People For Member,
Two important things happened this week in the fight to save our democracy and the right to vote.
The House of Representatives passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Act – on a party line vote, with every single Republican voting no.
At the same time that the House was taking up the vote, People For and our DC area members along with the League of Women Voters led a civil disobedience protest event outside the White House. This was just the first in what will be a series of escalating actions demanding that President Biden LEAD in getting desperately needed voting rights legislation, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act, passed in the Senate.
It’s become crystal clear that we need the president to use the awesome powers of his office and his deep knowledge of the Senate (from being part of that body for 36 years) to push for eliminating the filibuster as a barrier to protecting the right to vote.
And the party-line vote against a measure so fundamental – and, until very recently, bipartisan – should be just the latest wake-up call to President Biden that we cannot rely on any Republican in Congress to abandon their party’s assault on democracy in their efforts to steal future elections. The Senate must remove the filibuster and get this done with Democrats alone if that’s what it takes.
We need you, our dedicated members, to join us in this historic fight to save our democracy every step of the way. That’s why I’m asking that you chip in any amount you are able to right now to power this work – we need another $31,000 in member donations now to keep this campaign, including civil disobedience actions, going so we can get this done.
When the League of Women Voters, People For the American Way, and a host of religious and civil rights leaders from around the country show up at your doorstep to demand greater action by you to protect voting rights bills, you clearly at risk of being on the wrong side of history. That’s our message to President Biden.
And speaking of history…
Until it was gutted by far-right majorities on the Supreme Court, the Voting Rights Act was reauthorized and even expanded by Congress repeatedly, always on a bipartisan basis. Those extensions were signed into law by Republican presidents like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Bush effusively praised the bill and efforts to protect the right to vote when he signed it.
Now, even the few “anti-Trump” Republicans who spoke out against Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 election when it fueled the white supremacist insurrection at our Capitol refuse to support legislation aimed at the racist state-legislative attacks on the right to vote that are fueled by the same Big Lie.
A little more history…
Republicans were fine when President Trump demanded that the Senate remove the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, so he and Mitch McConnell could stack our Court with extreme far-right justices. Surely President Biden can make the same demand of this Democratic majority in order to preserve our precious democracy.
The Senate reconvenes in just over 2 weeks and Majority Leader Schumer has committed to making the For the People Act one of the very first orders of business. So we need to make all of our efforts over these next several weeks count like never before.
The good news is that we’re getting their attention.
We had a ton of amazing press coverage of our event and our message, including Rachel Maddow inviting me on her show to discuss our efforts.
The next morning, in the daily White House press briefing, journalist April Ryan (who covered our event) grilled White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on the administration’s seemingly low-priority approach to trying to move this legislation.
Biden has talked some tough talk on the need to protect voting from the attacks we’re seeing in states like Georgia, Arizona, Texas, and others … he gave a speech in Philadelphia calling it the “test of our time” and a “national imperative.”
Now it’s time that he walks the walk. So, in addition to our ongoing effort to keep pressure on senators, we’re going to keep pressing the president to join us in this fight.
But we can only do it with your help.
Please donate whatever you can right now to save democracy >>
Thank you for everything you do and for standing with People For to defend democracy.
Onward,
Ben Jealous, President
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Do not reply directly to this e-mail. Please use [email protected]. Trouble viewing the email? THANK YOU for your support of People For the American Way! This email was sent to [email protected]. Reaching you over email is the best way we have to let you know about the ways you can take action to fight the Right Wing and defend our constitutional rights and values. If you have any thoughts, comments, or criticisms, or if there's a better email address at which to reach you, please let us know>> If you'd like to unsubscribe from our list, you can do that here>> Radical Right extremists are trying to turn back the clock on a century of advances in civil rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights, the social safety net and more… they’re waging an all-out assault on the fundamental pillars of our country – democracy, checks and balances, a fair and independent judicial branch, and core values like fairness, equality, and justice for all. People For is fighting back every day with: ✔ Grassroots organizing But we can’t do this vital work without the robust grassroots financial support of our members and activists.
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