Stamp honoring late Rep. John Lewis unveiled on House floor

A U.S. Postal Service stamp depicting the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) was unveiled on the House floor Wednesday. 

The stamp bears a photo of Lewis that was taken by a photographer for Time Magazine in 2013. Members of both parties gathered to introduce it. 

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said at the ceremony that the stamp will be issued in July, and the main post office facility in Atlanta will also be named after Lewis in August. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said commemorative stamps honor heroes and mark important moments throughout history and that Lewis is a worthy addition to the list of people who have been honored with them. 

“By adding John Lewis to this collection, we are honoring an extraordinary contribution to the American story and inspiring future generations to follow his lead,” McCarthy said. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said he met Lewis as a first-term congressman in 2013 on the House floor. Lewis told him Washington, D.C., can be a difficult place and “I don’t want you to get into any trouble, unless it’s good trouble,” he recalled. 

Lewis often mentioned “good trouble” throughout his career when referring to actions pushing for political and social change. 

Lewis was a leader of the civil rights movement in the 1960s and led about 600 protesters across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., during a protest that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” He was a close confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. and spoke to the crowd before King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech. 

He was elected to Congress in 1986 and served until his death in 2020. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.