Hello,

Today is Juneteenth -- a day for recommitting to the centuries-long, ongoing fight for full equality for Black Americans.

On June 19, 1865, enslaved people crowded around the steps of Reedy Chapel in Galveston, Texas to learn that they were finally free. Since then, communities across the country have gathered on the anniversary of that event to honor Black Americans’ fight for freedom -- which continues to this day -- and to register voters.

Juneteenth voter registration drives reflect a simple truth: Freedom isn’t freedom without the right to vote. And Black Americans have been denied the right to vote for generations. After the Civil War, literacy tests, poll taxes, voter purges and even violence were used to keep Black citizens from voting. Even after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, efforts to suppress their votes persisted -- and they persist still today.

Some Republicans are now perpetuating the lie that voting by mail will result in voter fraud. They know that many Americans will not want to go to crowded polling places on Election Day during the ongoing pandemic, which has disproportionately affected the Black community. So if they can eliminate the option of voting by mail, they can effectively suppress millions of votes.

We must guarantee every American the right to vote by mail. But we can’t stop there. We need to stop discrimination at the ballot box by restoring the Voting Rights Act. We need to make same-day registration the law of the land. We need to pass my bill to automatically register every young person to vote when they turn 18.

On this Juneteenth let’s remember that freedom -- that ideal promised to those gathered in Galveston, all those years ago -- remains an ideal in progress. Let’s recommit to that ideal by making sure that all Americans are able to safely vote this November.

Thank you so much,

Amy