Leahy Leads 47 Senators In Introducing The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

[George II]

Source: Leahy's Senate.gov website

WASHINGTON (WEDNESDAY, July 22, 2020) – Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Wednesday led 47 other senators in introducing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bipartisan bill to restore the landmark Voting Rights Act, end the scourge of minority voter suppression, and help preserve the legacy of John Lewis – one of America’s greatest civil rights heroes.

In 2013, the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision gutted critical voter protections within the Voting Rights Act, crippling the federal government’s ability to prevent discriminatory changes to state voting laws and procedures. In the wake of Shelby County, states across the country unleashed a torrent of voter suppression schemes that have systematically disenfranchised minority voters. These patently discriminatory efforts to restrict access to the ballot box undermine the progress and equality that John Lewis fought hard over the decades to achieve, from his time as a civil rights movement leader to his tenure in Congress. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore and modernize the Voting Rights Act, as well as provide the federal government with other critical tools to combat what has become a full-fledged assault on Americans’ right to vote.

Calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to allow a vote on this vital bipartisan legislation, Leahy said: “John called voting ‘the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union.’ He was right. And that’s why we cannot stand idly by while states engage in flagrant suppression schemes to take this tool away from marginalized communities. The House already passed the companion to the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in December. Now we must do our part. We cannot claim to honor the life of John Lewis if we refuse to carry on his life’s work.”

Introduced by Leahy, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is cosponsored by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Angus King (I-Maine), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.).

The full text of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act can be found here.

Read more: https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/leahy-leads-47-senators-in-introducing-the-john-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-act

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Leahy's full statement:

https://www.leahy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/7.22.20%20FINAL%20PJL%20record%20statement%20on%20John%20Lewis%20VRAA.pdf

[dchill]

1. "...to create a more perfect union."

[diva77]

2. Bipartisan equals 1 rethug + 46 dems

[efhmc]

5. It SHOULD be bipartisan. But the GOP cares too much about their own power to cede any to THE PEOPLE.

[moose65]

10. That was my first thought too

Murkowski is the only R on that list. There are two Independents - Sanders and King.

Where is She-who-will-be-concerned Collins??

[SergeStorms]

16. Wringing her hands, no doubt.

Struggling with her "conscience".

[nilram]

18. Missed it, I really had to search for that bipartisanship

[shockey80]

3. When the democrats take control next January.

Shove this bill right down the Republicans throats and make them gag on it. If it means removing the filibuster to do it, so be it.

[soldierant]

13. Removing the filibuster may be necessary for mutiple reasons anyway.

nt

[alfredo]

20. Failing that, make senators actually filibuster.

Make them stand in the well and yammer on for hours on end. The longer they talk, the less time they have for dialing for dollars.

[TheRickles]

22. Good point, Alfredo. I never understood why the senators weren't forced to, you know, filibuster.

[alfredo]

26. It means they would actually do something

[soldierant]

24. They may have less time for "Dialing for Dollars," but

they also have staff who will do it for them, and the time they waste on the floor of Congress is time that is IMNSHO neede for cleaning up the country - like the judiciary, and other unqualified and incompetent officials mostly in the Executive branch.

Going back to be real filibusters may well be a good idea at some future date.

[alfredo]

27. We have to start somewhere

[George II]

6. Murkowski is on the list.

[List left]

7. LOL I went through the list 3 times and still missed it. Must be an allergy. nt

[George II]

8. It's one of those optical illusions, the "R" is almost invisible.

[mahina]

11. Reads better backwards, Russian style.

[soldierant]

14. And pronounced "ya."

nt

[TruckFump]

12. Glad to see that Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is on this list.

There is no reason, IMO, to NOT be on that list...unless one is a racist, a bigot and a tRump supporter. Oh, wait...all racists and bigots are tRump supporters...no need to add the asshole's name specifically.

[FM123]

9. Yes, this!

"We cannot claim to honor the life of John Lewis if we refuse to carry on his life’s work.”

[RussBLib]

15. One Republican on that list

It illustrates that the GOP simply does not want everyone to vote. That sentiment has prevailed in one way or another, one party or the other, since the founding of this country.

At this time, the GOP is the villain. They need to be slammed hard for it.

[crickets]

17. Mitch McConnell will sit on this bill like a turtle guarding a clutch of eggs.

Good for Leahy and co. for introducing it anyway.

[Hekate]

19. Kick!

[IronLionZion]

21. Lisa Murkowski is the only Republican cosponsor

I bet Susan Collins is very "concerned".

[howardmappel]

23. Republican Senators Up For Re-election

If Susan Collin, Joni Ernst, Tillis, Cory Gardner and Martha McSalley had any political sense, they would join as co-sponsors and insist the Senate vote on the bill now. It would help some independents to consider voting for them (I am ignoring the possibility that the right wing nut jobs may then not vote at all). Thankfully, they are all too stupid and it will have to wait until January when we take the Senate back.

[moose65]

25. So there's actually 48

The article has poor wording. It says “Leahy and 47 other Senators” but fails to mention the total of 48. If Collins joined we’d be one away from 50. Who else will be reasonable and sign on??