August 30, 2021 • 43 mins
Originally published 06/14/21
The fight for voting rights and the fight for D.C. Statehood remain linked, urgent, but also challenged and delayed. Get the history, obstacles and strategy from this week's guest on State of Play including author/journalist, Ari Berman. We'll also hear from historians Prof. Carol Anderson, Prof. Eddie Glaude, Jr., and Prof. Kate Masur. The show also features interviews with DNC Chair, Jaime Harrison; Black Voters Matter co-founder, LaTosha Brown; and, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).
The fight for voting rights and the fight for D.C. Statehood remain linked, urgent, but also challenged and delayed. Get the history, obstacles and strategy from this week's guest on State of Play including author/journalist, Ari Berman. We'll also hear from historians Prof. Carol Anderson, Prof. Eddie Glaude, Jr., and Prof. Kate Masur. The show also features interviews with DNC Chair, Jaime Harrison; Black Voters Matter co-founder, LaTosha Brown; and, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).
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The following show is brought to youin partnership with the Institute of Politics,
Policy and History, Blue Star Strategies, Bright Road Incorporated, Make It Plain
Podcast, and RPC Media from thecampus of the University of the District of
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Columbia. This is State of Play. Welcome to State of Play. I'm
Sharon Pratt with me, Karen Tramontano, and the Reverend Mark Thompson on topic
today, voting rights and DC statehood. We have an ideal expert with us
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here, Ari Berman. He's thesenior reporter with Mother Jones and a prolific
writer. Thank you so much forbeing here him here, Pratt, thank
you for having me and great tojoin all of you. So as you
look out over the political landscape withall the voter suppression initiatives under way,
has there been any other moment inhistory comparable to this moment? Well,
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this moment in American history really remindsme of the end of Reconstruction and the
beginning of Jim Crowe We have seenthe highest volume of bills to restrict voting
rights this year that we've seen sincethe end of Reconstruction, and I think
it follows a similar pattern, whichis new demographic groups turn out, the
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party in power tries to use violenceand intimidation and fraud to prevent them from
winning in the election, and thenwhen that fails, they tried to disenfranchise
them legally. And so that's whatoccurred during Reconstruction. When black voters turned
out, they were met by violence, fraud, and intimidation, and that
succeeded for a time, but thereal disenfranchisement came through legal means, through
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poll taxes, literacy tests, thingslike that. And I think the same
thing happened in twenty twenty. Youhad an attempt by Donald Trump to try
to overturn the election, trying tothrow out votes to incite violence, and
when that failed, they decided inall of these state legislative sessions in twenty
twenty one they were going to tryto legally disenfranchise their opponents or at least
tamp down voter turnout by changing thecountry's voting laws. And so it's not
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as extreme as it was during Reconstruction, it's not as violent as it was
during Reconstruction, but there are certainlyparallels in terms of the approaches to disenfranchisement
back then and today. Wouldn't DC. Becoming the fifty first state not only
address voting rights for Washington, DC, but also help in terms of breaking
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the Senate filibuster and hilt with votingrights around the country. I do think
that DC statehood would be a bighelp, not just to DC, but
to the overall composition of American politics. We have a political system, and
particularly a Congress that is much wider, more rural, and more conservative than
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the country as a whole. Partof that reason, it's places like DC
that are much more diverse and muchmore progressive are denied voting representation. So
if you had two members of theSenate that represented a much more diverse constituency,
a much more progressive constituency, theywould vote differently than a Joe Mansion.
They would vote differently than a KirstenCinema. And by the way,
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it only takes fifty one votes toabolish the filibuster. You could abolish the
filibuster the sixty vote requirement with amajority vote. So if there were two
more Democratic Senators from DC, ortwo more Senators from DC with more progressive
leadings, I believe they would bein favor of abolishing Philibusts are just like
the new crop of Democratic senators arein favor of abolishing filibuster right now,
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mister Burman. In history, wehave these unique moments, these unique opportunities,
and sometimes we seize them for thebetter and we change, and sometimes
we fail to do that. Whatdo you see happening now? Well,
I think we're really at a turningpoint, and the questions which way are
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we going to turn? Are wegoing to turn in a way that leads
to more access to the ballot,in a way that enfranchises more people,
that brings more people into the democraticprocess, That's what we had in twenty
twenty, we had the highest turnoutone hundred and twenty years. Or are
we going to go back to thedays where we have lower turnout, higher
disenfranchisement, more elections they're decided beforeanyone casts a ballot, and I don't
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know. I mean, that's thechoice before us right now. I believe
if all of these Republican controlled statesare allowed to enact new restrictions on voting
and there is no federal response totry to stop it, then we're going
to move backwards. And the questionis just how far back? I believe
if the Congress takes bold action toprotect voting rights, it'll be a lot
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easier to move forward. But rightnow we're at that pivotal hinge moment where
it really could go either way.How do we get the Senate to move
on these critical issues. It's reallyall on the Senate right now, because
the House has passed DC statehood.The House has passed the further people out.
The House will pass the John LewisVoting Rights Advancement Aculator this year.
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Then it goes to the Senate.The first thing you need is fifty votes
to support these things, and thenyou need a willingness to try to get
rid of the filibuster, because Idon't believe any of these bills are going
to get sixty votes. And Ithink it's incredibly naive to believe that a
Republican party that is committed to votersuppression is suddenly going to support bills that
would stop voter suppression. Why wouldthey do that when they believe that's not
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in their own interests? And soI think that really there needs to be
a political movement in America around protectingthe right to vote and around increasing representation
in society. I think we're gettingthere, but I think more needs to
be done. The fact that thePresident is speaking out more vocally about these
issues are tapping Vice President Harris tome is a good side. But I
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think you need to make an argumentto these wavering Democratic senators that democracy is
on the line and that this isone of these pivotal moments where the federal
government has to step in to protectthe right to vote and also their own
political futures are on the line.The viability not just of democracy but of
the Democratic Party as an institution isunder threat here, or why else would
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Republicans be passing all these measures.They're not doing it because they believe it's
not going to have an impact.They're doing it because they believe that it's
going to help them win future elections. So I think there needs to be
the same urgency among the Democratic Partyto protect voting rights as there is among
the Republican Party to suppress starting rights. Well, you have clarified it brilliantly,
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and we can't thank you enough forwhat you do and for being on
State of Play, and we encourageour viewers to stay with us as we
continue to do a deep dive onvoting rights and DC Statehood. Thank you
so much for being with us onState of Play. Thanks so much for
her Well, you know, Iwas born in Washington, DC. I
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was a black girl who was aWashington, DC resident, and I had
no power. You aren't going toachieve change unless you do a very good
job of sharing data and informing asmany people as possible as to why changages
upon you anyway. So are yougoing to shape it or as it is
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going to overwhelm you? And thatis the point of State of Play.
Welcome back to State of Play.We've been fortunate to have some leading historians
on the show and we've asked themto tell us their thoughts about voting rights
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in DC statehood. And here's whatthey had to say. It's like,
how do we stop black people fromhaving the power, the political power to
represent themselves in order to choose theirrepresentatives. How do we stop the wielding
of that power? And in thelarger context of the US Senate, there
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is the fear because right now they'rebalanced at fifty fifty that what will happen
is because African Americans overwhelmingly vote forDemocrats, is that what that we'll do
was bring two Democratic senators into theUS Senate and h then there's there's,
there's it. It shifts the balanceof power, and they are absolutely afraid
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of that. And so being willingto deny representation to over seven hundred thousand
people in order to maintain power iswhat we saw in the and the founding
of this nation, in the writingand the drafting of this constitution. It
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is a through line, right.I mean, it seems to me that
Americans have to get a better senseof what they mean by democracy, what
does it mean to be committed todemocracy? Over and over again we see
example upon example of Americans willing tothrow democracy into the trash bin when it's
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not consistent with their own comforts andthe own beliefs. As it were.
