Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) spoke at a press conference this morning with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn to highlight the 7^th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision and to reflect on the state of voting rights in America. Below are Sewell’s remarks and video is available here.

Rep. Terri Sewell: Good morning. I’m Congresswoman Terri Sewell from Alabama’s 7^th Congressional District and I’m honored to be joined by Speaker Pelosi, Leader Hoyer, Whip Clyburn today as we acknowledge seven years – yesterday was the 7^th anniversary of the Shelby County v. Holder decision, which gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, removing federal oversight from states with a proven track record of voter suppression.

We have seen in those seven years over 30 states institute more restrictive ID requirements for voting. Likewise, we’ve seen a consolidation of polling locations, purging of rolls. We have seen a resurgence by states to suppress the vote.

In December, I am proud to say that elections do have consequences and the American people spoke up and spoke out in the 2018 election and ushered in a Democratic House majority. I am so honored that this Caucus, and that this House passed H.R. 4, a bill that I was proud to be a lead sponsor, and which would put the teeth back into the Voting Rights Act, ensuring fair voting practices for all Americans.

In Shelby v. Holder, the Supreme Court was clear that the onus was on Congress to come up with a modern-day formula. They struck down Section 4b, which provided the formula for covered jurisdictions that needed to be pre-cleared in order to have changes in voting laws. So Section 5 is intact, which is the pre-clearance provision, but Congress has to put the teeth back into the Voting Rights Act by coming up with a new Section 4b.

And that’s exactly what H.R. 4 does. H.R. 4 provides a modern formula with a recent look at voter discrimination by states and jurisdictions across this nation. And, so we are very proud that we were able to pass H.R. 4, but like so many of our bipartisan bills – and it did pass with one Republican supporting H.R. 4 – H.R 4 is currently languishing in the Senate, where Senator McConnell refuses to call it up for a vote.

Why voting rights have become a partisan issue frankly is baffling to me. When we think about Congress passing not one, not two, but three re-authorizations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and now, all of a sudden, our Republican colleagues have been using voting rights as a partisan issue. As elected officials, we should be working tirelessly to ensure all Americans are able to vote.

Over the past weeks, as our country been grappling with the devastating murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, we have also opened the doors to deeper and more substantive discussions about race, racism, and institutional racism in America.

You know, a lot of my white colleagues and friends have reached out to me with questions, especially regarding the nature of institutional or systemic racism. They want to know what it looks like and how it manifests itself.

And I believe that there is no more obvious example of institutional racism than voter discrimination and the anti-democratic practices that bar Black Americans from exercising their fundamental right to vote. 

So, you ask: what does racism in voting look like? Well, in the not-so-distant past, this looked like literacy tests, poll taxes, and making African Americans guess how many jellybeans are in a jar or recite how many counties are in the state of Alabama in order to get registered to vote.

Today, voter discrimination looks like what we saw just this week in Kentucky and last week and in 2018 in states like Georgia – polling stations shut down in African American neighborhoods with Black voters waiting in line for hours on end; voters purged from rolls on technicalities; and strengthening and tightening of ID laws that disproportionately impact disadvantaged communities.

Shutting down polling stations in neighborhoods of color; insisting upon forms of ID that require time and money to obtain; limiting access to polling locations so that only car owners with flexible jobs and childcare have the ability to vote — this is modern-day, systemic racism in voting. It is voter suppression.

Ahead of our upcoming presidential election and given the ongoing concerns about in-person voting, it is more important now than ever that we renew our call that H.R. 4 is taken up and passed in the Senate and signed into law.

Our vote is our voice. The people know that our democracy is strongest when every American is able to make their voices heard at the ballot box.

Today, I am honored to be joined by the incredible leadership of the House of Representatives colleagues, honored to have Speaker Pelosi, and Leader Hoyer and Whip Clyburn standing up for all Americans having access to the ballot box.

You know, this is personal for me. Not only do I represent the civil rights district of Alabama, my district includes Birmingham, and Montgomery, and my hometown of Selma, Alabama. The legacy of this district is that ordinary Americans aggrieved their nation, protested, bled, died fought for their right to vote on a bridge in my hometown. That legacy must be upheld, and I am proud that House Democrats and the House democratic majority has taken H.R. 4 and passed it across the finish line. We must now call upon the Senate to do the same thing.

We are honored next to hear from Speaker Pelosi. Thank you so much, Madame Speaker.