Pelosi Remarks at Voting Rights Advancement Act Press Conference

Contact: Drew Hammill/Evangeline George, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks today at a press conference urging support for the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015. Below are the Leader's remarks:

"Thank you very much. Are we all enthused and thankful and grateful to Congresswoman Terri Sewell for her passion and her great intellect on this subject? I am proud to join Mr. Clyburn, our Assistant Leader, Congresswoman Sewell, Congresswoman Sanchez, Congresswoman Chu – the co-authors of the legislation on Restoration Tuesday – and to be with all of our colleagues.

"Here's the thing: this court decision, Shelby County vs. Holder was a really unfortunate decision of the court. It wasn't that long ago in 2006 when we passed the more-recent Voting Rights Act. That legislation passed the Senate unanimously. And in the House – what was it, Steny [Hoyer]? 90 percent of the House voted in a bipartisan way for that legislation. We celebrated by going down the steps of the Capitol with Senator Frist – I think was the Majority Leader at the time in the Senate – Speaker Hastert. It was a bipartisan, nonpartisan initiative.

"And low and behold, a few years later, the court decided that our bases needed updating. It was only a matter of a few years and we didn't think that was right. But, nonetheless, the court ruled in that way. And as Congresswoman Sewell said, it gave us an opening. And that opening – when we were in Selma this year and the bipartisanship of people being there. President Bush was there who signed the Voting Rights Act. It was such an honor that he came. Two presidents [came] who had signed the Voting Rights Act that coming back from Selma they said that's all you're going to get – not President Bush, but Republicans in Congress. We had a bipartisan bill. It was a compromise. We thought it had a good prospect of success but they said: ‘You got a visit to Selma. You're not getting a bill on the floor.' And that just isn't right.

"As Congresswoman Sewell said, the integrity of our whole voting system is in question when we put up these barriers. As Steny knows this and others do, we go to different countries to view their elections to see if they are legitimate. If we saw some of these barriers to participation that are being put up in our own country, we would object as to whether it was a fair election. We cannot have that in our election. We are the beacon, the greatest democracy that ever existed in the history of the world, but only legitimate if every person who is qualified has a right to vote and that their votes are counted as cast.

"Restoration Tuesday gives us a way to reach out, to engage, to reengage, so that people see the connection between their vote, legislation that passes and their lives, as Martin Luther King pointed out to us. So this is very important to our democracy and I thank our co-sponsors of the bill and the leadership of Congressman Clyburn, Assistant Leader Clyburn, on this important subject as fundamental to our democracy. As fundamental to our democracy.

"And with that, I'm pleased to yield to our distinguished Whip Mr. Hoyer, who has been a champion on this issue for many years. Mr. Hoyer."

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