It makes no sense that you haveAmericans in DC, in Puerto Rico,
in Virgin Islands right without having thecapacity to be full fledged participants in our
democratic way of life. So itseems to me that part of the work
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that has to be done, andthis is at a certain level of abstraction,
is to get clear on what youmean by your democratic commitment, to
get clear on what those commitments actuallyentail, and to understand that it's not
just for some, it's for allof us who claimed this place is ours,
if that makes sense. The CivilWar led to the enfranchisement of African
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American men in the District of Columbia, and black men formed with white men
of iracial democracy for the first time. Starting in eighteen sixty seven, elected
African Americans to the city Council ofwhy Washington embarked on projects to improve the
city by paving the streets and gradingthe streets and really modernize the city.
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And that experiment was brought to ahalt very quickly by people who were afraid
to see self government in the district, who were who didn't want to see
black men wielding this kind of poweralongside the traditional elites who had wielded power
in the past. And so fromthat in the eighteen seventies you get this
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commission form of government that ruled thecity and the district again for almost one
hundred years until the Civil Rights era, when gradually home rule was restored,
but none of that fixed. Aswe have been discussing recently, the problem
that the hundreds of thousands of peoplethat live in the District of Columbia have
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no representation in Congress, and atthis point it's an anachronism. It's something
that is a relic of the pastand really does not not consistent with democratic
values that we hold true today.Welcome back to State of Play. I'm
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Sharon Pratton. As you know,our topic today is voting rights and DC
statehood and we've got someone with uswho is a leader on this issue and
we are very honored to have him, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee,
Jamie Harrison. What an honor tohave you with us, mister Chairman,
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thank you so much for having me. Mayor. Well, the Democratic
Party in some ways surprised people,not entirely surprising because with Joe Biden's victory
had surprised the other party in theelection, but with eight million popular votes
me and more popular votes than threehundred and six selectoral votes. But I
think they were a little surprised withthe Democrats flip Georgia and one basically the
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Senate, so the party is inan ex in position to advance its agenda.
How do you feel that the partyis doing, particularly given this backlash
around voting rights from the Republicans.Well in general, Mare, I think
the state of the Party is very, very strong, and when you take
up the latest polling, we're findingthat we are getting the highest number of
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Democratic Party Identifycations identifiers in some ofthe latest polling. That's because people are
starting to leave the Republican Party likeit was the Titanic, and who can
blame them when it's a dumpster fire. On the other side, when you
got people like Kevin McCarthy, theleader in the House, who is standing
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in the way of the January sixthCommission, and he's more concerned about playing
with mister potato head dolls and readingDoctor SEUs than actually doing the business of
the people of this great nation.You know, under this administration, under
Joe Biden, we were able topass historic legislation to address the COVID crisis
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that we had in this country.We put money in pockets, people stayed
in their jobs, vaccines and arms, and kids back into schools. And
we did all that with support fromDemocrats in the House and the Senate,
and not one Republican supported the effort. Now there are plenty of them who
are trying to take credit for it, but not one of them voted for
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this legislation. When the American peopleneeded them the most, and it's shameful.
And that's why I think the DemocraticParty is in a much stronger position
that we've been in the past,because not only are we are passing legislation
to impact people, but we're lettingpeople know that it was the Democratic Party
who did it and not one Republicansupported it. Well, the Democrats have
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a slim majority, but nonetheless amajority in the House, and Speaker Pelosi
definitely knows how to summon that vote. In the Senate, we've got a
tie. And so in order toget the Recovery Act or the Legend,
you know, President Biden and theSchumer they had to use reconciliation, as
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I recall, because the Republicans didn'twant to support it. How do you
get through how do you advance anagenda, be it around voting rights,
climate control, gun control, youname it. If in fact, the
Republicans refuse to support us, wellit's difficult. Mayor. We all know
how the Senate has operated historically.It is you know, I'm a house
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guy, used to work in theHouse of Representatis. I ran the whip
operation for Jim Clarbin back in theday, and so just a simple majority
is enough in order to get thingsand move in the House. Senate operates
a little differently, and particularly aslong as the filibuster is still an important
component of how they operate, itmakes it much more difficult. But you
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know, there's things and fundamental changesthat they can do to change in Let's
do the phil If you're gonna keepthe filibuster, let people stand up in
the well of the Senate. Letthem filibuster until their feet start to bleed
and they and they have to usedepends or whatever that to filibuster to civil
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rights legislation or the voting rights legislation. Let the American people see these people
for who they are, not justphone it in and say, well,
we're gonna filibuster and now we're gonnago off for a weekend down in cancou
Cancoon, Mexico or something i e. Ted Cruise. Let let's make sure
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that these people are standing up andthe American people can see them for who
they are, that they're blocking thelegislation that we all want and we all
need in order to improve our lives. If we're talking about, you know,
advancing the democratic agenda, the Republicansplay hardball is reflected by how they
pack the court. You know,within weeks of a change of administration.
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The Democrats need to have more supportin the Senate, and the Democrats could
have more support in the Senate ifwe had DC statehood. And it isn't
an over a stretch, it's nota reach of power. It's about seven
hundred thousand people not having representation,even though they defend this country, even
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defended it on January sixth, youknow, with the insurrection, have paid
taxes all these years, Will theDemocrats really really really get behind DC statehood
in their own interest? Well,listen, the Democratic support for DC statehood
is unequivocal. We saw the strongand unified excuse me, the strong and
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unified support for DC statehood coming outof a House of Representatives. That bill
is now sitting in the Senate,and we have almost unanimous support there in
the United States Senate for this outof the Democratic Caucus. We got to
get over the fieldibuster, and wegot to figure out a way to do
that, because this is you know, this isn't about the politics of Democrats
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adding one or two more seats tothe US Senate. This is about doing
the right thing for the people wholive in the District of Columbia. So
you can take politics aside of it. It's about doing the right thing.
These are citizens of this country whopay taxes. They pay more taxes than
twenty one other states, but yetthey don't have voting representation either in the
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House or the Senate. That isfundamentally wrong and we got to change it.
And this needs to be about doingwhat is in the best interests of
the people of the District of Columbia, and what's in the best interest of
the country. Were senders of thecountry. Yes, if we're talking about
democracy and being this beacon of lightingfor the rest of the world, the
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model, then this is something thatwe have to do because it's the right
thing to do. Yes, well, you know, I have absolutely no
I'm very impassionate, impassionate about this. I was born in the District of
Columbia, born a African American womanin a community where you had no votes
of any kind. Finally could votefor president and then got limited home rule.
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But this is in the interest ofAmerica. And if we're to have
a representative democracy, we've got tohave everybody who is a taxpayer who defends
this country represented now the Republicans playhardball, well, the Democrats play hardball.
For example, they're those I thinkStacy Abrahams is one who said we
should suspend the filibuster around any issueconnected to voting rights or not we to
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or not. The Democrats insist thatany kind of legislation the deals with voting
rights, the filibusters should be suspended. Well, listen, I think Chuck
Schumer and the Senate Democrats have todo anything that they have to do in
order to make sure the right thinggets done for the American people. DC
statehood, making sure voting rights areprotected around this country, making sure people
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have decent and affordable healthcare, makingsure that we address the issue of climate
change. So I'll let Schumer tacklethat in terms of what he's going to
do. But I can tell youwhat if I were in the United States
Senate right now, we would bethat much closer to DC statehood. We'll
be that much closer to making surethat climate change is sufficiently addressed. We
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need the right type of people inthe United States Senate helping us move this
country forward. Right now, we'renot getting any of that support from the
Republican Party. They're like a dumpsterfire right now, only looking out for
their own political interests and political powerand not what's in the best interests of
this great nation virus, and sothe have to do right. No,
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I'm sorry, mister chairman, you'reright, I'm happy to hear it well.
And the Democrats they have to doeverything that they can within their power
because mayor what we don't want is, you know, history is going to
look back on how we have livedand all that we have done, and
this is going to be an interestingtime for the history books. And the
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question is when our democracy was onfire, when Rome was on fire,
what did you do? If you'rein the United States Senate, what did
you do, if you're in theUnited States House, what did you do
if you're just an activist on theground, what did you do in order
to defend and protect our democracy?And that's something that we're all going to
have to answer. Well, we'revery pleased that you're here. We're very
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pleased for your insights on State ofPlay. Thank you. Welcome back to
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State of Play. I'm sharing Prattwith me Karen Traum and Tano and the
Reverend Mark Thompson. The topic todayvoting rights and DC statehood. We have
the perfect guests, Natasha Brown.She's a community activist, a political strategist,
and co founder of Black Voters Matter. What an honor to have you
with us. Thank you for havingme here to today. Thank you.
