President bush good morning. Distinguished guests, johnmiles, lewis family and friends, i thank you for inviting us to be here today. Johns story began on a tiny farm in troy, alabama, a place so small he said you could barely find it on the map. He talked about the chickens. I did a little research. Every morning he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. He loved those chickens. Already called to be a minister who took care of others, john fed them and tended to their every need. Even their spiritual ones. For john baptized them, he married them and he preached to them. [laughter] when his parents claimed one for family supper, john refused to eat one of his flock. Going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protest. [laughter] he also noted in later years that his first congregation of chickens listened to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. [laughter] john also thought the chickens were just a little more productive. At least they produced eggs, he said. [laughter] from troy to the sitins of nashville, from the freedom rides to the march on freedom summer to sell marks john lewis always looked outwards, not inward. He always thought of others. He always believed in preaching the gospel. In word and in deed. Insisting that hate and fear had to be answered with love and hope. John lewis believed in the lord. He believed in humanity. And he believed in america. Hes been called an american saint. A believer willing to give up everything. Even life itself. To bear witness to the truth that drove him all his life. That we could build a world of peace and justice, harmony and dignity and love. And the first crucial step on that journey was the recognition that all people are born in the image of god and carry a spark of the divine within them. Laura and i were privileged to see that spark in john up close. We worked with him to bring the National Museum of africanamerican history and culture to the washington mall. He was instrumental in the emmett till unsolved civil rights crimes act, which i signed to seek resolution in cases where justice had been too long denied. And we will never forget joining him in selma, alabama, for the 50th anniversary of his march across the Edmund Pettus bridge, where we got to watch president barack obama thank john as one of his heroes. [applause] theres a story in the old scriptures that meant a lot to john. In the hebrew bible, the lord is looking for a prophet, whom shall i send, god wonders, and who will go for us . Isiah answers, hiram i. Send me. John lewis heard that call a long time ago in segregated alabama. And he took up the work of the lord through all his days. His lesson for us is that we must all keep ourselves open to the open to hearing the call of love. The call of service. And the call to sacrifice for others. Listen, john and i had our disagreements, of course. But in the America John Lewis fought for and the america i believe in, differences of opinion are inevitable elements and evidence of democracy in action. [applause] we the people, including congressman and president s congressmen and president s, have can differing views on how to protect our union, while sharing the conviction that our nation, however flawed, is at heart a good and noble one. We live in a better and nobler country today because of john lewis. And his abiding faith in the power of god. In the power of democracy. And in the power of love to lift us all to a higher ground. The story that began in troy isnt ending here today. Nor is the work. John lewis lives forever in his Fathers House and he will live forever in the hearts of americans who act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their god. May the flights of angels see john lewis to his rest and may god bless the country he loved. [applause] [applause] president clinton thank you very much. First, i thank johnmiles and the lewis family and johns incomparable staff for the chance to say a few words about a man i loved for a long time. I am grateful for pastor warnock to say it in ebenezer. A holy place, isnt aified by both the sanctified by both the faith and the works of those who have worshiped here. I thank my friend, reverend bernice king, who stood by my side and gave a fascinating sermon in one of the most challenging periods of my life. I thank president and mrs. Bush, president obama, speaker pelosi, thank you and representative hoyer, and representative who i really thank for, with the stroke of a hand, ending an intrafamily fight within our party. Proving that peace is needed by veryone. Mayor, thank you. You have faced more than a fair share of challenges in these last few months. And you have faced them with candor and dignity and honor. And i thank you for your leadership. [applause] who gotay, for a fellow his start speaking to chickens, johns gotten a pretty finely organized and orchestrated and deeply deserved sendoff this last week. His homegoing has been something to behold. [applause] i think its important that all of us who loved him remember that he was, after all, a human being. A man like all other humans, that he made ngth the most of us when many dont. Born with weaknesses that he worked hard to beat down when many cant. But still a person. It made him more interesting and it made him, in my mind, even greater. 20 years ago we celebrated the 35th anniversary of the selma march and we walked together. Ong with coretta and many others from the movement who are no longer with us. Are grateful for andy young andriev rand jackson and diane and reverend jackson and diane nash and many others who survive. But on that day, i got him to replay for me a story he told me when we first met, back in the 1970s. And i said, you know, i was just an aspiring whatever, southern politician. I hadnt been elected governor. And he was already a legend. So i said, john, whats the closest you ever came to getting killed doing this . And he said, well, once we were at a demonstration and i got knocked down on the ground and people were getting beat up pretty bad and all of a sudden i looked up and there was a man holding a long, heavy piece of pipe and he lifted it and was clearly going to bring it right down into my skull. And at the very last second i turned my neck