President Biden Reaffirmed Commitment To Protecting Voting Rights, Black Voting Power — Now We Need A Strategy
Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown, co-founders of Black Voters Matter, issued this statement following President Biden’s remarks on the nationwide assault on voting rights: “In his remarks today, President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to restoring voting rights and protecting Black voting power. But for a nation that has gone to war and risked the lives [...]
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Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown, co-founders of Black Voters Matter, issued this statement following President Biden’s remarks on the nationwide assault on voting rights:
“In his remarks today, President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to restoring voting rights and protecting Black voting power. But for a nation that has gone to war and risked the lives of Americans for democracy abroad, a commitment to protecting voting rights is not enough. We need a strategy.
“Despite all the President’s pleading to Congress, the courts, and local election officials, the White House can move legislation — when it wants to. Within weeks of his inauguration, Biden ushered a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package through Congress with bipartisan support. And just a few weeks ago, he brokered a similar deal on infrastructure spending. But when it comes to the solutions for what the President himself has described as an ‘apocalyptic attack’ on voting rights — solutions like the For the People Act and filibuster reform, which have the support of more than two-thirds of voters — the Biden administration is acting as if its hands are tied. In fact, the President didn’t mention the filibuster once in his twenty-minute remarks, despite the massive threat it poses to voting rights and other key legislation.
“Statehouses across the nation are rushing proposals to restrict ballot access, but the President is refusing to make voting rights a priority. And because Black communities are disproportionately impacted by voter suppression, these bills represent a widespread attack on Black voting power. Black voters catapulted President Biden to victory during last year’s elections and he must use every tool at his disposal — even if it means ending the Senate filibuster altogether — to protect the right to vote and get HR1 and HR4 through Congress.”