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So black voters mattered in twenty twentyand if so, how so? You
know, we made the difference aroundthe outcome of the election. We made
the difference in the outcome of thepresidential election and in the Senate races.
And so I think, if anything, we've shown the leverage of our power
and the leverage of went happens whenwe turn out in record numbers. Well,
Republicans clearly noticed, miss Brown,that black voters made a huge difference
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in the twenty twenty election, andnow they are working state by state to
enact voter repression laws. How isyour organization going to be handling this challenge.
Well, we've decided that we're goingto organize I kind of I think
of it in three bucks. We'regoing to organize around the community. And
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so we've been doing a lot ofcommunity outreach, working with organizations and groups
throughout Texas, Georgia, Florida throughoutthe nation that are pushing back on this.
Secondly, that we would actually organizethe coffers that we launched a corporate
campaign to put pressure on corporations toactually stand with us and to stand against
voting rights, and also pressure inthe court. So we found several lawsuits
to actually against the states. We'recurrently suing the states that have actually passed
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voter suppression laws right now. Andso we believe that the way that you
build powers, you have to organize, and you have to organize that power.
Organized power is realized. Power hasalso added the issue, thankfully,
of DC statehood to its priorities.Correct, that's right. We think that
DC is the DC statehood issue isthe embodiment of voter suppression. You know,
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here you have millions of people whoare being denied their right to vote.
There's taxation without representation. And sowe believe that this is a part
of the largest struggle that we havea protecting vote rights in this country and
that DC deserves statehood by the natureof you've got citizens that are in citizens
that are in the district, thatare paying taxes, that are actually more
citizen that country. In several statesin this nation currently. And you know,
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DC statehood certainly matters for those ofus who are born in Washington,
DC, But why should DC statehoodmatter to constituents everywhere across America? You
know, it's such an excellent question. It's kind of like the question that
you know Georgia. Georgia has alwaysbeen a state that hasn't been in play,
and oftentimes in the presidential election islike, oh, that's one of
those states in the South. Youknow, we found ourselves earlier this year
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where everybody was holding their breath on, Oh my goodness, what is going
to happen then, Georgia. That'sbecause what happens in one state, one
happens in one era, actually impactsall of us. And so in DC,
I think the relevance of the coloredcouple of things. One. I
think what you're seeing in DC isthat to not have people in DC represented
right literally in itself, that thatis a week that weakens democracy. That
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I think that as a part ofstrengthening democracy of making sure that we have
representation. The second thing is there'simplications that you have communities of color that
are actually being shut out of thisprocess. And I think part of this
debate of DC statehood is primarily senatoraround it is a community, is a
city that is a majority minority city, and so that that a lot of
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the attempts to continue to actually marginalizeour voice. And then the third thing
is DC participating in the process willhave implications around having a US senators that
represent a broader base of people thatcan actually create a broader voice for all
of us around the nation. Ithas implications on not just on state and
local policy, but also on nationalpolicy going forward. Miss Brown, you
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talk about your organization being a threehundred and sixty five day a year organization.
Tell us more about what your organizationand what you do on the non
election days to organize. Yeah,you know that part of what we think
has been disheartening around why we seeless oftentimes in elections. You have fifty
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percent of populations that don't even botherto engage in the election process. And
so for us, we know thatit is important that part of the way
that you strengthen democracy is that youhave to increase engagement. And in order
to do that, that is ajob that you have to do three hundred
and sixty five days out of ayear. It has to be centered around
people actually having a vision where theycentered themselves, not just about an election
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cycle. And so for us,our work has been centered around how do
we engage communities year round in localelections. How do we work around issues,
policy issues, referendums, things thatactually impact people actually feeling a sense
of their power. You know,oftentimes it's hard to get people to get
excited about a presidential election and they'velost control of their local school board.
Local elections also matter, and theyoften happen. There's no such thing as
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an off year, and so forour work, that's part of our work.
Our work is doing a couple ofthings. One centering people as that
their power is important, and thentwo literally recognizing that this is ongoing work
because it's not just about elections.It's around how do we build power and
representation and a government government that wouldbe reflective of the people that make up
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this nation. How do you getto the Democratic Party all of its leadership
to be as energized as you are. And Black Voters Matter is around these
issues of voter suppression, voting rights, etc. There's a couple of things
that we've done this year. Oneof the things that we organize were centered
around a freedom ride that one wewanted to organize in local communities to make
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sure that we let elected officials intheir home areas know that this is an
important issue for us, This isa key priority issue and to put pressure.
What I've seen that works with anybody, whether they're Democrat, Republican,
but people that are in political office, is that you have to organize the
power to let them know of whatit is that you care about and what
you are what you feel as apriority. And so for us, part
of it isn't making sure that we'realways not just having a campaign that centered
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around a federal election, but thatwe're local league base, that we're building
the infrastructure and out the ecosystem oforganizations and groups that I actually will help
hold the political parties accountable and setin motion the kind of agenda that the
people want, so that in factthat it's not just about an election of
a person being elected, but it'saround how are we governed, what policy
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governs us, and who do weelect to govern us. You know,
I think we're out a perfect storm, you know, having last year where
we saw the largest political protests everin the history of this country. You
know, on the backdrop where therewas a whole generation of people who have
been activated. Now you know,once it's been open those young you now
have a generation of folks that thebaby boomers are not the majority of the
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electorate anymore. Now you have ayounger generation that have been activated. And
so what I think going forward thesevoter suppression tactics, they are suddenly going
to be catalytic, and I believethat we can actually getting people engaged in
this process of not just saying we'regoing to fight voter suppression, but that
we're going to demand that democracy isnot just aspirational in this country, but
in fact that it's achieved as it'slaid out in the institution. The one
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always needs grassroots organizers, people withpassion and focus and a strategy. And
therefore we can understand how you hadsuch an impact in twenty twenty. And
those who are really excited about DCstatehood are excited that black voters matter,
appreciate that it's a critical element withinthis arsenal. What an honor it's been
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for State of Play to have youhere, and we thank you for all
that you do, and thank youfor being a part of State of Play.
Thank you for having welcome back toState of Play. I'm Sharon Pratt
and with me is Karen Tramontano.And as you know, our topic today
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is voting rights and DC statehood.We have with us now a perfect guess
he is, indeed the senior Senatorfrom the great state of Illinois, as
well as the Senate majority already whipped, wanted honor to have you with us.
Senator Durban well Man, a mayor, It's great to be with you
this morning, and I know yourprogram is going to address some issues that
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we're all very concerned about. It. Well, let's begin. I mean,
we know that the President and theDemocratic Party have a very ambitious agenda
climate change and infrastructure, etc.In that environment, and given the position
of Mitch McConnell of almost battling everythingeven a January sixth commission, does DC
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statehood stand any chance on that agenda? No. I hate to be so
blunt about it, but no,I'll tell you it reflects a rather serious
situation across the country. I helda hearing as chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee six weeks ago and it wasentitled Jim Crow two point zero. The
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Republicans blew their stack over the title, but I picked it. I knew
it would be provocative in one respect, but I think it is totally accurate.
What's going on across the United Statesis an effort by the Republican Party
in legislature after legislature to restrict thevoting rights of black and brown voters,
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expressly because of the impact that theyhad in the last election. And they
make no bonds about it, theydon't apologize for it, and they're doing
things that will limit the opportunity forpeople to vote, period. And I'm
not talking about stopping fraud. We'reall for that, but there was little
or no evidence of that in anational election involving one hundred and fifty million
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voters, So you know, wereally don't need to move in that direction.
I would say the thing that troublesme the most, it really does,
is the fact that there aren't leadingRepublicans stepping up and saying this is
wrong. The Party of Abraham Lincoln, a party which has a rich history
of standing up for African Americans animposing enslavement, is now taking the opposite
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approach and restricting those votes. Andwith impunity. It doesn't appear that there's
any force within their party that isreally militating against the Senator German. Given
what you've just described, what arethe chances of any voting rights legislation getting
through the Senate? Well slim,but not impossible. And the reason I
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qualify it is Lisa Murkowski has spokenon this issue and I'm encouraged by that.
