U.S. President Joe Biden called for advancing legislation to extend the right to vote stuck in Congress, and said in a speech in Georgia that Democrats need to change Senate regulations to overcome the Republican filibuster.
In a forceful speech designed to breathe new life into the struggle to pass federal voting laws and convince skeptical Democrats of his commitment to the issue, Biden called many Republicans cowards and described the struggle as a “battle for America’s soul.”
He said former President Trump continues to spread false claims that the 2020 election was falsified by Democrats, even though no evidence has been found. Since then, Republican lawmakers in 19 states have passed dozens of laws making it difficult to vote.
Biden said Republicans must choose which side of history they want to be on. “Do you want to be on the side of Martin Luther King or George Wallace?” Asked the Democratic president, recalling the former Alabama governor who supported racial segregation.
According to Biden, Trump supporters tried to carry out a coup on January 6 last year. “Not a single Republican has shown courage and come out against a defeated president to support the Americans’ right to vote,” Biden asserted. “nobody”.
Biden wants to consolidate public support for a series of laws that will make Election Day a day off, register new voters and strengthen the Justice Department’s oversight of constituencies with a history of discrimination. The laws are stuck in the Senate due to widespread opposition from Republicans, who argue that the proposed laws will impose problematic standards on local elections.
The president said that if no breakthrough was achieved, Democrats in the Senate should change the regulations, “including getting rid of the filibuster.” The filibuster is a parliamentary tool that actually requires a 60-vote majority in the Senate to pass most of the laws, instead of a regular majority. Democrats have a slim majority of one seat, and Republicans manage to thwart most of their legislative initiatives.
Republicans attacked the laws promoted by Biden. “What Democrats call the ‘voting rights’ law is actually a partisan and political snatch,” Republican Sen. Mike Krappo said after the president’s speech. “And now they want to repeal the filibuster to advance this horrible legislation, which will only increase the confusion in our election process.”