With Tears, Congress Honors Lewis, ‘Conscience Of The House’

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., is seen in his office on Capitol Hill.

Susan Walsh, File / Associated Press

The House on Monday stood for an emotional moment of silence for Georgia Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights icon who died last week from pancreatic cancer.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who presided, remembered Lewis as “the conscience of the House.” Several people on the dais wept as the House stood in silence, heads bowed. When Pelosi tried to move on, those gathered interrupted with sustained applause.

“Our hero, our colleague, our brother, our friend received and answered his final summons from God almighty,” said Rep. Sanford Bishop, the dean of the Georgia delegation.