Now, that's a long way fromten Republican votes, but at least
we have one Republican who is vocalin her support for some form of voting
rights. We want to call ahearing on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act,
(32:52):
and it would be an effort toblunt the impact of the Shelby County
decision, so there would be preclarancewhen states make decisions or a Portionman for
example. That is not totally sufficient. We need to do more. That's
why I support HR one, Sone for the People Act that would establish
(33:13):
basic voting rights across America. Butat least we have a bipartisan conversation,
as thin as it may be,for the possibility of a voting rights a
passage. Well, Senator, doesit not appear that the filibuster is the
only path forward, and what chancedoes that have at least amending it to
some extent. Well, I wouldhope that we would amend it, because
(33:37):
when it reaches a point where themost fundamental things cannot be considered in the
Senate, we really have taken awaythe power of that body. The filibuster
was so rarely used in history.It was used at historic moments like the
civil rights debate in the sixties.Many of us still remember I was a
college student at the time. Neitherof you were born, But in that
(33:59):
experience, the filibuster was the obstacle, and the sixty seven votes to override
the filibuster was amended to sixty votesin the heat of that debate over civil
rights and voting rights. So itisn't impossible to consider modifications of filibuster.
But in terms of changing or abolishingthe filibuster in a fundamental fashion, we
(34:20):
need all fifty Democratic senators on boardfor that and the support of the Chair,
which we of course had with VicePresident Harris. But you know,
at this point, I think weought to consider modification if necessary, and
I think it is necessary. SenatorDurban, let me probe a little further
you need fifty votes for any modificationof the filibuster. Can you get fifty
(34:46):
votes? Good question, And JoeMansion of West Virginia has been very upfront
about his reluctance to eliminate the filibuster. He refers to former Senator Robert C.
Byrd, who was the patriarch ofthe Senate when I arrived and literally
decided the rules of the Senate.But if you read his biography closely,
(35:09):
you'll see he made exceptions when heneeded to, and I hope Joe Mansion
will be sensitive to that as well. I might also say that I sit
down with Bird once and said,you know, as you look at your
career, what do you think?He said, I had three bad votes,
and one of them and said ithe was civil rights. So you
know, to look to him forleadership in terms of modeling the future of
(35:30):
the Senate. Got to be sensitiveto the fact that even he was self
critical. Senator Durban, are youoptimistic about the Biden agenda getting through the
Senate? And if so, howwill it get through the Senate? We've
done a lot and we can domore, and thank goodness we have Joe
Biden as president because his value isreally mere mind to the great extent,
(35:55):
and I think his agenda is theright one for America, and we have
been able to pass some things.The American Rescue Plan is a good illustration
of it. I think there willbe an infrastructure built, but I think
we are building up to a reconciliationpackage. And those viewers who have followed
the Senate closely known that means thatwe don't have to worry about sixty moons.
A majority will do and the Vicepresident's available to make that majority.
(36:20):
So I think we can see thepassage of major elements the Biden agenda under
reconciliation. It's an elaborate process,but it's not impossible. The Trump tax
plan passed under reconciliation, So whenit comes down to fundamental political issues,
the reconciliation process can work well.Senate to Durbin, can you outline some
of the big ticket initiatives. Ithink you said infrastructure could be enacted in
(36:46):
spite of the filibuster. I askedthat question because Republicans, as shameless and
exercising power as reflected by they're pushing, you know, pushing their members candidates
on the Supreme Court should not Democratsbe just as shameless in the short time
we have. I think I wouldn'tuse the word shameless. I think we
(37:08):
can demonstrate that the process can bringquality individuals to the federal judiciary for lifetime
appointments. We recently had a nominee, Judge Jackson for the DC Circuit,
who is just an extraordinarily talented woman, and I think she has a good
chance being approved. And we've gotto stick with quality candidates to fill the
(37:31):
vacancies. There are a hundred vacanciesin the federal courts across America. Shame
on us if we don't fill themwith good people who can serve this nation
well, and we can be proudof nominating. I think Joe Biden is
on that as Chairman Judiciary. Iam too. I see we're closing.
I want to make sure that Imentioned a couple of things. First,
(37:52):
my friend and chairman of the CrimeSubcommittee on Judiciary, Corey Booker, is
working night and day on a newpolice law that could be extraordinary if we
get it done. Fingers crossed.We're moving toward that goal, and I
think we have a chance to reachit. In the memory of George Floyd
in pursuit of justice in our policing. Well, we're very hopeful with the
(38:19):
initiatives that you think that the Democratscan enact in spite of the resistance,
so the very obstructionist view taken byMcConnell. We're still hopeful that DC statehood,
which would ensure that the Senate hastwo safeties in terms of their margins,
can also be a part of thatagenda. But you've certainly enlightened us,
and we are all the better andricher Ford. Thank you so much
(38:43):
for your leadership, Senator, andthank you for being a part of State
of Play. Thank you. It'smy pleasure. I think I always wanted
to make a difference. I wantedto go into government to have a broader
impact than I could have ever hadas a litigator. I had in the
(39:04):
Clinton administration a really broad reach onpublic policy issues. Hopefully I can bring
some of that experience to State ofPlay. I want to be clear to
your listeners and viewers. I supportDC statehood. I can't remember a time
(39:25):
when I didn't. I went tocollege in law school in DC. I
arrived as a sophomore in college atGeorgetown in nineteen sixty three, so I
have been in this city for agreat part of my life, and I
believe it's only fair that people havestatehood and all the rights any other state
has when it comes to representation.But I don't think it is realistic to
(39:50):
move that way because I think theRepublicans view that as two Democratic votes in
the Senate if DC as statehood,and until they believe that that is not
an negative, I think they're goingto resist every turn. So it means
getting all fifty Democratic senators behind it, and of course Vice President Harris being
available for tiebreaking vote, and thatas a being asked. We have several
(40:15):
key issues, and if we can'tpass at January sixth Bipartisan commission investigating that
an insurrectionist insurrectionist mob that President Trumpturned loose onto the capital, you can
see how much of an uphill climatewe have. Welcome back to State of
Play. Karen Mark and I've hadvery rich conversations around the issue of voting
(40:37):
rights and DC statehood. DC statehoodand voting rights. They're practically inseparable,
and what we heard from the Democraticpolitical leadership is that they cared deeply about
voting rights DC statehood, but notso certain that they can make it happen
in this political climate. But wealso heard from the activists they don't want
(40:59):
to hear that, they're determined thatthese initiatives must happen now, and everybody
says the Republicans are absolutely clear they'regoing to hang on power and hang on
to their power by whatever means necessary. So it would appear to me we're
in store for a lot of politicalunrest in our country and the days ahead,
(41:22):
and we're at a moment in timewhere a choice has to be made
and we have to make the rightchoice. We have to make the right
choice for our country, and thatmeans we all have to engage, not
just the activists, but everybody whocares about the direction of our country.
You know, I was hardened tohear Miss Brown and what her organization is
(41:45):
doing three hundred sixty five days outof the year. They're not just waiting
for elections, and we can't either. You know, we are right now
looking at criticalgislation, not only makingDC a state, which is in my
view, essential, but also VotingRights Act. We're looking at those pieces
(42:13):
of legislation sitting in the Senate.Why because the balance of power is off
in the Senate. It does notreflect the will of the people, it
does not reflect a majority of thepeople, and we have to take it
back. We have to claim ourpower, we have to fight for our
(42:36):
rights. We can't wait and takea breath because the other side is moving
with clarity and clarity of purpose,and we have to do the same thing.
