Ritchie Torres: “Where did we get this notion that the filibuster is more worth preserving than the right to vote? That is surely not the…”

“Where did we get this notion that the filibuster is more worth preserving than the right to vote? That is surely not the lesson of American history. That is surely not what we teach our students in the classroom or our children at home. Yet, that is the lie that dictates what happens here in the Nation's Capitol, a lie that comes at a heavy cost to American democracy. It seems that there is nothing sacred in American politics--not the truth, not the peaceful transfer of power, not the full faith and credit of the United States, and, indeed, not even the right to vote. The enforcement mechanisms of the Voting Rights Act have been all but eviscerated. First, there is section 5, otherwise known as preclearance, which enables the executive branch, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, to enforce the Voting Rights Act. Then there is section 2, which enables the judicial branch, the courts, to enforce the Voting Rights Act. Both of these provisions have been gutted at the hands of rightwing judicial activism. The end of the Voting Rights Act as we know it has been a political windfall for the Republican Party, which is intent on holding power by any means necessary, even if it means disenfranchising Black and Brown voters. We are here to tell you that the Congressional Black Caucus will not stand by idly while the voting rights of Black Americans come under systematic assault.…”