John Lewis

==== Overview ====
[[File:John Lewis official biopic.jpg|thumb|An official portrait of Lewis]]
Lewis represented [[Georgia's 5th congressional district]], one of the most consistently Democratic districts in the nation. Since its formalization in 1845, the district has been represented by a Democrat for most of its history.

Lewis was one of the most liberal congressmen to have represented a district in the Deep South. He was categorized as a "Hard-Core Liberal" by [[On the Issues]].<ref name="Lewis 2000">{{cite web |title=Issues 2000 Lewis |url=http://www.issues2000.org/GA/John_Lewis.htm |publisher=Issues2000|access-date=June 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513215725/http://issues2000.org/GA/John_Lewis.htm|archive-date=May 13, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' described Lewis in 1998 as "a fiercely partisan Democrat but ... also fiercely independent".<ref name="Fighter">{{cite news|title=Nonviolent Fighter; John Lewis Retraces the Route That Led to the Future|first=Peter|last=Carlson|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=June 9, 1998|page=01}}</ref> Lewis characterized himself as a strong and adamant [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]].<ref name="Fighter" /> ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]'' said Lewis was the "only former major civil rights leader who extended his fight for human rights and racial reconciliation to the halls of Congress".<ref name="Conscience">{{cite news |title=John Lewis: 'Conscience' carries clout: Civil rights icon's moral authority enhanced |last=Kemper |first=Bob |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=May 21, 2006}}</ref> ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]'' also said that to "those who know him, from U.S. senators to 20-something congressional aides", he is called the "conscience of Congress".<ref name="Conscience" /> Lewis cited Florida Senator and later Representative [[Claude Pepper]], a staunch liberal, as being the colleague whom he most admired.<ref name="EmoryWheel_Smith_20080421">{{cite web |url=http://emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=25537 |title=The Tuesday Ten: An Interview with Rep. John Lewis |first=Asher |last=Smith |work=[[The Emory Wheel]] |date=April 21, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124225545/http://emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=25537 |archive-date=January 24, 2009}}</ref> Lewis also spoke out in support of [[gay rights]] and [[national health insurance]].<ref name="Fighter" />

Lewis opposed the 1991 [[Gulf War]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Mideast Trip Strengthens Georgia Lawmakers' Resolve |first=Mike |last=Christensen |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=January 11, 1991 |page=A7}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tour labors in opposition to NAFTA |first=Colin |last=Campbell |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=February 19, 1998 |page=F02}}</ref> and the 2000 U.S. trade agreement with China that passed the House.<ref>{{cite web |title=The China trade vote: A Clinton triumph; House, in 237–197 vote, approves normal trade rights for China |first1=Eric |last1=Schmitt |first2=Joseph |last2=Kahn |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 25, 2000 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E7D9153DF936A15756C0A9669C8B63&pagewanted=all |access-date=February 27, 2011 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013515/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/25/world/china-trade-vote-clinton-triumph-house-237-197-vote-approves-normal-trade-rights.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> He opposed the [[Clinton administration]] on [[NAFTA]] and [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act|welfare reform]].<ref name="Fighter" /> After welfare reform passed, Lewis was described as outraged; he said, "Where is the sense of decency? What does it profit a great nation to conquer the world, only to lose its soul?"<ref>{{cite journal |title=Social programs: world report. The wreck of the gravy train |journal=Canada and the World Backgrounder |publisher=Taylor Publishing Consultants |location=Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |volume=62 |issue=2 |date=October 1996 |pages=3–34}}</ref> In 1994, when [[Foreign policy of the Bill Clinton administration#Haiti|Clinton considered invading Haiti]], Lewis opposed armed intervention.<ref>{{cite news |title=President faces strong opposition in Congress |first=Sharon |last=Schmickle |newspaper=[[Star Tribune]]|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |date=September 16, 1994 |page=1}}</ref> After a non-violent transition of power was negotiated, Lewis supported the presence of U.S. troops in Haiti as part of [[Operation Uphold Democracy]], calling the operation a "mission of peace".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-1994-10-06/html/CREC-1994-10-06-pt2-PgH24.htm |title=Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 144 |date=October 6, 1994 |website=govinfo.gov |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=January 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>"Shared power, foreign policy, and Haiti, 1994. Public memories of war and race." Goodnight, G. Thomas; Olson, Kathryn M.; ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 9. 4 (Winter 2006): 601–634.</ref> In 1998, when Clinton was considering a military strike against Iraq, Lewis said he would back the president if American forces were ordered into action.<ref>{{cite news |title=Georgia delegation divided on strategy; Some back force, others doubt military action is a real solution |first=Mark |last=Sherman |newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution |date=February 12, 1998 |page=A14}}</ref> In 2001, three days after the [[September 11 attacks]], Lewis voted to give President [[George W. Bush]] authority to use force against the perpetrators of [[9/11]] in a [[Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001|vote that was 420–1]]; Lewis called it probably one of his toughest votes.<ref name="Tough">{{cite news |title=Congress using religious compass in decisions |first=Melanie |last=Eversley |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=October 7, 2001 |page=7}}</ref> In 2002, he sponsored the [[Peace Tax Fund bill]], a [[conscientious objection to military taxation]] initiative that had been reintroduced yearly since 1972.<ref>{{cite web |title=War Resisters: 'We Won't Go' To 'We Won't Pay' |first=Felicia R. |last=Lee |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 3, 2002 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/03/arts/war-resisters-we-won-t-go-to-we-won-t-pay.html |access-date=March 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113085527/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/03/arts/war-resisters-we-won-t-go-to-we-won-t-pay.html|archive-date=November 13, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis was a "fierce partisan critic of President Bush", and an early opponent of the [[Iraq War]].<ref name="Conscience" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Davis |first=Charles |title=Rep. John Lewis, civil rights icon, was a powerful voice against war with Iraq |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/john-lewis-was-a-lonely-voice-against-war-with-iraq-2020-7 |access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=[[Business Insider]] |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718050049/https://www.businessinsider.com/john-lewis-was-a-lonely-voice-against-war-with-iraq-2020-7 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Associated Press]] said he was "the first major House figure to suggest [[Movement to impeach George W. Bush|impeaching George W. Bush]]", arguing that the president "deliberately, systematically violated the law" in authorizing the [[National Security Agency]] to [[N.S.A. surveillance without warrants controversy|conduct wiretaps without a warrant]]. Lewis said, "He is not king, he is president."<ref name="VandenHeuvel">{{cite web |url=http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?pid=45006 |title=The I-Word is Gaining Ground |first=Katrina |last=Vanden Heuvel |date=January 2, 2006 |work=[[The Nation]]|access-date=February 29, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120065321/http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?pid=45006|archive-date=November 20, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lewis drew on his historical involvement in the [[Civil Rights Movement]] as part of his politics. He made an annual pilgrimage to Alabama to retrace the route he marched in 1965 from Selma to Montgomery&nbsp;– a route Lewis worked to make part of the [[National Historic Trail|Historic National Trails]] program. That trip became "one of the hottest tickets in Washington among lawmakers, Republican and Democrat, eager to associate themselves with Lewis and the movement. 'We don't deliberately set out to win votes, but it's very helpful", Lewis said of the trip'."<ref name="Conscience" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Skene|first=Gordon|date=2020-07-18|title=John Lewis – Address At The March On Washington – August 1963 – John Lewis (1940–2020)|url=https://pastdaily.com/2020/07/18/john-lewis-address-at-the-march-on-washington-august-1963-john-lewis-1940-2020/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Past Daily|language=en-US|archive-date=April 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422181314/https://pastdaily.com/2020/07/18/john-lewis-address-at-the-march-on-washington-august-1963-john-lewis-1940-2020/}}</ref> In recent years, however, [[Faith and Politics Institute]] drew criticism for selling seats on the trip to lobbyists for at least $25,000 each. According to the [[Center for Public Integrity]], even Lewis said that he would feel "much better" if the institute's funding came from churches and foundations instead of corporations.<ref name="publicintegrity.org">{{cite web|first=Marina Walker|last=Guevara|url=https://www.publicintegrity.org/2006/06/08/5606/lobbyists-tag-along-civil-rights-tour|title=Lobbyists tag along on civil rights tour|website=publicintegrity.org|publisher=[[The Center for Public Integrity]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=June 8, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829024959/https://www.publicintegrity.org/2006/06/08/5606/lobbyists-tag-along-civil-rights-tour |archive-date=August 29, 2016}}</ref>