And if we don't, shame onus. Given the position of the
Republican Party, very clear about assertingtheir power, given the back and forth
(42:58):
within the Democratic Party, not socertain they're willing to do everything they must
do. And given the activist pointof view, I'm going to quote from
what is it all about to fastenyour seat belts. We're in for a
rocky ride. So we've got somereally interesting days ahead, and I'm glad
we talked about learning rights, DCstatehood on State of Play,
The following show is brought to youin partnership with the Institute of Politics,
Policy and History, Blue Star Strategies, Bright Road Incorporated, Make It Plain
Podcast, and RPC Media from thecampus of the University of the District of
(00:44):
Columbia. This is State of Play. Welcome to State of Play. I'm
Sharon Pratt with me, Karen Tramontano, and the Reverend Mark Thompson on topic
today, voting rights and DC statehood. We have an ideal expert with us
(01:07):
here, Ari Berman. He's thesenior reporter with Mother Jones and a prolific
writer. Thank you so much forbeing here him here, Pratt, thank
you for having me and great tojoin all of you. So as you
look out over the political landscape withall the voter suppression initiatives under way,
has there been any other moment inhistory comparable to this moment? Well,
(01:32):
this moment in American history really remindsme of the end of Reconstruction and the
beginning of Jim Crowe We have seenthe highest volume of bills to restrict voting
rights this year that we've seen sincethe end of Reconstruction, and I think
it follows a similar pattern, whichis new demographic groups turn out, the
(01:53):
party in power tries to use violenceand intimidation and fraud to prevent them from
winning in the election, and thenwhen that fails, they tried to disenfranchise
them legally. And so that's whatoccurred during Reconstruction. When black voters turned
out, they were met by violence, fraud, and intimidation, and that
succeeded for a time, but thereal disenfranchisement came through legal means, through
(02:16):
poll taxes, literacy tests, thingslike that. And I think the same
thing happened in twenty twenty. Youhad an attempt by Donald Trump to try
to overturn the election, trying tothrow out votes to incite violence, and
when that failed, they decided inall of these state legislative sessions in twenty
twenty one they were going to tryto legally disenfranchise their opponents or at least
tamp down voter turnout by changing thecountry's voting laws. And so it's not
(02:39):
as extreme as it was during Reconstruction, it's not as violent as it was
during Reconstruction, but there are certainlyparallels in terms of the approaches to disenfranchisement
back then and today. Wouldn't DC. Becoming the fifty first state not only
address voting rights for Washington, DC, but also help in terms of breaking
(03:00):
the Senate filibuster and hilt with votingrights around the country. I do think
that DC statehood would be a bighelp, not just to DC, but
to the overall composition of American politics. We have a political system, and
particularly a Congress that is much wider, more rural, and more conservative than
(03:21):
the country as a whole. Partof that reason, it's places like DC
that are much more diverse and muchmore progressive are denied voting representation. So
if you had two members of theSenate that represented a much more diverse constituency,
a much more progressive constituency, theywould vote differently than a Joe Mansion.
They would vote differently than a KirstenCinema. And by the way,
(03:42):
it only takes fifty one votes toabolish the filibuster. You could abolish the
filibuster the sixty vote requirement with amajority vote. So if there were two
more Democratic Senators from DC, ortwo more Senators from DC with more progressive
leadings, I believe they would bein favor of abolishing Philibusts are just like
the new crop of Democratic senators arein favor of abolishing filibuster right now,
(04:06):
mister Burman. In history, wehave these unique moments, these unique opportunities,
and sometimes we seize them for thebetter and we change, and sometimes
we fail to do that. Whatdo you see happening now? Well,
I think we're really at a turningpoint, and the questions which way are
(04:26):
we going to turn? Are wegoing to turn in a way that leads
to more access to the ballot,in a way that enfranchises more people,
that brings more people into the democraticprocess, That's what we had in twenty
twenty, we had the highest turnoutone hundred and twenty years. Or are
we going to go back to thedays where we have lower turnout, higher
disenfranchisement, more elections they're decided beforeanyone casts a ballot, and I don't
(04:51):
know. I mean, that's thechoice before us right now. I believe
if all of these Republican controlled statesare allowed to enact new restrictions on voting
and there is no federal response totry to stop it, then we're going
to move backwards. And the questionis just how far back? I believe
if the Congress takes bold action toprotect voting rights, it'll be a lot
(05:15):
easier to move forward. But rightnow we're at that pivotal hinge moment where
it really could go either way.How do we get the Senate to move
on these critical issues. It's reallyall on the Senate right now, because
the House has passed DC statehood.The House has passed the further people out.
The House will pass the John LewisVoting Rights Advancement Aculator this year.
(05:35):
Then it goes to the Senate.The first thing you need is fifty votes
to support these things, and thenyou need a willingness to try to get
rid of the filibuster, because Idon't believe any of these bills are going
to get sixty votes. And Ithink it's incredibly naive to believe that a
Republican party that is committed to votersuppression is suddenly going to support bills that
would stop voter suppression. Why wouldthey do that when they believe that's not
(05:58):
in their own interests? And soI think that really there needs to be
a political movement in America around protectingthe right to vote and around increasing representation
in society. I think we're gettingthere, but I think more needs to
be done. The fact that thePresident is speaking out more vocally about these
issues are tapping Vice President Harris tome is a good side. But I
(06:20):
think you need to make an argumentto these wavering Democratic senators that democracy is
on the line and that this isone of these pivotal moments where the federal
government has to step in to protectthe right to vote and also their own
political futures are on the line.The viability not just of democracy but of
the Democratic Party as an institution isunder threat here, or why else would
(06:44):
Republicans be passing all these measures.They're not doing it because they believe it's
not going to have an impact.They're doing it because they believe that it's
going to help them win future elections. So I think there needs to be
the same urgency among the Democratic Partyto protect voting rights as there is among
the Republican Party to suppress starting rights. Well, you have clarified it brilliantly,
(07:06):
and we can't thank you enough forwhat you do and for being on
State of Play, and we encourageour viewers to stay with us as we
continue to do a deep dive onvoting rights and DC Statehood. Thank you
so much for being with us onState of Play. Thanks so much for
her Well, you know, Iwas born in Washington, DC. I
(07:39):
was a black girl who was aWashington, DC resident, and I had
no power. You aren't going toachieve change unless you do a very good
job of sharing data and informing asmany people as possible as to why changages
upon you anyway. So are yougoing to shape it or as it is
(08:00):
going to overwhelm you? And thatis the point of State of Play.
Welcome back to State of Play.We've been fortunate to have some leading historians
on the show and we've asked themto tell us their thoughts about voting rights
(08:20):
in DC statehood. And here's whatthey had to say. It's like,
how do we stop black people fromhaving the power, the political power to
represent themselves in order to choose theirrepresentatives. How do we stop the wielding
of that power? And in thelarger context of the US Senate, there
(08:45):
is the fear because right now they'rebalanced at fifty fifty that what will happen
is because African Americans overwhelmingly vote forDemocrats, is that what that we'll do
was bring two Democratic senators into theUS Senate and h then there's there's,
there's it. It shifts the balanceof power, and they are absolutely afraid
(09:13):
of that. And so being willingto deny representation to over seven hundred thousand
people in order to maintain power iswhat we saw in the and the founding
of this nation, in the writingand the drafting of this constitution. It
(09:35):
is a through line, right.I mean, it seems to me that
Americans have to get a better senseof what they mean by democracy, what
does it mean to be committed todemocracy? Over and over again we see
example upon example of Americans willing tothrow democracy into the trash bin when it's
(09:56):
not consistent with their own comforts andthe own beliefs. As it were.
It makes no sense that you haveAmericans in DC, in Puerto Rico,
in Virgin Islands right without having thecapacity to be full fledged participants in our
democratic way of life. So itseems to me that part of the work
(10:18):
that has to be done, andthis is at a certain level of abstraction,
is to get clear on what youmean by your democratic commitment, to
get clear on what those commitments actuallyentail, and to understand that it's not
just for some, it's for allof us who claimed this place is ours,
if that makes sense. The CivilWar led to the enfranchisement of African
(10:46):
American men in the District of Columbia, and black men formed with white men
of iracial democracy for the first time. Starting in eighteen sixty seven, elected
African Americans to the city Council ofwhy Washington embarked on projects to improve the
city by paving the streets and gradingthe streets and really modernize the city.
