Source: Tom Williams / Getty
Days after, President Joe Biden called for a Senate rule change to make way for the passage of voting rights legislation, and the White House is pushing for action. As the Senate Democratic caucus continues negotiations over a possible voting rights exception to the filibuster, White House Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond said Senators straddling the fence need to remember that voting rights are the bedrock of democracy.
“The rules are a means to an end,” Richmond said. “The end here is voting rights in constitutional and free and fair elections, and we should not let a Senate rule that was rarely used for 100 years.
He called this a defining moment in American history. As of Thursday, it’s unclear where the Senate Democratic caucus will fall on a vote for the rule change, with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema still publicly expressing opposition to even a narrow carve-out for voting rights.
Combined into one bill, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act passed the House along party lines Thursday with no Republicans joining in support. Once again, the fate of voting rights in America rests with the Senate.
Before losing the majority, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to allow an earlier iteration of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to be brought to the floor. After Rep. John Lewis passed away, McConnell claimed to honor and respect Lewis but blocked voting rights legislation.
In the minority position, McConnell is pushing members of his party to toe the line and not support any Democratic legislation, including voting rights, despite voting to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act in 2006.
Opposition to a carve-out in favor of voting rights is grounded in a false narrative of institutional honor and rules as partisan attacks on democracy ramp up across the country. As an MSNBC article recently noted, “Senators are entitled to their own opinions, but they’re not entitled to just make up historical details that don’t exist.”
For his part, Manchin has previously said he wants to maintain the 232-year tradition of the Senate intact, except the filibuster did not exist when the Senate was first created. Also, prioritizing an antiquated system that fails to meet the needs and values of the American people raises questions about what Manchin and Sinema hope to accomplish with their opposition.
“Whose side do you want to be on the side of George Wallace, Connor and Jeff Davis, or you want to be on the side of Martin Luther King, John Lewis and Abraham Lincoln,” “Richmond said. “his one of those moments where people will judge your legacy based on it.” Unlike the bipartisan infrastructure plan, he said that no Republicans are willing to protect the Democratic process.
“The President has never shied away from his desire to compromise,” “Richmond said. “He’s never shied away from his desire to do things in a bipartisan manner. But you have to have people on the other side that are willing to come to the table. And so far, we’ve not seen many Republicans that are willing to display the courage necessary to come forward.”
Recalling the passage of the 15th Amendment during a press conference Thursday, Rep. Jim Clyburn explained that formerly enslaved Black people got the right to vote by a straight party-line vote.
While much of the focus has been on Manchin and Sinema, reports this week suggests SSinema’sArizona colleague Sen. Mark Kelly is undecided on where he stands on the rule change. Some perceive preserving the filibuster as critical to re-election despite the overwhelming support for action on voting rights.
“I’ll just say to those Senators that the election or job they save may be their own,” Richmond said. “It’s that important to make sure people can come out and vote.”
Sen. Angus King has favored the proposed Senate rule change to pass needed voting rights legislation. An independent who caucuses at times with Democrats, King has previously expressed his reluctance to change the filibuster but is now on board with a rule change to pass voting rights legislation.
“It’s ironic in the extreme to enshrine the principle of bipartisanship here in the Senate to the extent that we can’t repair the damage done to the democracy by 100% partisan legislatures around the state,” King said. “I’m all for bipartisanship, but in this situation, that doesn’t seem to be in the offing.”
The last time the Voting Rights Act was authorized, 16 Republican Senators, including McConnell, voted for its passage. Republicans who supported subverting democracy in favor of Trump’s big lie are now trying to cry foul in the face of legislation to correct gaps in existing law and provide greater uniformity in federal elections. But in 2017, Republicans used a filibuster rule change to move forward the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
“The Senate owes it to all Americans, and especially Black and brown communities, to pass #votingrights legislation today,” tweeted Taifa Butler, president of the think-and-do-tank Demos. “It is the only way to ensure a just, inclusive multiracial democracy in America. The right to vote should not be partisan. It is American.”
SEE ALSO:
Biden Finally Calls For Senate Filibuster Rule Change To Pass Voting Rights Legislation
President Biden Finally Gets Serious About Voting Rights, Hopefully IIt’sNot Too Late.
"You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas."
