Here’s how we anticipate this week playing out:
- Tomorrow (Tuesday) the Senate will reconvene and begin debate on the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
- Yes, debate will actually occur without Republican obstruction. Senators will make the case for — and against — the bills.
- At some point — perhaps on Thursday, perhaps later — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will call for a vote on the legislation.
- We expect the Republicans to filibuster — which, in a split Senate, will prevent a vote.
- Then, we expect Schumer to make a motion — which can be adopted by a simple majority — for a change in Senate rules to enable a majority up-or-down vote on the bills.
Despite what you may have read or heard, the fate of these critical democracy bills is very much up for grabs.
There are possible rules changes that would get us to a vote and still address concerns that Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have raised about altering the filibuster.
The work that we have done together over the past months and years has brought us to this point, where democracy bills have moved to the verge of passage.
And what we do in the days ahead will help determine whether we get across the finish line.
That is how we should mark this Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Indeed, that’s the directive from MLK’s son, Martin Luther King III, who declares: “No celebration without legislation.”
Says Senator Raphael Warnock, senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King served as co-pastor:
“You cannot remember Dr. King and dismember his legacy at the same time.”
Said Dr. King himself:
“The denial of this sacred right [to vote] is a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition.”
Through his words and deeds, Dr. King gave us the road map for how to proceed:
- Never lose hope in the face of great obstacles.
- Strive always for justice.
- Balance tenacity and the long view with the fierce urgency of now.
- Challenge and confront so-called moderates who, as King said in “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” prefer “a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”
- Act boldly and with love.
So much is at stake in these coming days.
And I am so honored to forge ahead with you.
- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
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