![One year after John Lewis' death, voting rights bills face bleak future in Congress](https://cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2020/09/29/e6eaaf3d-e755-481b-9900-4d37d8bd8c36/thumbnail/1200x630/e34655a47c7209c98602d8468ddbcd81/john-lewis.jpg)
One year after John Lewis' death, voting rights bills face bleak future in Congress
CBSN
Congressman John Lewis' death last year galvanized many Democrats to honor the memory of the civil rights icon by working to pass comprehensive voting rights legislation, and inspired some to endorse eliminating the filibuster to allow these measures to be approved by a simple majority.
During his eulogy at Lewis' funeral, former President Obama said it was necessary to end the filibuster, calling it a "Jim Crow relic." While the use of the filibuster long predates the Jim Crow laws of the 20th century, it was used extensively by senators from the South to block civil rights legislation. "You want to honor John? Let's honor him by revitalizing the law that he was willing to die for," Mr. Obama said, referring to the Voting Rights Act. As a young civil rights activist, Lewis was beaten and nearly killed while leading a peaceful march for voting rights across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965.![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250214202746.jpg)
Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year's Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a "durable" peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.
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Washington — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who hadn't yet gained civil service protection - potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
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It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.