(11:07):
And that experiment was brought to ahalt very quickly by people who were afraid
to see self government in the district, who were who didn't want to see
black men wielding this kind of poweralongside the traditional elites who had wielded power
in the past. And so fromthat in the eighteen seventies you get this
(11:28):
commission form of government that ruled thecity and the district again for almost one
hundred years until the Civil Rights era, when gradually home rule was restored,
but none of that fixed. Aswe have been discussing recently, the problem
that the hundreds of thousands of peoplethat live in the District of Columbia have
(11:50):
no representation in Congress, and atthis point it's an anachronism. It's something
that is a relic of the pastand really does not not consistent with democratic
values that we hold true today.Welcome back to State of Play. I'm
(12:11):
Sharon Pratton. As you know,our topic today is voting rights and DC
statehood and we've got someone with uswho is a leader on this issue and
we are very honored to have him, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee,
Jamie Harrison. What an honor tohave you with us, mister Chairman,
(12:31):
thank you so much for having me. Mayor. Well, the Democratic
Party in some ways surprised people,not entirely surprising because with Joe Biden's victory
had surprised the other party in theelection, but with eight million popular votes
me and more popular votes than threehundred and six selectoral votes. But I
think they were a little surprised withthe Democrats flip Georgia and one basically the
(12:56):
Senate, so the party is inan ex in position to advance its agenda.
How do you feel that the partyis doing, particularly given this backlash
around voting rights from the Republicans.Well in general, Mare, I think
the state of the Party is very, very strong, and when you take
up the latest polling, we're findingthat we are getting the highest number of
(13:20):
Democratic Party Identifycations identifiers in some ofthe latest polling. That's because people are
starting to leave the Republican Party likeit was the Titanic, and who can
blame them when it's a dumpster fire. On the other side, when you
got people like Kevin McCarthy, theleader in the House, who is standing
(13:43):
in the way of the January sixthCommission, and he's more concerned about playing
with mister potato head dolls and readingDoctor SEUs than actually doing the business of
the people of this great nation.You know, under this administration, under
Joe Biden, we were able topass historic legislation to address the COVID crisis
(14:03):
that we had in this country.We put money in pockets, people stayed
in their jobs, vaccines and arms, and kids back into schools. And
we did all that with support fromDemocrats in the House and the Senate,
and not one Republican supported the effort. Now there are plenty of them who
are trying to take credit for it, but not one of them voted for
(14:24):
this legislation. When the American peopleneeded them the most, and it's shameful.
And that's why I think the DemocraticParty is in a much stronger position
that we've been in the past,because not only are we are passing legislation
to impact people, but we're lettingpeople know that it was the Democratic Party
who did it and not one Republicansupported it. Well, the Democrats have
(14:46):
a slim majority, but nonetheless amajority in the House, and Speaker Pelosi
definitely knows how to summon that vote. In the Senate, we've got a
tie. And so in order toget the Recovery Act or the Legend,
you know, President Biden and theSchumer they had to use reconciliation, as
(15:09):
I recall, because the Republicans didn'twant to support it. How do you
get through how do you advance anagenda, be it around voting rights,
climate control, gun control, youname it. If in fact, the
Republicans refuse to support us, wellit's difficult. Mayor. We all know
how the Senate has operated historically.It is you know, I'm a house
(15:33):
guy, used to work in theHouse of Representatis. I ran the whip
operation for Jim Clarbin back in theday, and so just a simple majority
is enough in order to get thingsand move in the House. Senate operates
a little differently, and particularly aslong as the filibuster is still an important
component of how they operate, itmakes it much more difficult. But you
(15:54):
know, there's things and fundamental changesthat they can do to change in Let's
do the phil If you're gonna keepthe filibuster, let people stand up in
the well of the Senate. Letthem filibuster until their feet start to bleed
and they and they have to usedepends or whatever that to filibuster to civil
(16:15):
rights legislation or the voting rights legislation. Let the American people see these people
for who they are, not justphone it in and say, well,
we're gonna filibuster and now we're gonnago off for a weekend down in cancou
Cancoon, Mexico or something i e. Ted Cruise. Let let's make sure
(16:36):
that these people are standing up andthe American people can see them for who
they are, that they're blocking thelegislation that we all want and we all
need in order to improve our lives. If we're talking about, you know,
advancing the democratic agenda, the Republicansplay hardball is reflected by how they
pack the court. You know,within weeks of a change of administration.
(16:59):
The Democrats need to have more supportin the Senate, and the Democrats could
have more support in the Senate ifwe had DC statehood. And it isn't
an over a stretch, it's nota reach of power. It's about seven
hundred thousand people not having representation,even though they defend this country, even
(17:22):
defended it on January sixth, youknow, with the insurrection, have paid
taxes all these years, Will theDemocrats really really really get behind DC statehood
in their own interest? Well,listen, the Democratic support for DC statehood
is unequivocal. We saw the strongand unified excuse me, the strong and
(17:47):
unified support for DC statehood coming outof a House of Representatives. That bill
is now sitting in the Senate,and we have almost unanimous support there in
the United States Senate for this outof the Democratic Caucus. We got to
get over the fieldibuster, and wegot to figure out a way to do
that, because this is you know, this isn't about the politics of Democrats
(18:08):
adding one or two more seats tothe US Senate. This is about doing
the right thing for the people wholive in the District of Columbia. So
you can take politics aside of it. It's about doing the right thing.
These are citizens of this country whopay taxes. They pay more taxes than
twenty one other states, but yetthey don't have voting representation either in the
(18:32):
House or the Senate. That isfundamentally wrong and we got to change it.
And this needs to be about doingwhat is in the best interests of
the people of the District of Columbia, and what's in the best interest of
the country. Were senders of thecountry. Yes, if we're talking about
democracy and being this beacon of lightingfor the rest of the world, the
(18:55):
model, then this is something thatwe have to do because it's the right
thing to do. Yes, well, you know, I have absolutely no
I'm very impassionate, impassionate about this. I was born in the District of
Columbia, born a African American womanin a community where you had no votes
of any kind. Finally could votefor president and then got limited home rule.
(19:18):
But this is in the interest ofAmerica. And if we're to have
a representative democracy, we've got tohave everybody who is a taxpayer who defends
this country represented now the Republicans playhardball, well, the Democrats play hardball.
For example, they're those I thinkStacy Abrahams is one who said we
should suspend the filibuster around any issueconnected to voting rights or not we to
(19:44):
or not. The Democrats insist thatany kind of legislation the deals with voting
rights, the filibusters should be suspended. Well, listen, I think Chuck
Schumer and the Senate Democrats have todo anything that they have to do in
order to make sure the right thinggets done for the American people. DC
statehood, making sure voting rights areprotected around this country, making sure people
(20:06):
have decent and affordable healthcare, makingsure that we address the issue of climate
change. So I'll let Schumer tacklethat in terms of what he's going to
do. But I can tell youwhat if I were in the United States
Senate right now, we would bethat much closer to DC statehood. We'll
be that much closer to making surethat climate change is sufficiently addressed. We
(20:27):
need the right type of people inthe United States Senate helping us move this
country forward. Right now, we'renot getting any of that support from the
Republican Party. They're like a dumpsterfire right now, only looking out for
their own political interests and political powerand not what's in the best interests of
this great nation virus, and sothe have to do right. No,
(20:49):
I'm sorry, mister chairman, you'reright, I'm happy to hear it well.
And the Democrats they have to doeverything that they can within their power
because mayor what we don't want is, you know, history is going to
look back on how we have livedand all that we have done, and
this is going to be an interestingtime for the history books. And the
(21:10):
question is when our democracy was onfire, when Rome was on fire,
what did you do? If you'rein the United States Senate, what did
you do, if you're in theUnited States House, what did you do
if you're just an activist on theground, what did you do in order
to defend and protect our democracy?And that's something that we're all going to
have to answer. Well, we'revery pleased that you're here. We're very
(21:34):
pleased for your insights on State ofPlay. Thank you. Welcome back to
(21:55):
State of Play. I'm sharing Prattwith me Karen Traum and Tano and the
Reverend Mark Thompson. The topic todayvoting rights and DC statehood. We have
the perfect guests, Natasha Brown.She's a community activist, a political strategist,
and co founder of Black Voters Matter. What an honor to have you
with us. Thank you for havingme here to today. Thank you.
