WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, on Monday delivered remarks at events around Ohio to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and to engage with students participating in a day of service.

In his remarks, Brown described how King challenged a nation to live up to its own ideals of equality. Brown’s remarks alluded to King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” touched on his understanding that workers’ rights are civil rights, and called for barriers standing in the way of voter reform legislation to be stricken down.

Brown participated in 11 events across Ohio.

“The right to vote — and to have that vote count — is the right that makes all the others possible,” Brown said. “And it’s under assault with a ferocity we have not seen since Dr. King and John Lewis marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. These efforts are no longer just about who votes — they’re about which votes get counted, and who does the counting. We cannot allow politicians in state legislatures to dismantle the democracy that Dr. King and so many others risked their lives to make real for everyone.”