WASHINGTON – Senator Mitch McConnell went to the Senate Monday to mourn the death of Representative John Lewis, a civil rights icon whom the Republican leader called a “monumental figure” who made “huge personal sacrifices to help our nation overcome the sin of racism. ” . “
While many Democrats welcomed the tribute, they immediately pressed for more than reverent words: if McConnell and Republicans really wanted to honor Lewis, they argued, they should agree to restore the voting rights protections that were the cause of his life. , which were stripped by the Supreme Court seven years ago.
The death of Mr. Lewis, who was brutally beaten in 1965 while protesting for voting rights in Selma, Alabama, has renewed the drive of Democrats and civil rights activists to re-authorize the Voting Rights Act, a measure that Republicans have strongly opposed, and name it in his honor.
“The law he almost died for has been gutted by the Supreme Court,” Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat and minority leader, said in the Senate Monday. “Congress has the power to restore it. But only one of the parties seems interested in doing it. ”
Since the 2013 Supreme Court struck down key aspects of the Voting Rights Act, allowing states, primarily in the South, to change their electoral laws without prior federal approval, Democrats and electoral rights advocates have been trying to persuade Congress to pass legislation to restore protections for black voters at the polls.
“Mitch McConnell just spoke in the Senate about John Lewis (and quoted Dr. King), but said nothing about restoring the Voting Rights Act or taking steps to honor his legacy,” Vanita Gupta, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, he wrote on Twitter.
At the heart of the dispute is the question of whether black voters continue to face barriers to voting in states with a history of discrimination. Most Republicans, including McConnell, argue that such obstacles no longer exist. But Democrats and civil rights advocates argue that while most open discrimination, such as electoral taxes and literacy tests, is gone, it has been replaced by stricter voting laws and other tactics that have the effect of depriving black voters.
Ms Gupta’s organization says it identified 1,688 polling place closings between 2012 and 2018, and that those closings are more likely to make ballot access more difficult for black voters. The collapse of large-scale voting last month in Georgia’s state primary election, in which predominantly black areas experienced some of the worst problems, raised new concerns about discriminatory racial repression of voters.
The Voting Rights Act had been applied to nine states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, and other counties and cities, including Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx. Federal approval was required before local jurisdictions could institute changes to voting procedures, such as voter identification laws, drawing new district maps, and restricting early voting.
But in a 2013 decision that reflected its ideological divide, the Supreme Court said the key sections of the statute were unconstitutional and based on outdated data. If Congress wants to continue to impose federal oversight on states where voting rights were at risk, the court said, it must pass legislation that does so based on contemporary data.
Last year, the Democratic-led House did exactly that.
In December, the House voted to reestablish federal oversight of the state election law, moving to tighten protections against racial discrimination enshrined in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Mr. Lewis chaired the passage of that bill.
That followed the passage in March 2019 of the Democrats’ anti-corruption legislation, which also included measures aimed at dismantling the barriers to the polls.
“You know our work is far from over,” Lewis said, arguing for passage of the bill at the time. “That makes me sad. It makes me want to cry when people are denied the right to vote.”
Both bills have run into a brick wall in the Senate.
McConnell has said he does not believe black voters still face voter suppression efforts, and therefore Congress no longer needs to enforce federal oversight of local electoral decisions. He argued that other aspects of the Voting Rights Act remain in effect and noted that black voter turnout has increased in some recent elections.
“There is very little tangible evidence of all this voter suppression nonsense that Democrats are promoting,” McConnell told the Wall Street Journal in a recent interview. “My prediction is that African American voters will have as large a percentage as whites, if not more, across the country.”
However, Democrats plan to go ahead with requests for additional protections for voting rights, under legislation now named after Lewis.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, said he planned to reintroduce the Voting Rights Amendment Act this week.
“As the author and main sponsor of the Senate bill, I will be re-presenting #VRAA this week, naming it by John Lewis, my longtime partner in this,” Leahy wrote on Twitter.
Representative Steny H. Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat and majority leader, told reporters Tuesday that House leaders hoped to have a bill by the end of the week combining a solution to the Voting Rights Act. with new funds to support local election officials and make voting more accessible.
The House has already passed similar provisions individually, but the idea would be to unite them into a single measure named after Mr. Lewis.
“There can be no greater tribute to John Lewis than passing a bill that protects and affirms the right he worked for all his life,” said Hoyer.
Lewis, who was known as the “Congressional conscience” for his moral authority gained through years of protesting racial equality, died on Friday. He announced late last year that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
President Nancy Pelosi said in television interviews on Monday that the Senate should pass a bill named after Mr. Lewis.
“The proper way to honor John Lewis is for the Senate to adopt the Voting Rights Act and the name of John Lewis,” Pelosi said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”. “That it is so difficult for them to adopt the Voting Rights Act is really difficult to understand, but perhaps now they will see a way. I certainly hope so. “
On the House floor, Representative Al Green, a Texas Democrat, who was arrested twice while protesting along with Lewis, asked the Senate to adopt the legislation.
“It seems to me that it would be appropriate, appropriate and appropriate for this body and for the entire Congress to approve the reform of the Voting Rights Act so that we can show the world that voting is still important for all people in this country.” Mr. Green said.
Pelosi said she would wait until after the funeral of a civil rights legend to announce plans for how Congress would honor Mr. Lewis. Mr. Lewis’s supporters have asked him to receive the honor of lying in the state, while respecting the health restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
“When our beloved John Lewis left us on Friday night, he did so with the respect and gratitude of our entire country,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to colleagues on Monday. That same day, the Rev. CT Vivian, another giant of the civil rights movement, made his passage. Rev. Vivian’s services will be held on Thursday. Out of respect for Reverend Vivian, the Lewis family wants to wait until after their services to announce their plans for John’s departure. “
Nicholas Fandos contributed reporting.
