WASHINGTON, DC – This afternoon, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) delivered remarks at the Faith and Politics Institute’s 2021 Virtual Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage Event. Below is a transcript of his remarks. “Last March, I walked with John Lewis across the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the last time. Though I will surely join the Faith and Politics Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Selma for years to come, that short but powerful and meaningful walk will never be the same. John was more than a friend, he was as he said to me and others, like a brother.

“I felt privileged to work beside him in Congress for many years, and joining him on the Civil Rights Pilgrimage was a highlight of every year for me. It was a revival, a renewal of the sense of purpose and commitment. Not only because it provides Members of Congress from both parties the opportunity to reflect on the struggles and hard-won victories of the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for voting rights in our country. But because it gave us all a chance to join John revisit those emotional moments of his youth and his own fight for justice.

“For John, every annual pilgrimage was a homecoming. He liked to say, ‘Here I am in Selma, one more time.’ Whether to Selma, Montgomery, Memphis, or Birmingham, these visits allowed us to see the deep personal connection that John had with each of these places and with the people we met there.

“Those places stirred John’s heart – and he, in turn, stirred ours. He was the wind with which we walked, guiding us forward with a spirit of camaraderie and common purpose. His presence among us made each step lighter.

“When we cross that bridge again, hopefully next year, hand-in-hand, each step will be just a little more laborious. Because John won’t be there with us to spread his courage and his joy. Surely, though, he will be with us in spirit. And whenever we visit these sacred places in our history, to which John’s imprint has been so indelibly added, he will be with us in our hearts.

“Just as he was in my heart every day in the Capitol as my colleagues and I strive to carry on the work to which he dedicated his life: voting rights, equality, justice, opportunity for all. He personified courage, passion, compassion, faith, integrity, humility, inspiration, commitment, and decency, decency, decency.

“As we remember John this week and recall his heroism and leadership, let us recommit ourselves to continuing the ‘good trouble’ that he started so that we may bring this nation closer to the ideal that was his vision, and which must continue to be our objective: the beloved community that he saw as God’s purpose for America. Rest in power, John – you will be with us always.”