WASHINGTON, DC —Today, the Senate held a hearing on the For the People Act (S.1), the most significant piece of democracy reform legislation in decades. 

Rev. and Prof Stephany Spaulding, Director of Truth and Conciliation and Just Democracy Coalition Member, issued the following statement in response:

“This hearing makes clear what we’ve always known: Senate Democrats are more committed to expanding voting rights, while Republicans are committed to limiting them. At this moment Republicans are focused on suppressing Black and Brown communities and taking their voting rights away. It shouldn’t be easier to buy bullets than it is to cast a ballot. The only way to pass the For the People Act and ensure progress is to eliminate the filibuster — a Jim Crow relic that has blocked civil rights bills for decades.

This Senate action comes right on the heels of a House hearing on D.C. statehood earlier in the week, which showed the powerful momentum for D.C. statehood. As we celebrate our allies in the Senate for their work to develop a momentous voting rights bill, we also renew our call to enfranchise Black and Brown communities in D.C. and make statehood part of this historic moment.”

Between both hearings this week, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser made the following comment on the Reid Out: “712,000 tax-paying Americans don't have a voting representative in Congress and no senators. That is in our view a civil rights and voting rights issue that should be undertaken with H.R. 1." Just Democracy joins her call to include D.C. statehood in the Senate’s push for civil rights legislation.

# # #

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justdemocracy/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/justdemocracy
Website: https://www.justdemocracy.us