Senator Raphael Warnock’s first speech within the Senate evokes the Chamber to present a standing ovation

Senator Warnock spoke about Georgia’s racist past of segregation and violence and why he and others continue to “love America” ​​despite all of this. Warnock noted that he was now standing in the same place, in the same position as men who only decades earlier had threatened “guns” to kill any black brave enough to vote. His father, who lived and served during World War II, was once asked to give up his place on a bus in his military uniform to a white teenager. “But it was never bitter. He had seen the bow of change in our country and maintained his faith in God, in his family, and in the American promise. And he passed this belief on to his children. “

Senator Warnock spoke of his mother who had spent her teenage years “picking someone else’s tobacco and someone else’s cotton” to make money. “But because this is America, the 82-year-old Hands who used to pick someone else’s cotton went to the polls in January and elected their youngest son as United States Senator.”

Warnock turned to the focus of his speech: the right to vote and the conservatives’ attempts to suppress these so often black voices. “The right to vote preserves all other rights, it is not just another issue among other issues, it is fundamental,” Warnock reminded everyone. But that fact continues to elude some people who have protected this very basic principle. “Now, just months after the death of Congressman Lewis, there are some in the Georgian legislature who even dare to extol his name and who are now trying to get rid of Sunday souls for the elections. Make it a crime for people who pray together to get on a bus together to vote together. I think that’s wrong. In fact, I think voting is a kind of prayer for the kind of world we want for ourselves and our children. “Warnock cleverly illustrated and pointed out how political and irrational the filibuster had become “Surely there should be at least 60 in this chamber who believe that the four most powerful words spoken in a democracy are” The people have spoken “.”

Then Senator Warnock reminded the Senate of what its primary role as a legislature is. A message that every single person in this chamber must hear and internalize. Our elected officials represent and protect the rights of all Americans, no matter who they are, what they look like, what they believe in, or how much money they have. “It’s a contradiction to say that we have to protect minority rights in the Senate while refusing to protect minority rights in society. We have to find a way to transfer voting rights whether we get rid of the filibuster or not.”

It’s an important speech that everyone can witness. It is a speech that with hope and hard work will stand the test of time.

Check out the entire speech below.