WASHINGTON, July 3 (UPI) -- John Kerry interrupted a campaign swing through rural towns in the upper Midwest Saturday to pay tribute to the pioneers of the civil rights movement.
Kerry, who used the Democrats' weekly radio address to rip President Bush on education and health, hailed the passage 40 years ago of the Civil Rights Bill.
"We should remember that for every Bull Connor or George Wallace standing in the schoolhouse door, there were scores of people like Viola Liuozzo, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, who along with James Chaney, gave their lives working to clear the path to freedom," Kerry said.
He said the civil rights movement had removed barriers of hate that kept U.S. residents from "drinking at the same water fountain or attending the same school," but there was more to do.
Said Kerry: "Our work is not yet done when the current administration refuses to back up its promise of quality education with funding that would truly leave no child behind.
"Our work is not yet done when in the richest nation on earth, 44 million Americans don't have health insurance and people of color are significantly more likely to suffer and die from diseases like cancer and AIDS and diabetes."