(22:18):
So black voters mattered in twenty twentyand if so, how so? You
know, we made the difference aroundthe outcome of the election. We made
the difference in the outcome of thepresidential election and in the Senate races.
And so I think, if anything, we've shown the leverage of our power
and the leverage of went happens whenwe turn out in record numbers. Well,
Republicans clearly noticed, miss Brown,that black voters made a huge difference
(22:42):
in the twenty twenty election, andnow they are working state by state to
enact voter repression laws. How isyour organization going to be handling this challenge.
Well, we've decided that we're goingto organize I kind of I think
of it in three bucks. We'regoing to organize around the community. And
(23:02):
so we've been doing a lot ofcommunity outreach, working with organizations and groups
throughout Texas, Georgia, Florida throughoutthe nation that are pushing back on this.
Secondly, that we would actually organizethe coffers that we launched a corporate
campaign to put pressure on corporations toactually stand with us and to stand against
voting rights, and also pressure inthe court. So we found several lawsuits
to actually against the states. We'recurrently suing the states that have actually passed
(23:27):
voter suppression laws right now. Andso we believe that the way that you
build powers, you have to organize, and you have to organize that power.
Organized power is realized. Power hasalso added the issue, thankfully,
of DC statehood to its priorities.Correct, that's right. We think that
DC is the DC statehood issue isthe embodiment of voter suppression. You know,
(23:49):
here you have millions of people whoare being denied their right to vote.
There's taxation without representation. And sowe believe that this is a part
of the largest struggle that we havea protecting vote rights in this country and
that DC deserves statehood by the natureof you've got citizens that are in citizens
that are in the district, thatare paying taxes, that are actually more
citizen that country. In several statesin this nation currently. And you know,
(24:14):
DC statehood certainly matters for those ofus who are born in Washington,
DC, But why should DC statehoodmatter to constituents everywhere across America? You
know, it's such an excellent question. It's kind of like the question that
you know Georgia. Georgia has alwaysbeen a state that hasn't been in play,
and oftentimes in the presidential election islike, oh, that's one of
those states in the South. Youknow, we found ourselves earlier this year
(24:37):
where everybody was holding their breath on, Oh my goodness, what is going
to happen then, Georgia. That'sbecause what happens in one state, one
happens in one era, actually impactsall of us. And so in DC,
I think the relevance of the coloredcouple of things. One. I
think what you're seeing in DC isthat to not have people in DC represented
right literally in itself, that thatis a week that weakens democracy. That
(24:57):
I think that as a part ofstrengthening democracy of making sure that we have
representation. The second thing is there'simplications that you have communities of color that
are actually being shut out of thisprocess. And I think part of this
debate of DC statehood is primarily senatoraround it is a community, is a
city that is a majority minority city, and so that that a lot of
(25:18):
the attempts to continue to actually marginalizeour voice. And then the third thing
is DC participating in the process willhave implications around having a US senators that
represent a broader base of people thatcan actually create a broader voice for all
of us around the nation. Ithas implications on not just on state and
local policy, but also on nationalpolicy going forward. Miss Brown, you
(25:42):
talk about your organization being a threehundred and sixty five day a year organization.
Tell us more about what your organizationand what you do on the non
election days to organize. Yeah,you know that part of what we think
has been disheartening around why we seeless oftentimes in elections. You have fifty
(26:04):
percent of populations that don't even botherto engage in the election process. And
so for us, we know thatit is important that part of the way
that you strengthen democracy is that youhave to increase engagement. And in order
to do that, that is ajob that you have to do three hundred
and sixty five days out of ayear. It has to be centered around
people actually having a vision where theycentered themselves, not just about an election
(26:25):
cycle. And so for us,our work has been centered around how do
we engage communities year round in localelections. How do we work around issues,
policy issues, referendums, things thatactually impact people actually feeling a sense
of their power. You know,oftentimes it's hard to get people to get
excited about a presidential election and they'velost control of their local school board.
Local elections also matter, and theyoften happen. There's no such thing as
(26:48):
an off year, and so forour work, that's part of our work.
Our work is doing a couple ofthings. One centering people as that
their power is important, and thentwo literally recognizing that this is ongoing work
because it's not just about elections.It's around how do we build power and
representation and a government government that wouldbe reflective of the people that make up
(27:08):
this nation. How do you getto the Democratic Party all of its leadership
to be as energized as you are. And Black Voters Matter is around these
issues of voter suppression, voting rights, etc. There's a couple of things
that we've done this year. Oneof the things that we organize were centered
around a freedom ride that one wewanted to organize in local communities to make
(27:32):
sure that we let elected officials intheir home areas know that this is an
important issue for us, This isa key priority issue and to put pressure.
What I've seen that works with anybody, whether they're Democrat, Republican,
but people that are in political office, is that you have to organize the
power to let them know of whatit is that you care about and what
you are what you feel as apriority. And so for us, part
of it isn't making sure that we'realways not just having a campaign that centered
(27:56):
around a federal election, but thatwe're local league base, that we're building
the infrastructure and out the ecosystem oforganizations and groups that I actually will help
hold the political parties accountable and setin motion the kind of agenda that the
people want, so that in factthat it's not just about an election of
a person being elected, but it'saround how are we governed, what policy
(28:17):
governs us, and who do weelect to govern us. You know,
I think we're out a perfect storm, you know, having last year where
we saw the largest political protests everin the history of this country. You
know, on the backdrop where therewas a whole generation of people who have
been activated. Now you know,once it's been open those young you now
have a generation of folks that thebaby boomers are not the majority of the
(28:37):
electorate anymore. Now you have ayounger generation that have been activated. And
so what I think going forward thesevoter suppression tactics, they are suddenly going
to be catalytic, and I believethat we can actually getting people engaged in
this process of not just saying we'regoing to fight voter suppression, but that
we're going to demand that democracy isnot just aspirational in this country, but
in fact that it's achieved as it'slaid out in the institution. The one
(29:00):
always needs grassroots organizers, people withpassion and focus and a strategy. And
therefore we can understand how you hadsuch an impact in twenty twenty. And
those who are really excited about DCstatehood are excited that black voters matter,
appreciate that it's a critical element withinthis arsenal. What an honor it's been
(29:25):
for State of Play to have youhere, and we thank you for all
that you do, and thank youfor being a part of State of Play.
Thank you for having welcome back toState of Play. I'm Sharon Pratt
and with me is Karen Tramontano.And as you know, our topic today
(29:48):
is voting rights and DC statehood.We have with us now a perfect guess
he is, indeed the senior Senatorfrom the great state of Illinois, as
well as the Senate majority already whipped, wanted honor to have you with us.
Senator Durban well Man, a mayor, It's great to be with you
this morning, and I know yourprogram is going to address some issues that
(30:10):
we're all very concerned about. It. Well, let's begin. I mean,
we know that the President and theDemocratic Party have a very ambitious agenda
climate change and infrastructure, etc.In that environment, and given the position
of Mitch McConnell of almost battling everythingeven a January sixth commission, does DC
(30:33):
statehood stand any chance on that agenda? No. I hate to be so
blunt about it, but no,I'll tell you it reflects a rather serious
situation across the country. I helda hearing as chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee six weeks ago and it wasentitled Jim Crow two point zero. The
(30:57):
Republicans blew their stack over the title, but I picked it. I knew
it would be provocative in one respect, but I think it is totally accurate.
What's going on across the United Statesis an effort by the Republican Party
in legislature after legislature to restrict thevoting rights of black and brown voters,
(31:18):
expressly because of the impact that theyhad in the last election. And they
make no bonds about it, theydon't apologize for it, and they're doing
things that will limit the opportunity forpeople to vote, period. And I'm
not talking about stopping fraud. We'reall for that, but there was little
or no evidence of that in anational election involving one hundred and fifty million
(31:38):
voters, So you know, wereally don't need to move in that direction.
I would say the thing that troublesme the most, it really does,
is the fact that there aren't leadingRepublicans stepping up and saying this is
wrong. The Party of Abraham Lincoln, a party which has a rich history
of standing up for African Americans animposing enslavement, is now taking the opposite
(32:02):
approach and restricting those votes. Andwith impunity. It doesn't appear that there's
any force within their party that isreally militating against the Senator German. Given
what you've just described, what arethe chances of any voting rights legislation getting
through the Senate? Well slim,but not impossible. And the reason I
(32:27):
qualify it is Lisa Murkowski has spokenon this issue and I'm encouraged by that.