#OTD in 1924, "Fighting Shirley" Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress, was born in Brooklyn.
📷 With Rosa Parks, c. 1968. @librarycongress pic.twitter.com/VWmLNOH34Z
On #WomensEqualityDay, reflecting on this quote from my mentor & shero, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. pic.twitter.com/8MHouMec0y
"Service is the rent you pay for room on this earth." — Shirley Chisholm #GiraffeHeroes #StickYourNeckOut #Quotes pic.twitter.com/XTk82d6jfd
I always loved this Shirley Chisholm quote: “I am literally and figuratively a dark horse.” https://t.co/lNsiKYh2L7
Shirley Chisholm Quote pic.twitter.com/Ffapsb92sC
"I am, and always will be a catalyst for change." -Shirley Chisholm #BlackHistoryMonth #quote #trailblazer pic.twitter.com/NqlbRj7vFj
Our quote today is from the American politician and author Shirley Chisholm pic.twitter.com/3vACrLVNoN
“Tremendous amounts of talent are lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt.” A quote from Shirley Chisholm, presented by Rachel Thomas, Co-Founder and President of @LeanInOrg 👊💥 #RaiseYourVoice 👉 https://t.co/oh1F3Ujeli pic.twitter.com/UoOD2nEtsL
"The one thing you've got going is your one vote." – Shirley Chisholm #ElectionDay #ElectionEve #VoteTuesday pic.twitter.com/WpUaRe8ESg
#ShirleyChisholm . . . words of wisdom #quotes #shirleychisholmculturalinstitute #GlobalGoals #StayWoke pic.twitter.com/1I8GXXocEU
Source: Pictorial Parade / Getty UPDATED: 6:45 a.m. ET, Nov. 30, 2021 — On this day 97 years ago, a political and womanist icon was born. Shirley Chisholm went on to make history in 1968, becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress. At only 43 years old, she represented New York’s 12th Congressional District, an office she held for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1972, she became the first African American major-party candidate to run for president of the United States and was also the first woman to ever run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Chisholm was a fearless fighter for education, voting rights, equality and was famously “unbought and unbossed.” https://twitter.com/noladt/status/1465537639587753992?s=20 The trailblazing Black legislator was also widely seen as having helped pave the way for women politicians like Hillary Clinton. Back in 2016, Dr. E. Faye Williams, president and CEO of National Congress of Black Women, and filmmaker Shola Lynch, producer of the documentary, “Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed,” joined Roland Martin on “NewsOne Now” to discuss Clinton’s becoming the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party and the role Chisholm played in helping to make the political milestone possible decades earlier. https://twitter.com/srhalljoe/status/1465505777943207941?s=20 Dr. Williams explained that Chisholm was a “catalyst for change,” and when she looks at what is happening with the Democratic Party and“Hillary Clinton cracking that glass ceiling,” she thought of Chisholm. Dr. Williams said, “It was Shirley Chisholm who brought us to where we are. First of all, she paved the way for President Obama as well as (for) Hillary Clinton. “Whatever Hillary Clinton is doing today, she can thank Shirley Chisholm for that.” Lynch told Martin what often gets lost about Chisholm’s campaign is her “political strategy.” According to Lynch, Chisholm understood leverage and “did not wait her turn.” https://twitter.com/Mark_Kido/status/1465613829895770116?s=20 “She acted on her conscience and she was a very progressive candidate –she was unbought and unbossed,” added Lynch. The filmmaker explained that Chisholm secured as many delegates as possible to use as leverage prior to the ’72 convention and said there “was a scramble because there was no frontrunner” at the time. Chisholm was able to fund her presidential campaign primarily with her savings as a school teacher; a feat that seems unfathomable in this day and age, when candidates raise hundreds of millions of dollars to run for public office. https://twitter.com/srhalljoe/status/1465505723236995082?s=20 Lynch then shared with viewers what she would like them to remember: “When you have good ideas, you need to follow through, and if somebody tells you it’s not your turn, but you’re sure you’re right – then you got to be unbought and unbossed.” Scroll down to keep reading and find some of Shirley Chisholm’s most inspirational quotes.
White House Presses Senate Holdouts On Filibuster Rule Change As John Lewis Voting Rights Bill Hangs In The Balance was originally published on newsone.com
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