John Lewis, a social liberties lobbyist whose bleeding beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 stirred resistance to racial isolation, and who went on to a long and commended vocation in Congress, has passed on. He was 80 in age.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi affirmed Lewis' spending late Friday night, calling him "one of the best saints of American history."
"We all were lowered to consider Congressman Lewis a partner and are crushed by his passing," Pelosi said. "May his memory be a motivation that moves all of us to, notwithstanding bad form, make 'great difficulty, essential difficulty.'"
