Senator Collins Participates In Bipartisan Civil Rights Pilgrimage To Selma, Alabama

U.S. Senator Susan Collins will travel to Selma, Alabama, this weekend on the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” to participate in the Bipartisan Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage. The trip will commemorate the famous civil rights march that led to the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The commemoration will include visits to historic sites in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. On Saturday, the group will travel to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of “Bloody Sunday” where 600 civil rights marchers, including now-Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, marched toward Montgomery to protest racial discrimination in voting. The march was stopped by law enforcement who attacked the peaceful demonstrators with clubs and tear gas. President Obama will be in attendance at this event.

“It is a privilege to be led by Congressman John Lewis and to be joined by so many of my colleagues on this pilgrimage to Selma and across the now infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge,” said Senator Collins. “As we walk together, we strengthen our shared commitment to a future of greater understanding, reconciliation, and justice. On this 50th anniversary, we pay tribute to the courage and conviction of so many who came before us and marched our country towards racial equality.”

Senator Collins was invited by U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), the first African-American Senator elected from the south since 1881 and the bipartisan delegation will be led by Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. The commemorative trip is sponsored by the Faith & Politics Institute.