Fix Our Senate: “We need President Biden to make clear what he didn’t today: that our democracy depends on Senate action and that he is personally invested in getting strong voting rights legislation over the finish line.”
REMINDER: Leader Schumer in April: “Failure is not an option...If we wait until much past August then these horrible changes that these Republican legislatures are putting into effect may not be undone in time...so we have to get it done by then."
When asked in March if he agreed with former President Obama calling the filibuster a “Jim Crow relic,” President Biden said “yes.”
Washington, DC — The following is a statement from Eli Zupnick, spokesperson for Fix Our Senate:
“It was great to hear President Biden invoke our country’s long battle for civil and voting rights in his clear and urgent moral case against the egregious attacks on our democracy. But it was disappointing and concerning that he brushed aside the calls of civil rights leaders, close allies like Rep. Clyburn, and millions of people across the country to stand on the right side of history with a forceful push for filibuster reform and Senate passage of strong voting rights legislation.
Experts and civil rights leaders agree that we need legislation to block the attacks on our democracy, not simply administrative actions or a ‘new coalition’ of people once again asked to deal with the consequences of their elected leaders’ failures.
President Biden and his White House have called the passage of voter suppression laws ‘the worst challenge to our democracy since the Civil War,’ and an ‘authoritarian and anti-American’ attempt to disenfranchise voters. He has said that the filibuster is ‘being abused in a giant way’ and expressed support for serious reforms. But for his actions to truly align with his rhetoric he needs to jump into this fight with both feet and push his former colleagues in the Senate to eliminate the filibuster and pass legislation to protect our democracy.
A majority of the Senate is on the record supporting strong voting rights legislation. Even the most vocal defenders of the filibuster have indicated that they see it being abused and are open to reform. But we need President Biden to make clear what he didn’t today: that our democracy depends on Senate action and that he is personally invested in getting strong voting rights legislation over the finish line.”