WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a cosponsor of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (S.4), the Freedom to Vote Act (S. 2747), and the Right to Vote Act (S. 2615), issued the following statement on the need to protect election integrity, safeguard the voting rights of all Americans, and potential changes to Senate procedural rules:

“The right to vote is sacred, the heart of any democracy.  And in a proud, though painful tradition, successive generations of Americans have fought to expand and protect that right and ensure that we as a country live up to our democratic ideals.  Many risked their safety and even gave their lives in the fight for the right to vote.  From Frederick Douglass to Lucy Burns, from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to John Lewis, and countless other unnamed and unknown patriots, Americans have long taken it upon themselves to make their union more perfect.

“It is because of the sacrifice and unyielding activism of those brave Americans that the 14th, 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26th amendments were ratified; the Indian Citizenship Act was passed; the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed; and in 1965, the landmark legislation of the Voting Rights Act was enacted.  That transformative law, along with its bipartisan renewals over the following decades, helped set us on a path to representation across the nation that better reflected the diversity of the American people and better ensured the right to vote. 

“We cannot allow these hard-earned advances to be reversed. 

“At the state level, at least 19 states passed laws restricting access to voting in 2021, and a number of states have begun to allow partisan actors to interfere with election processes or even reject election results entirely.  Blatant gerrymandering is diluting the voice of minorities and election procedures are being tampered with as nonpartisan safeguards fall to the wayside.

“In the face of this dire onslaught against our democracy, the Constitution is clear that Congress has both the power and the responsibility to restore the protections of the Voting Rights Act and to ensure greater election integrity in our country. 

“And this isn’t a case of so-called Red States and Blue States.  Every state needs to do more to preserve access to the ballot box, and the bill before us ensures that federal elections in every state will be more secure and more accessible to voters.  It sets standards that every state can meet and provides the resources for them to do so.

“Considering the magnitude and urgency of the need for election reforms, I am dismayed by Republicans who have spent months blockading a discussion of these bills on the Senate floor while also refusing to negotiate over any specifics. 

“Sadly, we’ve been here before.  In 1890, then-Representative Henry Cabot Lodge introduced a federal elections bill that would reinforce the 15th amendment and combat the wave of laws disenfranchising Black voters in the South.  Though it passed the House, a week-long Senate filibuster by Southern Democrats and some Western Republicans led to the defeat of the legislation in 1891.  Imagine—where would we be if voting rights legislation had existed in the 1890s instead of having to wait until 1965?  How many thousands of lynchings that took place in those 75 years may have been avoided if Black voters could have had a voice in who was their sheriff, their judge, their mayor, their Representative, their Senator, their President?  How many generations of Black children would have had running water, proper books, and qualified teachers in their school houses? 

“I hope and believe that history will not repeat itself in such a gruesome fashion.  But I do believe that the impact of the current disenfranchisement will be felt acutely in minority communities, by seniors and those with disabilities, and among young people.  Without a voice, their legitimate claims for opportunity and equality will be muted, and huge discrepancies in income, education, and opportunity will be perpetuated.

“We have tried negotiating with the other side.  We have offered an open debate to the other side.  We have held hearings and taken to the floor to outline the dangers of these state voting changes to our democracy, but the other side continues to say “no” to a debate and “no” to a vote. 

“While many of my colleagues on the other side voted to certify the 2020 election and some even voted to impeach the former President for his role in the January 6 assault on the Capitol, by blocking this bill, they are abetting the former President and his unelected media allies in spreading the lie that an election that brought more Republicans to the House of Representatives was somehow “stolen.”  That claim was false then, and it is false now. 

“In allowing falsehoods about the election results of 2020 to proliferate, in celebrating and minimizing the horrors of January 6, Republicans have chosen a path of seeking short-term wins, not realizing that when democracy loses, we all lose. 

“I have a deep respect for Senate rules and precedent, and I have a strong skepticism when I hear suggestions of changing those rules.  I know that what goes around can come around, so what may seem beneficial in the moment can become deeply detrimental in the future. 

“The filibuster has its place, but at a certain point, the right of every eligible American to exercise their right to vote takes precedence because you cannot have a democracy if your citizens cannot vote.  It’s that simple.

“For that existential reason, I will vote to change the rules for the purposes of this bill and enforce Rule XIX so that Senators must actually take to the floor and make their case to the American people rather than hide behind procedure when it comes to voting rights. 

“Our future as a democracy depends on the willingness of this body to do the right thing and protect voting rights by passing the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act.  I implore my colleagues: let’s do the right thing, and let’s do it now.”