Clyburn says if Trump wants to honor Lewis he should sign bill to restore Voting Rights Act

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Senate Republicans and President Trump should pass and sign a bill to restore the Voting Rights Act if they wants to honor the life of Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights era legend who died last week. 

“I think Trump and the Senate leadership, Mitch McConnell … if they so celebrate the heroism of this man, then let’s go to work and pass that bill,” Clyburn said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to the bill the House passed in December that aims at restoring the Voting Rights Act. 

“It should be the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020. That’s the way to do it. Words maybe powerful, but deeds are lasting.” – Rep. James Clyburn on how President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can honor the legacy of Rep. John Lewis. #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/uHMLUVGGlK

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) July 19, 2020

He said the bill is laid out the way the Supreme Court “asked us to” in its 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision that invalidated a key portion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

“If the president were to sign that, then I think that’s what we will do to honor John. It should be the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020. That’s the way to do it. Words may be powerful, but deeds are lasting,” Clyburn said. 

Lewis died Friday at the age of 80. He had revealed in late December that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. 

Lewis has long pushed for voting rights. He spoke at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 and was badly beaten during a civil rights march two years later in Selma, Ala. 

Clyburn had a long friendship with Lewis. Both future lawmakers met decades before they were elected as they demonstrated during the civil rights movement. 

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Clyburn how his friendship with Lewis persevered for so long. 

“It had a lot to do with the common cause that we found in challenging the status quo,” Clyburn said. 

“John and I got to be fast friends, and it was sealed because our wives became such good friends,” he added.