Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Senior Member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget, and the Ranking Member on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, released this statement on the 55th anniversary of the historic March on Washington:

“It was originally marked as the ‘March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.’ But as we reflect on that day, August 28, 1963, it would not be an overstatement to say that the march that concluded with a young preacher from Atlanta, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, changed America. The coda of Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech reverberates today: ‘I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.’

“Today, fifty-five years later, America has made much progress in realizing Dr. King’s dream, but there is still much to be done. While we have seen the election of an African American president and Americans of all political stripes watched that man serve with dignity, grace and class, more still needs to be done. African Americans are still more likely to be incarcerated at greater numbers than their white counterparts; more likely to earn less than their white counterparts; and are more likely to live in poverty than their white counterparts. By many critical metrics, as a result of slavery—America’s Original Sin—African Americans continue to lag behind their white counterparts. Dr. King’s dream cannot be fully realized until this is no longer so.

“When he was campaigning for president and soliciting the support of African Americans, the current occupant of the White House asked of us “what do you have to lose?” To answer that question, it is the progress we have made and hope and potential for more meaningful change in the days to come.”