During a press conference on Wednesday, Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) spoke about protecting voting rights.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, everyone.
00:05I'm Congresswoman Terri Sewell.
00:07I proudly represent Alabama's 7th Congressional District, which includes the historic cities
00:12of Birmingham, Montgomery, and my hometown of Selma, Alabama.
00:16I'm honored to be joined by House Democratic leadership, as well as members of the Tri-Caucus,
00:21as we draw attention to the need for federal legislation to protect voting rights.
00:27It was 11 years ago when the Supreme Court's conservative majority got at the heart of
00:33the Voting Rights Act of 1965, eliminating voter protections and removing federal oversight
00:41from states with a proven track record of voter discrimination.
00:45The consequences of the Shelby decision have been clear and devastating.
00:51Long lines at the polling stations, strict ID requirements, closed polling stations in
00:58communities of color without notice, bans on early voting and absentee voting, and purging
01:05of voter rolls.
01:07The list goes on and on.
01:09Since the Shelby decision, we have seen 31 states institute at least 103 new laws to
01:17restrict voting access.
01:20And it is no surprise that those laws disproportionately target black and minority voters.
01:26In my home state of Alabama, lawmakers have made it a felon to assist someone with an
01:32absentee ballot.
01:35These laws may not be new.
01:37They are not new.
01:38They are part of a borrowed old playbook.
01:42And they're having devastating effects on African American communities and minority
01:46voters all across America.
01:48While black voters may not need to count the number of jelly beans in a jar, modern-day
01:53barriers to voting are just as pernicious as the poll tax and literacy test of the past.
02:01In the Shelby decision, the Supreme Court was clear that the onus was on Congress to
02:05come up with a modern-day formula to determine which states should be subject to federal
02:11oversight.
02:13While I'm proud to say that we did, I'm proud to say that we have done just that.
02:17And we've called it after our beloved former colleague, John Lewis.
02:24Working together with our nation's premier civil rights and voting rights organizations,
02:28we've come up with a modern-day formula to ensure states and localities with a recent
02:33history of voter discrimination are prohibited from restricting voting access.
02:39We even named it after our former colleague, John Lewis.
02:42The John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which we introduced for the fifth time
02:48in September, would protect the right of every American to vote.
02:53But despite our efforts, our colleagues across the aisles have continued to block us from
02:57even considering the bill.
03:00The fact that the Voting Rights Act has become a partisan issue is frankly baffling to me.
03:06You see, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been reauthorized five times since 1965 and
03:12three times under Republican presidents.
03:16Most recently, in 2006, George W. Bush signed the Voting Rights Reauthorization Act.
03:24Yet instead of working with us to restore its protections, our Republican colleagues
03:29have instead chosen to spread disinformation and sow seeds of doubt about the integrity
03:35of our elections.
03:37We as elected officials should be working to ensure that all Americans are able to vote,
03:43instead of picking and choosing those who will have access to the ballot box.
03:47You see, this fight is very personal to me.
03:50I grew up in Selma, Alabama, and representing that historic city and what happened on that
03:58bridge over almost 60 years ago is very personal to me.
04:03We know that John Lewis was bludgeoned on a bridge for the equal right of all Americans
04:09to vote.
04:10We also know that it'll be 60 years next year.
04:15Sixty years after those foot soldiers were bludgeoned on the bridge, their cause has
04:20become our cause, too.
04:22Who would have ever thought that progress would be so backwards that we would be having
04:28the same fight that they had 60 years ago?
04:32You know, it was 60 years ago that they prayed, they protested, they bled, and some even died
04:37for the right to vote.
04:38It was their sacrifices that gave us the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
04:42And I dare say that the Voting Rights Act of 1965, along with the Civil Rights Act of
04:471964, are crown jewels of the civil rights and voting rights movement.
04:52Those foot soldiers were ordinary Americans who had the audacity to make this nation live
04:57up to its highest ideals of equality and justice for all.
05:02Their legacy, their legacy of courage and sacrifice, is what we stand on today.
05:09Never did I think that the cause for which they sacrificed would become our cause.
05:13It goes to show that progress is elusive, and every generation must hold on to the progress
05:19of the past and try to work to advance it.
05:23Our vote is our voice, and our democracy is strongest when every American is able to
05:28make their voices heard at the ballot box.
05:32We're not asking anyone to put their lives on the line.
05:35We're simply asking that our Republican colleagues have the political courage to do what is right.
05:41I want to thank my colleagues for joining me today.