On June 3, 2011, the House passed a resolution 268–145, calling for a withdrawal of the United States military from the [[2011 military intervention in Libya|air and naval operations]] in and around [[Libya]].<ref>{{cite news |title=House Rebukes Obama for Continuing Libyan Mission Without Its Consent |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/world/africa/04policy.html?_r=1 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 4, 2011|access-date=December 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230234050/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/world/africa/04policy.html?_r=1|archive-date=December 30, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis voted against the resolution.<ref>{{cite web |title=H.Res.292 – Declaring that the President shall not deploy, establish, or maintain the presence of units and members of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Libya, and for other purposes. |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-resolution/292/actions |website=Library of Congress |year=2011 |access-date=December 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231194241/https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-resolution/292/actions |archive-date=December 31, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In a 2002 op-ed, Lewis mentioned a response by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to an [[anti-zionism|anti-Zionist]] student at a 1967 Harvard meeting, quoting "When people criticize [[Zionism|Zionists]] they mean Jews, you are talking [[anti-Semitism]]." In describing the special relationship between African Americans and American Jews in working for liberation and peace, he also gave other statements by King to the same effect, including one from March 25, 1968: "Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity. I see Israel as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/I-have-a-dream-for-peace-in-the-Middle-East-2880295.php|title=I have a dream for peace in the Middle East|date=January 21, 2002|newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|access-date=February 2, 2021|archive-date=February 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206002835/https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/I-have-a-dream-for-peace-in-the-Middle-East-2880295.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lewis "strongly disagreed" with the movement for [[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions]] (BDS) against Israel and co-sponsored resolution condemning the pro-Palestinian group, but he supported Representatives [[Ilhan Omar]] and [[Rashida Tlaib]]'s House resolution opposing [[Israel Anti-Boycott Act|U.S. anti-boycott legislation]] banning the boycott of Israel. He explained his support as "a simple demonstration of my ongoing commitment to the ability of every American to exercise the fundamental [[First Amendment]] right to protest through nonviolent actions".<ref>{{cite news |title=Rep. John Lewis backs the right to boycott Israel — even though he opposes BDS |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/john-lewis-backs-the-right-to-boycott-israel-even-though-he-opposes-bds/ |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=July 27, 2019 |access-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808034457/https://www.timesofisrael.com/john-lewis-backs-the-right-to-boycott-israel-even-though-he-opposes-bds/ |url-status=live }}</ref>