All seven members of Alabama’s U.S. House of Representatives delegation wrote Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday asking her to rename the portion of U.S. Highway 80 that runs between Selma and Montgomery after civil rights icon U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who recently passed away.

Members of Alabama’s congressional delegation want to name the highway the “John R. Lewis Voting Rights Highway” to honor Lewis’ for the “sacrifices” he made to advance civil rights.

“The sacrifices made by John Lewis in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches were essential to advancing civil rights to countless Americans,” wrote the members.

“The heroism he demonstrated on Bloody Sunday in 1965 should not be forgotten and naming the highway in Congressman Lewis’ honor is essential to recognizing this history,” they continued.

The representatives from Alabama were joined by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) in authoring the letter.

Cohen chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and Norton knew Lewis when they were both members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

The legislators want Ivey to rename “the portions of the highway from the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma to the city of Montgomery be named for John Lewis, as this was the 54-mile stretch of highway where the march to Montgomery took place.”

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“As John Lewis has graced us with his life, it is imperative that we promote his legacy to move our nation forward again,” the letter concludes.

The full piece of correspondence can be read here.

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95