Rep. Lee Calls Out Efforts to Politicize Voting Laws to Take Away Marginalized Peoples’ Access to Democracy
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
Contact: Vaibhav.Vijay@mail.house.gov | 771.215.7243
Kyla.Gill@mail.house.gov | 412.841.7913
Rep. Summer Lee Calls Out GOP Voter Suppression Efforts on the House Floor
Rep. Lee Calls Out Efforts to Politicize Voting Laws to Take Away Marginalized Peoples’ Access to Democracy
PITTSBURGH, PA — Today, Rep. Summer Lee (PA-12) called out GOP voter suppression efforts on the floor of the House of Representatives. During debate over the GOP’s harmful bill, Rep. Lee called out House Republicans’ continued efforts to make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to vote. She also highlighted legislation she introduced two weeks ago, the Right to Vote Act, which would establish the first-ever affirmative federal voting rights guarantee, ensuring every citizen may exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot.
Watch full remarks here:
Full Speech:
When we say that the right to vote is under attack, we’re not talking about hypotheticals. It is under attack right here, right now with this bill.
Republicans want to throw up barriers because when people vote, they lose.
Let me be clear: they don’t want you to vote. They don’t want to hear Black voices, brown voices, LBGTQIA+ voices, young voices. Our fundamental access to our democracy is being politicized.
And this xenophobic attack that we’re debating today will make it harder for Americans to vote.
My Republican colleagues will claim that requiring IDs is a small ask, but nearly 30 million people lack a valid driver’s license. And about 15 to 18 million adults don’t have access to documents proving their birth or citizenship.
Americans do not need more obstacles to vote. It’s already hard enough.
That’s why I am proud to have introduced the Right to Vote Act with my colleagues Assistant Leader Neguse and Senator Ossoff. This bill would enshrine people’s right to vote and prohibit governments on all levels from restricting that right with bills like this one.
This bill is part of the Democrats’ Freedom to Vote Act. And along with the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, these are the types of bills we should be bringing to the floor, not this nonsense.
Every day that we let right-wing politicians pass laws like this that restrict ballot access, reduce polling stations in Black neighborhoods, or drown out our voices with big money campaigns, we fail the American people.
All of our rights are at stake when we vote and indeed, when we are denied the right to vote.
We need to eliminate every single barrier that keeps us from fully participating in democracy.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this harmful legislation.
I yield back.
Background:
Key Provisions of the Right to Vote Act:
- Establishes the first-ever affirmative federal voting rights guarantee, ensuring every citizen may exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot.
- Prohibits state and local governments from restricting voting access in federal elections, preventing governments from enacting laws that diminish or substantially impair the ability to vote.
- Authorizes a civil right of action to enforce the right to vote, empowering Americans to challenge in court any policy that unduly restricts ballot access.
- Expedites judicial review, ensuring expedient action to protect citizens’ voting rights.
Since taking office in January, Lee, who serves on the House Oversight Committee and Space, Science and Technology Committee, has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $1.2 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $200 million for infrastructure, over $50 million for affordable transit, and over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs. Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 1,600 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.
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