President Biden Marks Bloody Sunday with Executive Order Promoting Voting Access alabamanews.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from alabamanews.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
On this day in 1965, state troopers beat and tear-gassed hundreds of peaceful protestors crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. The protestors were seeking justice and to ensure their right to vote would not be denied. At the head of the march were former Congressman John Lewis and Rev. Hosea Williams. As the troopers advanced with clubs raised, the group knelt in prayer. The images of protestors, bloody and bruised, flashing on television screens across the nation spurred Congress to pass, and President Johnson to sign into law, the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Congressman Lewis’ fight to protect and expand the vote did not end that day in Selma. He carried the mission to our nation’s Capital and remained a vigilant protector of our right to vote, knowing all too well the burdens borne to guarantee it.
Biden signs voting rights order for anniversary of Selma’s 1965 ‘Bloody Sunday’ march
Updated Mar 07, 2021;
Posted Mar 07, 2021
US Vice President Joe Biden helps lead the annual crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, commemorating Bloody Sunday, the violent 1965 clash between law enforcement and protestors on the historic bridge during a march for voting rights, Sunday, March 03, 2013, in Selma, Ala. Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com ORG XMIT: ALBIN101AP
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Biden also signed an executive order aimed at expanding voting rights access.
“Today, on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, I am signing an executive order to make it easier for eligible voters to register to vote and to improve access to voting,” Biden said in his remarks prepared for the breakfast.