Senator Jon Ossoff went on V-103’s “The Kenny Burns Show” to discuss legislation he introduced to honor late Congressman John Lewis.
Earlier this week, Ossoff joined fellow Georgia Senator Ralphael Warnock to put forward the legislation which recognizes many of Lewis’ achievements.
“The first piece of legislation that I’ve introduced personally is to honor my mentor, the guy who gave me my first job, who laid the groundwork for so much of the work on civil rights and voting rights that we continue to do, the late great Congressman John Lewis, whose towering achievements in the non-violent struggle for civil rights and voting rights cannot be overstated,” Ossoff said.
“While I move that piece of legislation forward to honor him we are racing to pass this COVID relief bill to get stimulus checks and tax credits and vaccines to beat this virus and get families back on their feet.”
Ossoff and Warnock reached out to Republican Senator Mitt Romney in order to make sure the legislation had bipartisan support.
“Here’s why I wanted to reach out and get Republican support to honor John Lewis,” Ossoff added. “We’re at a moment of reckoning in this country with race and class bias in our justice system. With a continued onslaught attacking the voting rights of Black Americans, the struggle that John Lewis laid his life on the line to pursue continues. I want this measure honoring John Lewis to form the basis for some kind of renewed national commitment to “justice for all,” a united defense of the sacred right to vote.”
Ossoff elaborated how the resolution is important and not merely “symbolic.”
“As long as people know and feel and see that the justice system in this country deals out selective justice, racially biased justice, class biased justice, then we are not living up to the ideals yet that John Lewis sacrificed so much to fight for,” Ossoff continued. “So while this resolution honoring him is symbolic in nature, symbolism matters and it’s about the broader struggle for equal justice, equal rights and voting rights.”
Lewis died in July 2020 after a battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 80.
Ossoff also expressed the need to expedite President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, which is currently making its way through Congress.
“I’m urging all speed possible for us to pass this COVID relief bill so we can get that economic relief to the people and keep boosting vaccines,” he said.
After winning in January’s runoff election, Ossoff reiterated his commitment to his constituents.
“I remind myself when my feet hit the floor every morning that I am a servant, that I am here to serve you the people. I welcome tough questions. I welcome criticism. I welcome accountability. I welcome your demands and your needs,” Ossoff shared. “I humbly urge you to contact me in my office if we can be of help to you.”
And while some longtime politicians have ”lost their way” in DC, Ossoff said he would not let that be the case.
“I want to stay close to the will of the people so that I can see that that will is manifest in policy.”