I was arrested earlier today at the White House.

Along with hundreds of other democracy activists, I was taking part in a peaceful, nonviolent rally that Public Citizen helped organize.

• We were there to highlight the role President Biden needs to play in ensuring passage of two critical pieces of legislation — the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — that are essential to protecting our democracy.

• In addressing the rally — and within earshot of the Oval Office — I pointed out that on critical issues like catastrophic climate change, obscene income inequality, Big Pharma’s immoral price gouging, systemic racism, money in politics, and the fate of democracy itself, we are at a tipping point.

• We can’t do what must be done on those issues, and many others, if we allow anti-democratic right-wing forces to dismantle our democracy by making it harder for people to vote, by gerrymandering their way to victory, by fomenting myths about election fraud so they can institute racist voter suppression tactics, by giving themselves the power to overturn democratic elections, and by inviting even more billionaire and Big Business money to infect our politics.

• So we need President Biden to do everything in his power — including persuading Democratic senators like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema that the filibuster is *not* more important than democracy itself — to get the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed in Congress and signed into law.

I was processed by the police respectfully and without incident, and I’m back at work.

I’ll keep you posted on what comes next.

In the meantime, I’m hoping you will stand with me and Public Citizen by making a donation today to help us continue fighting for democracy.

Please contribute now if you can.

And thank you for everything you do as part of this shared project called Public Citizen.

For democracy,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
 
 
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