away and then the crowd pushed him a little bit and a couple seconds later i couldnt believe i was still alive. I think its important to remember that. First, because he was a quick thinker. He was dly, because here on a mission that was bigger than personal ambition. Things like that sometimes just appen, but usually they dont. I think three things happened to john lewis long before we met and became friends, that made im who he was. First, the famous story of john with his cousins and siblings holding his aunts hand, more than a dozens of them running around a little old wooden house as the wind threatened to blow the house off its moorings. Going to the place where the house was rising and all those tiny bodies trying to weigh it down. I think you learn something about the power of working was er, something that more powerful than any instruction. Second, nearly 20 years later, when he was 23, the youngest speaker and the last speaker at the march on washington. When he gave a great speech urging people to take to the streets across the south, to seize the chance to finally end racism. And he listened to people that he knew had the same goal, say, well, we have to be careful how we say this. Because were trying to get converts. Ot more adversaries. Just three years later we he lost the leadership of sncc to stokely carmichael. Because, he said, you know, i think it was a pretty good job for a guy that young, to come from troy, alabama, it must have been painful to lose. A young man as theres some things that you cannot do to hang on to a position, because if you do them, you wont be who you are anymore. And i say, there were two or three years there where the movement went a little bit too far toward stokely. But in the end, john lewis prevailed. We are here today because he had the kind of character he showed when he lost an election. [applause] hen there was bloody sunday. He figured he might get arrested. Nd this is really important. For all the things we believe about john lewis, he had a really good mind and he was always trying to figure out, how can i make the most of every single moment . So, hes getting ready to march from selma to montgomery. He wants to get across the bridge. What do we remember . He made cut quite a strange figure. He had a trench coat and a backpack. Now, young people probably think thats no big deal. But there werent that many backpacks back then. And you never saw anybody in a trench coat looking halfway dressed up with a backpack. But john put an apple, an orange, a tooth brush, toothpaste in the backpack. To take care of his body. Because he figured he would get arrested. And two books, one a book by richard who have stadder on americas political tradition to feed his mind, and one, the auto biography of Thomas Merton. Roman catholic trappist monk. Ho was the son of artists, making an astonishing personal ransformation. Whats a young guy, who is about to get his brains beat out, and planning going to prison doing taking that . I think he figured if Thomas Merton could find his way and keep his faith and believe in the future, john lewis could too. [applause] so we honor our friend for his faith and for living his faith. Which the scripture says is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things unseen hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. John lewis was a walking rebuke , well, we ho thought aint there yet and weve been working a long time. Isnt it time to bag it . He kept moving. He hoped for and imagined and lived and worked and moved for his beloved community. He took a savage beating on more than one day. And he lost that backpack on bloody sunday. Nobody really knows what happened to it. Maybe someday someone will be stricken with conscience and give some of it back. But what it represented never disappeared from john lewis spirit. We honor that memory today because as a child he learned to walk with the wind. To march with others to save a tiny house. Because as a young man he challenged others to join him with love and dignity, to hold americas house down and open the doors of america to all its people. We honor him because in sell marks on the third attempt, john and his comrades showed that sometimes you have to walk into the wind along with with it. As he crossed the bridge and marched into montgomery. But no matter what, john always kept walking to reach the beloved community. He got into a lot of good trouble along the way, but lets not forget he also developed an absolutely uncanny ability to heal troubled waters. When he could have been angry and determined to cancel his adversaries, he tried to get converts instead. He thought the open hand was better than the clenched fist. He lived by the faith and promise of st. Paul. Let us not grow weary in doing good. For in due season we will reap if we do not lose heart. He never lost heart. He fought the good fight. He kept the faith. But we got our last letter today , on the pages of the new york times. Keep moving. It is so fitting. On the day of his service he leaves us our marching orders. Keep moving. 20 years ago, when i came here after the selma march to a big dinner honoring john and lillian had a big les, you afro. [laughter] and it was really pretty. And your daddy was giving you grief about it and i said, john, lets dont get old too soon. I mean, if i had hair like that, id have it down on my shoulders. [laughter] but on that night, i was almost out of time and people were, to be president , people were asking me, well, if you could do one more thing, what it would be . Or what do you wish you had done that you didnt, and all that kind of stuff. And someone asked me that night, because i had many friends in atlanta and i said, if i could st do one thing, if god came to me tonight and said, ok, your times up, got to go home, and im not a genie, im not giving you three wishes, one thing, what would it be . Infect every it was with whatever that john lewis got as a 4yearold kid and took through a lifetime, to keep moving and keep moving in the right direction. And keep bringing other people to move. And to do it without hatred in his heart. With a song to be able to sing and dance. As johns brother, freddie, said in troy, keep moving to the ballot box, even if its a mailbox. And