Tell your Senators and President Biden: Reform the Filibuster and Protect Our Constitutional Right to Vote
Call BOTH of your Senators.
Call the White House to contact President Biden
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Call Script for Senator Padilla
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
Senator Padilla, thank you for everything you do to ensure voting rights legislation is passed in the Senate. Please continue to work with your fellow senators, including Senate Majority Leader Schumer, to call for an end to the filibuster and pass this legislation.
Call Script for Senator Feinstein
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
Senator Feinstein, Without new voting rights legislation, our democracy is in real and immediate danger. We urge you to support effectively reforming or abolishing the filibuster to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the Senate without delay.
Call Script for President Biden
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
President Biden, you know our democracy and our republic are at an existential crossroads. We urge you to use the power of your office to advocate for filibuster reform, so that Senate Democrats can pass S1 and/or other voting protection legislation. Republicans will not support any version of such legislation, which is critical to ensure all eligible Americans can vote and the administration of elections remains a nonpartisan, fair process in every state.
Background
The Republican Party’s ongoing assault on government, voting rights, women’s health, economic justice, and civil rights continues to escalate, increasing the urgency of enacting the For The People Act (or some version of it) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act with every passing day. Just last week, when Texas' Democratic legislators returned home after their dramatic protests, Texas Republicans in the State House finally passed their gigantic voter suppression bill.
The Democratic senators can and should reform the rules to ensure that civil rights and voting rights bills are given a chance to pass. Given the Senate’s ugly history of blocking such legislation, there is ample justification for targeted filibuster reforms to ensure that civil rights bills receive (simple) majority votes.
If President Biden does not get behind the effort to reform the filibuster in the Senate, he will have left intact the system of legislative segregation that preserved Jim Crow.
References
Text of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech, hosted at the Civil Rights Movement Archive, which is created and maintained by veterans of the Southern Freedom Movement, which includes Bruce Hartford, member of Indivisible San Francisco
Voting rights: Activists plan nationwide marches in DC, August 12, 2021, Washington Post
Thousands March in DC for Voting Rights, August 28, 2021, NPR
Texas House lawmakers pass GOP-backed voting restrictions bill, August 26, 2021, Texas Tribune
Opinion | When Will Biden Join the Fight for Voting Rights?, August 29, 2021, New York Times, by Adam Jentleson, former Chief of Staff of Senator Harry Reid, author of Kill Switch, on the history of the filibuster
2021 Round-Up: Efforts to Restrict Voting in the States, Democracy Docket, May 21, 2021