WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) released the following statement today on the 88th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote:

As many members of the press are already aware, August 28th, the night that Sen. Barack Obama will officially accept the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States, is also the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington. The date holds great power because it has marked the beginning of a series of new eras in black politics at different stages in American history. Consider these seminal moments:

Atlanta—On Wednesday, August 13, 2008, Rep. John Lewis visited Grady Memorial Hospital’s Diagnostic Testing Laboratory and Infectious Disease Program.  The visits were part of a larger effort to reach out to healthcare professionals to explore the best ways to implement a comprehensive national healthcare agenda.

“We are all one people, one family, the human family.” That is a philosophy Rep. John Lewis often advocates.  Nowhere is its meaning more potent than in the issues of homelessness and health care.  Recent studies have shown that urban populations of homeless people have high rates of tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza, and other airborne diseases, as well as other communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS.

For the first time since the U.S. Surgeon General first revealed that smoking tobacco is a threat to Americans’ health, the U.S. Congress voted today to regulate tobacco products.  Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives voted 362 to 102, a veto-proof margin, to pass H.R. 1108 the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.  In light of the fact that African Americans are disproportionately affected by higher rates of cancer due to cigarette smoking, this bill represents a significant step forward in controlling the negative impact cigarette additives, advertising directed to children, and the languid implementation of smoking cessation programs in African American communities and other neighborhoods throughout the country.