Now, that's a long way fromten Republican votes, but at least
we have one Republican who is vocalin her support for some form of voting
rights. We want to call ahearing on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act,
(32:52):
and it would be an effort toblunt the impact of the Shelby County
decision, so there would be preclarancewhen states make decisions or a Portionman for
example. That is not totally sufficient. We need to do more. That's
why I support HR one, Sone for the People Act that would establish
(33:13):
basic voting rights across America. Butat least we have a bipartisan conversation,
as thin as it may be,for the possibility of a voting rights a
passage. Well, Senator, doesit not appear that the filibuster is the
only path forward, and what chancedoes that have at least amending it to
some extent. Well, I wouldhope that we would amend it, because
(33:37):
when it reaches a point where themost fundamental things cannot be considered in the
Senate, we really have taken awaythe power of that body. The filibuster
was so rarely used in history.It was used at historic moments like the
civil rights debate in the sixties.Many of us still remember I was a
college student at the time. Neitherof you were born, But in that
(33:59):
experience, the filibuster was the obstacle, and the sixty seven votes to override
the filibuster was amended to sixty votesin the heat of that debate over civil
rights and voting rights. So itisn't impossible to consider modifications of filibuster.
But in terms of changing or abolishingthe filibuster in a fundamental fashion, we
(34:20):
need all fifty Democratic senators on boardfor that and the support of the Chair,
which we of course had with VicePresident Harris. But you know,
at this point, I think weought to consider modification if necessary, and
I think it is necessary. SenatorDurban, let me probe a little further
you need fifty votes for any modificationof the filibuster. Can you get fifty
(34:46):
votes? Good question, And JoeMansion of West Virginia has been very upfront
about his reluctance to eliminate the filibuster. He refers to former Senator Robert C.
Byrd, who was the patriarch ofthe Senate when I arrived and literally
decided the rules of the Senate.But if you read his biography closely,
(35:09):
you'll see he made exceptions when heneeded to, and I hope Joe Mansion
will be sensitive to that as well. I might also say that I sit
down with Bird once and said,you know, as you look at your
career, what do you think?He said, I had three bad votes,
and one of them and said ithe was civil rights. So you
know, to look to him forleadership in terms of modeling the future of
(35:30):
the Senate. Got to be sensitiveto the fact that even he was self
critical. Senator Durban, are youoptimistic about the Biden agenda getting through the
Senate? And if so, howwill it get through the Senate? We've
done a lot and we can domore, and thank goodness we have Joe
Biden as president because his value isreally mere mind to the great extent,
(35:55):
and I think his agenda is theright one for America, and we have
been able to pass some things.The American Rescue Plan is a good illustration
of it. I think there willbe an infrastructure built, but I think
we are building up to a reconciliationpackage. And those viewers who have followed
the Senate closely known that means thatwe don't have to worry about sixty moons.
A majority will do and the Vicepresident's available to make that majority.
(36:20):
So I think we can see thepassage of major elements the Biden agenda under
reconciliation. It's an elaborate process,but it's not impossible. The Trump tax
plan passed under reconciliation, So whenit comes down to fundamental political issues,
the reconciliation process can work well.Senate to Durbin, can you outline some
of the big ticket initiatives. Ithink you said infrastructure could be enacted in
(36:46):
spite of the filibuster. I askedthat question because Republicans, as shameless and
exercising power as reflected by they're pushing, you know, pushing their members candidates
on the Supreme Court should not Democratsbe just as shameless in the short time
we have. I think I wouldn'tuse the word shameless. I think we
(37:08):
can demonstrate that the process can bringquality individuals to the federal judiciary for lifetime
appointments. We recently had a nominee, Judge Jackson for the DC Circuit,
who is just an extraordinarily talented woman, and I think she has a good
chance being approved. And we've gotto stick with quality candidates to fill the
(37:31):
vacancies. There are a hundred vacanciesin the federal courts across America. Shame
on us if we don't fill themwith good people who can serve this nation
well, and we can be proudof nominating. I think Joe Biden is
on that as Chairman Judiciary. Iam too. I see we're closing.
I want to make sure that Imentioned a couple of things. First,
(37:52):
my friend and chairman of the CrimeSubcommittee on Judiciary, Corey Booker, is
working night and day on a newpolice law that could be extraordinary if we
get it done. Fingers crossed.We're moving toward that goal, and I
think we have a chance to reachit. In the memory of George Floyd
in pursuit of justice in our policing. Well, we're very hopeful with the
(38:19):
initiatives that you think that the Democratscan enact in spite of the resistance,
so the very obstructionist view taken byMcConnell. We're still hopeful that DC statehood,
which would ensure that the Senate hastwo safeties in terms of their margins,
can also be a part of thatagenda. But you've certainly enlightened us,
and we are all the better andricher Ford. Thank you so much
(38:43):
for your leadership, Senator, andthank you for being a part of State
of Play. Thank you. It'smy pleasure. I think I always wanted
to make a difference. I wantedto go into government to have a broader
impact than I could have ever hadas a litigator. I had in the
(39:04):
Clinton administration a really broad reach onpublic policy issues. Hopefully I can bring
some of that experience to State ofPlay. I want to be clear to
your listeners and viewers. I supportDC statehood. I can't remember a time
(39:25):
when I didn't. I went tocollege in law school in DC. I
arrived as a sophomore in college atGeorgetown in nineteen sixty three, so I
have been in this city for agreat part of my life, and I
believe it's only fair that people havestatehood and all the rights any other state
has when it comes to representation.But I don't think it is realistic to
(39:50):
move that way because I think theRepublicans view that as two Democratic votes in
the Senate if DC as statehood,and until they believe that that is not
an negative, I think they're goingto resist every turn. So it means
getting all fifty Democratic senators behind it, and of course Vice President Harris being
available for tiebreaking vote, and thatas a being asked. We have several
(40:15):
key issues, and if we can'tpass at January sixth Bipartisan commission investigating that
an insurrectionist insurrectionist mob that President Trumpturned loose onto the capital, you can
see how much of an uphill climatewe have. Welcome back to State of
Play. Karen Mark and I've hadvery rich conversations around the issue of voting
(40:37):
rights and DC statehood. DC statehoodand voting rights. They're practically inseparable,
and what we heard from the Democraticpolitical leadership is that they cared deeply about
voting rights DC statehood, but notso certain that they can make it happen
in this political climate. But wealso heard from the activists they don't want
(40:59):
to hear that, they're determined thatthese initiatives must happen now, and everybody
says the Republicans are absolutely clear they'regoing to hang on power and hang on
to their power by whatever means necessary. So it would appear to me we're
in store for a lot of politicalunrest in our country and the days ahead,
(41:22):
and we're at a moment in timewhere a choice has to be made
and we have to make the rightchoice. We have to make the right
choice for our country, and thatmeans we all have to engage, not
just the activists, but everybody whocares about the direction of our country.
You know, I was hardened tohear Miss Brown and what her organization is
(41:45):
doing three hundred sixty five days outof the year. They're not just waiting
for elections, and we can't either. You know, we are right now
looking at criticalgislation, not only makingDC a state, which is in my
view, essential, but also VotingRights Act. We're looking at those pieces
(42:13):
of legislation sitting in the Senate.Why because the balance of power is off
in the Senate. It does notreflect the will of the people, it
does not reflect a majority of thepeople, and we have to take it
back. We have to claim ourpower, we have to fight for our
(42:36):
rights. We can't wait and takea breath because the other side is moving
with clarity and clarity of purpose,and we have to do the same thing.
And if we don't, shame onus. Given the position of the
Republican Party, very clear about assertingtheir power, given the back and forth
(42:58):
within the Democratic Party, not socertain they're willing to do everything they must
do. And given the activist pointof view, I'm going to quote from
what is it all about to fastenyour seat belts. We're in for a
rocky ride. So we've got somereally interesting days ahead, and I'm glad
we talked about learning rights, DCstatehood on State of Play,
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