achievements in the nation’s history.”
Read MoreCongressman John Lewis represents Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District. He has been a leader of the civil rights movement for decades. As Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, he risked his life to protest racial injustice in the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, and he helped organize the 1963 March on Washington at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.
Read More“Richie has consistently used this national leadership position to listen, learn and amplify the voices of underrepresented populations. In his first months as Chairman, he held hearings on how to address racial disparities and social determinants in the nation’s maternal mortality crisis, at a time when no one else would pay attention to the issue. Richie shows up for the fight always ready to speak out and help those most in need.”
Read More“Neal, who called Floyd’s death and the ensuing protests “transformative” events, applauded the Democratic proposal’s improved transparency and accountability. He said outlawing chokeholds and the way Floyd was pinned to the ground by officer Derek Chauvin, who now faces a second-degree murder charge, ‘makes a great deal of sense.’”
Read More“WAYS AND MEANS LOOKS AT COVID IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES OF COLOR — The 11 a.m. hearing is intended to explore how the outbreak is disproportionately affecting minority communities. Early evidence suggests that black populations and other communities of color are seeing elevated rates of coronavirus infections and deaths. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has faced persistent scrutiny over ongoing data gaps about how the virus is hitting minorities. What RICHARD NEAL plans to say: The committee chair wants to use the hearing to focus on longstanding issues of inequality that he says have contributed to the current Covid-19 outbreak, according to prepared remarks shared with PULSE. ‘While the factors driving these inequities are complex and multifaceted, their impact on health outcomes are clear,’ Neal plans to say. ‘That is why we convened this hearing — to unpack these circumstances and begin to unravel the roots of our own history that have brought us to this point.’”
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