Local News Across the Country Highlights Biden-Harris Leadership on Voting Rights
January 12, 2022
Yesterday in Atlanta, President Biden and Vice President Harris made a powerful case for Congress’ moral responsibility to defend Americans’ fundamental right to vote. Noting that 16 current Republican senators previously supported an extension of the Voting Rights Act, the President and Vice President called on Congress to pass voting rights legislation that prevent voter suppression, expand access to vote-by-mail and drop boxes, and more, in the face of unprecedented attacks from state-level Republican officials.
See what Americans are reading this morning about President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’ leadership on voting rights – from Atlanta to Las Vegas.
| In Georgia: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Biden seeks changes to Senate rules to protect voting rights Invoking the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., President Joe Biden called for changing U.S. Senate rules to pass voting rights legislation. Joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden — on the campus of Morehouse College — also called on Congress to pass election legislation in a passionate speech about protecting voting rights. “Today, I’m making it clear: protect our democracy,” the president said. “I support changing our Senate rules whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a minority of senators from blocking action on voting rights.” 11Alive: ‘The threat to our democracy is so grave’ | Biden pushes for voting rights bill, backs getting rid of filibuster while in Atlanta After visiting two historical sites in Atlanta, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris made their way to the Atlanta University Center Consortium on the grounds of Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College to speak about voting legislation. Both Harris and Biden called the city the “cradle of the Civil Rights [Movement]” as they pushed for the passing of The Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, both aimed at passing a broad range of voting protections and policies. WSB-TV (Associated Press): Biden comes to Georgia to take aim at voting laws, urges Senate to act on voting rights President Joe Biden took aim at Georgia’s election integrity laws and other laws like it passed by Republican legislatures around the country as he spoke at the Atlanta University Center Tuesday evening. Biden called those laws undemocratic. “I’m tired of being quiet!” he said, emphatically pounding the podium. “I will not yield. I will not flinch,” in the effort to protect democracy. Atlanta CW69: Biden, Harris Visit Atlanta To Lobby For Voting Rights U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris arrive to speak to a crowd at the Atlanta University Center Consortium, part of both Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University on January 11, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Biden and Harris delivered remarks on voting rights legislation. Georgia has been a focus point for voting legislation after the state voted Democratic for the first time in almost 30 years in the 2020 election. As a result, the Georgia House passed House Bill 531 to limit voting hours, drop boxes, and require a government ID when voting by mail. WJCL: President Joe Biden visits Georgia to push for passage of federal voting rights legislation Georgia took center stage on Tuesday as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris visited Atlanta to discuss voting rights. During their national address, President Biden and Vice President Harris pushed for the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the Voting Rights Advancement Act. They said this legislation would “protect the constitutional right to vote.” In Massachusetts: MassLive: ‘We want the people to rule’: President Joe Biden urges changes to filibuster to protect voting rights from ‘totalitarian’ measures Biden, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, made the case for changing or eliminating the U.S. Senate’s filibuster rule to let voting rights legislation advance in a simple majority vote. The Democrats spoke in what Biden called the “cradle of the civil rights movement,” at Atlanta University Center Consortium, a group of historically Black colleges and universities, making clear they agree with political scientists and election experts who warn the GOP-led state efforts threaten American democracy. In California: Los Angeles Times: President Biden urges filibuster changes to protect voting rights Decrying a spate of new restrictive voting laws Republicans enacted last year in 19 states, including Georgia, Biden blasted Republicans still in thrall to a “defeated former president” and his effort “to disenfranchise anyone who votes against him.” In Iowa: Iowa Capital Dispatch: Biden pitches Senate rule change to safeguard voting rights “I think the threat to our democracy is so great that we must find a way to pass this voting rights bill,” Biden said. “Debate them, vote, let the majority prevail and if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules including getting rid of the filibuster [for this].” In Florida: Florida Phoenix: DeSantis calls for more election ‘guardrails’; Biden says it is voting rights that need protection In a very different speech Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced in Atlanta that he now supports a change in Senate rules to amend the filibuster that has blocked a vote on new federal voting-rights legislation. The “Freedom To Vote Act” adopted in the U.S. House and awaiting approval in the U.S. Senate would unravel the toughest of voting restrictions sweeping red states across the nation. “To protect our democracy, I support changing our Senate rules, whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a minority of senators from blocking action on voting rights,” Biden said in the speech. “When it comes to majority rule, the majority should rule in the United States Senate.” |
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