President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris would head the administration's effort to defend voting rights. However, federal election reform legislation is facing significant opposition in the Senate.
In remarks remembering the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Biden argued that with Harris in control, voting reforms would "address what remains on the damaged soul of America."
On the 100th anniversary of the brutal attack on Tulsa's Black residents, he told community leaders and survivors, "With her leadership and your support, we're going to overcome again," NBC News reported.
Harris said in a statement that she would collaborate with organizations and legislators alike.
Joe Biden entrusts Kamala Harris with more responsibility
Harris' portfolio improves as a result of this assignment, as per Fox News.
In March, Biden named Harris to manage the administration's diplomatic operations in the Northern Triangle nations of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to stop the influx of children seeking asylum at the US border.
The Biden administration has pointed to root factors like violence, poverty, and climate in Central America for the exceptionally high migration statistics.
In contrast, Republicans have referred to a rollback of the Trump-era immigration policy.
Biden urged voting rights groups to step up their efforts to register and educate voters. He said his government would increase its efforts to combat the increasing efforts perceived to suppress voting.
Bide also announced June as a "month of action" in Congress to pass voting rights legislation. Since the 2020 election, several GOP-led states have imposed voting restrictions, which the president described as a "sacred right under assault with unbelievable fury like I've never seen."
Harris says voting rights in the US is under attack
Following the announcement, Harris issued a statement declaring that voting rights in the United States were "under assault," citing the introduction of more than 300 election security measures around the country since the 2020 election. She, like Biden, advocated for the passage of the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by Congress.
Texas Democrats stepped out of the state House chamber on Sunday evening, momentarily denying Republicans the quorum required to conduct a final vote on a contentious bill that would tighten the state's voting regulations. Voting restrictions have already become law in Georgia, Florida, and Iowa in the months following the election, attracting the wrath of Democrats who claim the legislation primarily targets voters of color, as well as criticism from several major corporations.
Joe Biden slams Republicans
When Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess later this month, Harris will be back in her old stomping grounds, the United States Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has already vowed to give the House-passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act, a vote.
Before setting out his political realities, the President remarked, "June should be a month of activity on Capitol Hill," Daily Mail reported.
Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema opposed changing the Senate's filibuster rules, allowing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican senators to block any bill without 60 votes.
Last week, this meant that a House-passed plan to establish a 9/11-style commission to probe the January 6 Capitol attack was likely dead in the water. Democrats could not get four more Republicans willing to vote in their favor and end the GOP filibuster.
The For the People Act, according to Biden, would not suffer the same fate. He also labeled state-level legislation aimed at making voting more difficult "simply un-American."
Related Article: 22 New Laws in 14 States Make It Harder to Vote; Schumer Pushes for Election Reform Bill
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