President Joe Biden called bills aiming to curtail voting accessibility by state legislatures across the country a “21st century Jim Crow assault” Tuesday. The video above shows parts of the president’s Tuesday speech in Philadelphia.
“This year alone, 17 states have enacted, not just proposed, but enacted 28 new laws to make it harder for Americans to vote,” President Biden said. “Not to mention, and catch this, nearly 400 additional bills Republican members of the state legislatures are trying to pass.”
Biden called the state efforts “un-American” and “un-democratic”. He also attacked Former President Donald Trump, who made unfounded claims about the results of the 2020 election.
“You don’t call facts fake and then try to bring down the American experiment just because you’re unhappy,” Biden said. “That’s not statesmanship, that’s not statesmanship. That’s selfishness.”
While Biden attacked Republican legislatures and Former President Trump, he offered few concrete proposals to counter their efforts. This includes changing or getting rid of the filibuster in the Senate.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have tried to pass the For the People Act, a sweeping federal voting and elections bill Senate Republicans have united to block. Most Republicans have also dismissed a separate bill, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. That bill would restore sections of the Voting Rights Act the Supreme Court has weakened.
If left in place, the current Senate filibuster rules would require 60 votes in the evenly split, 100-member chamber to even bring up a bill. This has proven to be an insurmountable roadblock in the past, like when it was used to block a bill that would establish a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Biden appeared to at least partially the improbability of either the For the People Act or the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act Tuesday. He said he would launch a nationwide campaign to educate voters on rules changes and restrictions ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
“No matter what, you can never stop the American people from voting,” Biden said. “They will decide and the power must always be with the people. That’s why just like we did in 2020, we have to prepare for 2022.”