Tag Archives: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

Newswire: Biden gets applause for Voting Rights Speech and call to remove flibuster, but was it all too late?

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President Biden speaking at Atlanta University

By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – President Joseph Biden is winning wide applause among the national civil rights community for his Atlanta speech last week finally pushing the Senate to move on voting rights and for the controversial filibuster to be removed.

But most also say there must now be action by the Biden Administration and the Senate to pass protection for the Voting Rights Act. “I believe President Biden set the right tone on voting rights today, and I thank him for paying homage to the life’s work of John R. Lewis who advised us that, ‘Sometimes you have to not just dream about what could be—you get out and push, and you pull, and you preach. And you create a climate and environment to get those in high places, to get men and women of goodwill in power to act,’” said House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn in a statement on President Biden’s speech in Atlanta on voting rights. Clyburn is the highest-ranking Black member of Congress.

Civil rights leaders, many of whom attended the Biden speech, also praised the speech but said Biden hasn’t done nearly enough to get the voting rights bills passed that would essentially override new laws in states across the nation that aim to diminish voting rights.

“So far, Republican legislators in 19 states have passed 34 bills that restrict access to voting for young, Black, Hispanic, Asian, disabled, and elderly Americans. These cynical bills are aimed at making it more difficult to vote – deleting voter registrations, restricting access to the ballot box, and limiting access to vote by mail. These bills are rooted in partisanship and racism, and we cannot sit idly and watch as local, state, and frankly, U.S. Senators strip us of our most sacred right,” wrote National Urban League President/CEO Marc Morial. “All Senators of all parties have a duty to vote for legislation that will protect the right to vote for all Americans. They must pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and Freedom to Vote Act. And as the President said, if it takes amending the Senate rules to limit the weaponization of filibuster to do it, so be it.”

The two laws before the Senate, both of which have broad public support, are key. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would make any voting rule illegal if it discriminates on the basis of race, language or ethnicity. It would also empower voters’ to challenge discriminatory laws, according to PublicDemocracyAmerica.org. Secondly, the Freedom to Vote Act (S. 2747) “would solidify comprehensive voter protections, including a minimum of 15 days for early voting, mail-in ballots, and making Election Day a national holiday. The bill would set up national standards for voter identification. The bill would also establish protections for election officials against intimidation and partisan interference. To further ensure election integrity, the Freedom to Vote Act would require states to use voting systems with a verifiable paper trail and establish national standards for voter identification,” according to PublicDemocracyAmerica.org.

But even more than the two voting rights bills, civil rights advocates want to end the filibuster. In a nutshell, a filibuster is a political strategy in which one or more members of Congress speak at length on a proposed legislation for the sole purpose of delaying a vote. The filibuster was commonly used during the civil rights movement to stop civil rights legislation from moving forward.

Speaking at the Atlanta University Center Consortium with HBCU students behind him, Biden called for Senators to back the end to the filibuster as is. “I believe that the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills, debate them, vote,” Biden said. “Let the majority prevail,” he said to applause. “And if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster for this,” he said to repeated applause. “The filibuster has been weaponized and abused,” he said.

Two Democratic Senators, Joe Mansion of West Virginia and Sinema of Arizona have stated that although they support voting rights, they are opposed to changing the Senate filibuster rules to make passage of these critical bills posuble.

Morial concluded, “We applaud the Biden-Harris administration for today’s speech. But now we all have a responsibility to keep up the pressure on all Senators to preserve and protect the right to vote by immediately passing voting rights legislation.”

Newswire: Rep. Sewell introduces H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965

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Terri Sewell

  Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) introduced H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. This critical legislation would restore key protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) which were gutted by the Supreme Court in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision and more recently in the 2021 Brnovich v. DNC decision. The bill aims to protect voters from discrimination by restoring and strengthening the protections of the VRA. The introduction of H.R. 4 comes amid the most coordinated state-level effort to restrict the right to vote in generations and follows a months-long investigation by the House Committee on Administration and House Committee on the Judiciary into the status of voting rights in America. The bill enjoys support from over 190 original co-sponsors including all members of House Democratic leadership. The House is expected to vote on H.R. 4 next week.   “The right to vote is the most sacred and fundamental right we enjoy as American citizens and one that the Foot Soldiers fought, bled, and died for in my hometown of Selma, Alabama,” said Rep. Sewell. “Today, old battles have become new again as we face the most pernicious assault on the right to vote in generations. It’s clear: federal oversight is urgently needed. With the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, we’re standing up and fighting back. By preventing states with a recent history of voter discrimination from restricting the right to vote, this bill restores the full promise of our democracy and advances the legacy of those brave Foot Soldiers like John Lewis who dedicated their lives for the sacred right to vote. I’m proud to be introducing this bill today and look forward to its swift passage. Our democracy is at stake.”   For decades, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) ensured equal access to the ballot box for Black and minority voters by requiring states and localities with a history of voter discrimination—as determined in Section 4—to obtain pre-clearance from the Department of Justice before making changes to their voting laws. However, in its infamous 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority struck down Section 4, arguing that voter discrimination was an issue of the past and that the formula used to determine which states and localities were subject to preclearance was outdated.   On July 1, 2021, in its decision in Brnovich v. DNC, the Supreme Court struck another devastating blow to the VRA, upholding Arizona’s voting laws targeting Latino and other minority voters and making it more difficult for parties to challenge racially discriminatory voting laws under Section 2.    Beginning in April, the House Committee on Administration Subcommittee on Elections held a series of investigatory hearings and collected numerous reports and documents regarding the status of voting rights in America. The hearings culminated in a report which the Committee released on Friday, August 6, detailing modern-day efforts to restrict the right to vote. Meanwhile, the House Committee on the Judiciary also held hearings on the need to protect the right to vote.   Informed by these findings, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore protections of the VRA gutted by the Supreme Court. It would once again prohibit states and localities with a recent history of voter discrimination from restricting the right to vote by including an updated formula for determining which states and localities are subject to federal oversight. It would also amend Section 2 of the VRA to eliminate the heightened standard for challenging voter discrimination that the Supreme Court created in its decision in Brnovich v. DNC.   The introduction of H.R. 4 comes amid the most coordinated state-level effort to restrict the right to vote in generations. Driven by the Big Lie, 18 states have enacted at least 30 new restrictive, anti-voter laws just this year.   A previous version of H.R. 4 passed in the House of Representatives during the 116th Congress by a vote of 228-187, but stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate. Last year, the bill was renamed the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to honor the legacy of civil rights icon and former Congressman John Robert Lewis who passed away on July 17, 2020.   “The House today is taking a momentous step to secure the sacred right to vote for generations to come,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “With the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, proudly introduced today by Congresswoman Terri Sewell alongside Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, Democrats are fighting back against an anti-democratic tide, protecting access to the ballot box for every American and carrying on the cause to which our beloved John Lewis devoted his entire life.  When the House returns on August 23rd, Democrats plan to pass H.R. 4 – and we hope it can secure the bipartisan support this vital legislation deserves.”   The House is expected to vote on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act next week.