Pelosi suggests filibuster supporters 'dishonor' MLK's legacy on voting rights | TheHill
By: Mike Lillis (TheHill)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
© Associated Press/Jose Luis Magana
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had some sharp words Monday for the senators protecting the filibuster amid the voting rights debate, suggesting they are debasing the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. just as the country is honoring the civil rights legend.
"If you really, truly want to honor Dr. King, don't dishonor him by using a congressional custom as an excuse for protecting our democracy," Pelosi said during a voting rights event at Washington's Union Station on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The Speaker did not name names. But at least two Senate Democrats — Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) — are fiercely opposed to a change in Senate rules that would allow new voting rights protections to clear the upper chamber without any Republican support. Absent that narrow filibuster exemption, the legislation appears doomed when the Senate considers it this week.
Joining Monday with civil rights activists in Washington, including members of King's family, Pelosi urged the senators to reconsider, arguing that Republican-led state voting restrictions pose a threat to democracy that outweighs adherence to arcane Senate rules, even those designed to promote bipartisanship.
"We all want bipartisanship. We all strive for it [and] we have a responsibility to do so. But when we cannot have it, we cannot confine our democracy to what might be bipartisanly possible," Pelosi said.
"So I ask our colleagues in the Senate respectfully for what they think the filibuster means ... to weigh the equities against our democracy," she added. "Because nothing less is at stake than our democracy."
The comments came on a blustery day of commemoration and activism in Washington, where civil rights proponents, including several generations of King's family, marched across Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and urged the Senate holdouts to shed their support for the filibuster for the sake of protecting voting rights.
Appearing with Pelosi, Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) noted that legislation to fight racial discrimination at the polls has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support for decades — until now.
"The voting rights bill passed five times for reauthorization under four Republican presidents. But now we're having a problem; a problem called the filibuster," said Sewell, who represents Selma, Ala., where the late Rep. John Lewis, another civil rights icon, was beaten savagely during a 1965 march for voting rights.
"We cannot let a process stand in the way."
The House last week passed voting rights legislation — named after Lewis — that is designed to empower voters at the polls. It includes provisions to make Election Day a national holiday and require every state to offer both early voting and mail-in balloting.
Manchin and Sinema both support the legislation. But defying the entreaties of President Biden, they oppose the elimination of the filibuster that's allowing Republicans to block it.
In a remarkable floor speech last week, Sinema lamented the Republican efforts to restrict ballot access. But national division, she argued, is an even deeper problem — one that would be made only worse if Democrats scaled back the filibuster.
"These [voting rights] bills help treat the symptoms of the disease, but they do not fully address the disease itself," Sinema said. "And while I continue to support these bills, I will not support separate actions that worsen the underlying disease of division infecting our country."
Such arguments have infuriated members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who view the wave of new state voting restrictions as a thinly veiled effort to disenfranchise minority voters, who tend to vote Democratic. Without congressional action, they warn, those states will undo decades of progress under the Voting Rights Act — changes that could influence outcomes in the coming midterm elections.
"While we no longer have to count how many marbles are in a jar, or recite backwards the Declaration of Independence, today's modern-day voting suppression is no less pernicious," said Sewell. "Long lines; purging of rolls; the list goes on and on."
"We must draw the line in the sand of justice for any member not standing with us on voting rights," echoed Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), the head of the Black Caucus. "They are obstructionists to ... America's promise of freedom and justice. And we must stand against them."
TagsKyrsten SinemaNancy PelosiTerri SewellJoyce BeattyJoe ManchinJohn LewisJoe Biden
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I dont think Nancy Pelosi needs any conservatives advice about how to remember Dr King.
King would be ashamed of what the democrats have done to create the current racial divisiveness and attempt to ruin his legacy
Greg, they ruined his legacy a few months after he was killed when they politicized his movement...
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What Pelosi says us 100% true regarding the gop...
Said nobody... ever.
I guess the Democrats were dishonoring Martin Luther King when they filibustered the attempt to sanction Putin's pipeline the other day, eh Nancy?
“The House last week passed voting rights legislation — named after Lewis“
that is the same legislation that caused dems to suddenly start lying their asses off about their position on voter id. “We’ve never been against voter id.” Lol. What happened to lies being a cardinal sin? Does this mean they’re not fit for office?
Blow it out your ass, lady. The legislation wasn’t conceived, written, or supported to honor Dr. King, so opposing it doesn’t dishonor him. With guilt-inducing skills like that, I bet Gramma Nancy is fun around the holidays.
Translation: If you can’t get the other side to go along with you, blow up tradition and change the rules so you can get what you want without having to negotiate, persuade anyone, or listen to other points of view.
Like we haven’t seen that tactic before.
STFU Nancy. I swear, she is so full of shit.
Our democracy is doing just fine, thank you very much for nothing. Stop trying to scare people into believing that someone is trying to keep them from voting. You’d think people would grow tired of this shit.
What is there to support? Racial discrimination at the polls isn’t actually a problem requiring comprehensive correction by Congress. Every election, more people of color vote than did before. These are people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds. Voting is expanding, not declining - unless you mean white people.
Most of the growth in the electorate since 2000 has come from Hispanic, Black and Asian eligible voters
Yeah, it’s a hell of a story, too, and God bless him. One thing, though: It’s not 1965 anymore. That was 57 years ago and a shit ton has changed since then. Modern day activists and politicians need to stop pretending they are John Lewis or MLK (or whatever civil rights hero you want to invoke) and that it’s still 1965. People today are not remotely fighting the same fight. This roleplay is ridiculous.
That's her job.
Well said
Fear gets votes. Americans are reliably stupid that way.
I was just going to vote your comment up and move on, but this needed repeating and emphasis.