Georgia senators say they'll bear Lewis' legacy

FILE - This June 16, 2010 file photo, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., participates in a ceremony to unveil two plaques recognizing the contributions of enslaved African Americans in the construction of the United States Capitol on Capitol Hill in Washington.  Six months after his death, the late civil rights leader and longtime Georgia congressman will retain a palpable influence in Congress. The state's two new Democratic U.S. senators are both personal friends and admirers of Lewis.  (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE - This June 16, 2010 file photo, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., participates in a ceremony to unveil two plaques recognizing the contributions of enslaved African Americans in the construction of the United States Capitol on Capitol Hill in Washington. Six months after his death, the late civil rights leader and longtime Georgia congressman will retain a palpable influence in Congress. The state's two new Democratic U.S. senators are both personal friends and admirers of Lewis. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

ATLANTA -- Six months after his death, the late civil rights leader and longtime Georgia Congressman John Lewis will retain a palpable influence in Congress: The state's two new Democratic U.S. senators -- both personal friends and admirers -- promise to carry on his legacy.

Sen. Raphael Warnock was Lewis' pastor and stood at his bedside before Lewis died. Sen. Jon Ossoff, the Senate's youngest current member, served as an intern in Lewis' Washington office years ago. Both were sworn into office Wednesday.

Warnock is Georgia's first Black senator, and Ossoff is the first Jewish senator from the state. Together, their election victories swung control of the Senate to Democrats.

Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who narrowly lost the nationally watched race for Georgia governor in 2018, said in a statement to The Associated Press that Warnock and Ossoff represent Lewis' legacy in the Senate.

"Congressman Lewis is irreplaceable," Abrams wrote. "However, Georgians gave America the opportunity to pass sweeping reforms that will strengthen our democracy and commemorate his fight for all."

Both of the newly minted senators have pledged to pursue legislation to expand and protect voting rights, a cause that Lewis championed for most of his life. Democrats and their supporters are hopeful that their newfound control of the White House and Congress could mean voting protections previously stalled by a GOP-led Senate could receive quick passage.

Chief among those is a bill passed by the House in 2019 that has since been renamed after Lewis. It seeks to restore portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.

The ruling in Shelby County v. Holder ended a requirement that jurisdictions with a history of discriminatory voting practices receive preclearance from the federal government for any changes to voting procedures. Democrats and voting rights groups argue that the ruling has led to a cascade of changes in many states that have disenfranchised voters, including polling place closures.

However, the Senate could have its hands full with the impending impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump as well as consideration of appointments by President Joe Biden and his early legislative proposals, including a $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan.

Lewis died in July at the age of 80 after battling pancreatic cancer. He served in the House for 33 years representing Georgia's 5th Congressional District, which includes most of Atlanta.

Lewis became a key player in the civil rights movement as a young man in the 1960s. He helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was among the original Freedom Riders who challenged segregated bus terminals in the South and was the youngest person to speak at the March on Washington in 1963.

Most associated with the pursuit to secure and protect voting rights, Lewis led protesters in the 1965 Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where he had his skull fractured by police, and he was a driving force behind voting rights laws in the U.S. for decades.

Warnock and Ossoff defeated Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who both ran on fealty to Trump, in a runoff election on Jan. 5. They are the first Democrats to win a U.S. Senate election in Georgia since 2000.

On the night of the election, as the Democrats' leads became clear, members of Congress who worked alongside Lewis paid tribute to the late congressman, saying he laid the groundwork for the victories.

"My friend John Lewis planted the foundation of this Georgia over his career," Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey said in a tweet. "I wish he were here tonight to watch this."

Georgia Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock, left, and Jon Ossoff, right, gesture toward a crowd during a campaign rally on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, in Marietta, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Georgia Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock, left, and Jon Ossoff, right, gesture toward a crowd during a campaign rally on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, in Marietta, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
In this image from video, Vice President Kamala Harris swears in Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., on the floor of the Senate Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Senate Television via AP)
In this image from video, Vice President Kamala Harris swears in Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., on the floor of the Senate Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Senate Television via AP)
On the first full day of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, is joined by Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., center, and Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., during a press event at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. The pivotal Georgia runoff election this month was decisive in handing Democrats the majority in the Senate. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
On the first full day of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, is joined by Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., center, and Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., during a press event at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. The pivotal Georgia runoff election this month was decisive in handing Democrats the majority in the Senate. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
On the first full day of the Democratic majority in the Senate, new members walk to a news conference with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., front right, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. From left are, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., who took the seat vacated by Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
On the first full day of the Democratic majority in the Senate, new members walk to a news conference with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., front right, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. From left are, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., who took the seat vacated by Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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