keep moving to the beloved community. John lewis was many things. But he was a man. A friend in sunshine and storm. A friend who would walk the stoney roads that he asked you to walk. That would brave the chastening rods you asked you to be whipped by he asked you to be whipped by. Always keeping his eyes on the prize. Always believing none of us will be free until all of us are equal. I just love that. I always will. And im so grateful that he stayed true to form. Hes gone up yonder and left us with marching orders. I suggest, since hes close enough to god to keep his eye on salute, w and us, we suit up and march on. [applause] wrote to obama james believers, my der it pure joy, brothers and sisters, whenever u face trials of many kinds, ecause you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. But perseverance let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. Is a great honor to be back at Ebenezer Baptist church in the pulpit of its greatest pastor, dr. Martin luther king jr. , to pay my respects to. Erhaps his finest disciple an american whose faith was ested again and again to produce a man of pure joy and unbreakable perseverance. John robert lewis. To those who have spoken, president s bush and clinton,adam speaker, reverend warnock reverend king, johns family, riends, his beloved staff, mayor bottoms, ive come here today because i, like so Many Americans, owe a great debt to john lewis and his forceful ision of freedom. This country is a constant work in progress. Were born with instructions. O form a more perfect union. Explicit in those words is the idea that were imperfect. That what gives each new generation purpose is to take up the unfinished work of the last and carry it further than any might have thought possible. John lewis, first of the freedom riders, head of the student nonviolence coordinating committee, youngest speaker at the march on washington, leader of the march in selma and montgomery, member of congress representing the people of this state and this district for 33 years, mentor to young people, including me at the time. Until his final day on this that, he not only embraced responsibility but he made it his lifes work. Which isnt bad for a boy from troy. John was born into modest means. Hat means he was poor. In the heart of the jim crow south, to parents who picked omebody elses cotton. Apparently he didnt take to farm work. On days when he was supposed to help his brothers and sisters with their labor, hed hide under the porch and make a break for the school bus when it showed up. Is mother, willie may lewis, nurtured that curiosity in this shy, serious child. Once you learn something, she told her son, once you get something inside your head, no one can take it away from you. As a boy, john listened through the door after bedtime. His fathers friends complained about the klan. One sunday as a teenager, he heard dr. King preach on the radio. As a College Student in nnessee he signed up for workshops on the tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience. John lewis was getting something inside his head. An idea he couldnt shake. Took hold of him. That nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience were the means to change laws but also change hearts and change minds. And change nations. Nd change the world. He helped organize the Nashville Campaign in 1960. He and other young men and women sat at a segregated lunch counter. Welldressed, straight backs, refusing to let a milk shake poured on their heads or a cigarette extinguished on their their a foot aimed at let that damage their dignity and sense of purpose. After a few months, the Nashville Campaign achieved the First Successful desegregation of public facility of any major city in the south. For the a taste of jail first, second, third well, several times. [laughter] but he also got a taste of victory. And it consumed him with righteous purpose. And he took the battle deeper into the south. That same year, just weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of interstate bus facilities was unconstitutional, john and Bernard Lafayette bought two tickets, climbed aboard a greyhound, sat up front, and refused to move. This was months before the First Official freedom ride. He was doing a test. Trip was unsanctioned. Few knew what they were up to. And at every stop through the night apparently the angry driver stormed out of the bus and into the bus station. And john and bernard had no idea what he might come back with. R who he might come back with. Nobody was there to protect them. There were no camera crews to that. Sometimes we read about this and we kind of take it for granted, it was ast we act as if inevitable. Imagine the courage of two younger thans age,y other daughter, on their own to challenge an entire infrastructure of oppression. Ohn was only 20 years old. But he pushed all 20 of those years to the center of the table, betting everything, all of it. That his example could challenge centuries of convention and generations of brutal violence and countless daily indignities suffered by africanamericans. Like john the baptist preparing the way. Like those Old Testament prophets speaking truth to kings. John lewis did not hesitate and buses and getting on sitting at lunch counters. Got his mug shot taken again and again. Marched again and again on a mission to change america. Spoke to a quarter Million People at the march on ashington when he was just 23. Helped organize the freedom summer in mississippi when he was just 24. At the ripe old age of 25, john was asked to lead the march from selma to montgomery. He was warned that governor wallace had ordered troopers to use violence. But he and Jose Williams and others led them across that bridge anyway. And weve all seen the film and the footage and the photographs. President clinton mentioned the trench coat. The knapsack. The book to read. The aple to eat. The toothbrush. Apparently jails werent big on uch creature comforts. When you look at those pictures and john looked so young and hes small in stature. Looking every bit that shy, serious child that his mother had raised. Nd yet hes full of purpose. Gods god put perseverance in him. And we know what happened to the marnlers that day. Bones were cracked b