{"id":124962,"date":"2021-07-13T19:21:17","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T02:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=124962"},"modified":"2021-07-13T19:21:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T02:21:17","slug":"president-biden-on-protecting-the-sacred-constitutional-right-to-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=124962","title":{"rendered":"President Biden on Protecting the Sacred, Constitutional Right to Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Philadelphia, PA&#8230;.Thank you.  (Applause.)  I see an awful lot of good friends out there.  Please have a seat if you have one.  I \u2014 let me begin by saying I used to be important.  (Laughter.)  I used to be the chairman of the board of this place.  And Jeffrey Rosen allowed me to do that for a while.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Mdjo8d4iLtM\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But thank you all for being here.  I truly appreciate it.  Governor, it\u2019s above and beyond the call.  Mr. Mayor, I\u2019d compli- \u2014 I thought you were a great mayor \u2014 still think you are \u2014 but your judgment in fianc\u00e9es is even stronger.  And \u2014 but \u2014 but all of you.  And a good friend, Bobby Brady.  I see so many friends out.  Al Sharpton \u2014 Al, how are you, pal?  It\u2019s great to see you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m \u2014 I\u2019m going to get in trouble here because I\u2019m going to recognize my congresswoman from the state of Delaware, Lisa Blunt Rochester \u2014 (applause) \u2014 and her sister who used to run my office.  Stand up.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Well, folks, good afternoon.  There\u2019s a serious subject I\u2019d like to talk about today.  I\u2019m here in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center \u2014 the city and the place where the story of \u201cWe the People\u201d \u2014 \u201cWe the People\u201d began.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a story that\u2019s neither simple nor straightforward.  That\u2019s because the story is the sum of our parts, and all those parts are fundamentally human.  And being human is to be imperfect, driven by appetite and ambition as much as by goodness and grace.<\/p>\n<p>But some things in America should be simple and straightforward.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most important of those things \u2014 the most fundamental of those things \u2014 is the right to vote.  The right to vote freely.  (Applause)  The right to vote freely, the right  \u2014 the right to vote fairly, the right to have your vote counted.  The democratic threshold is liberty.  With it, anything is possible.  Without it, nothing \u2014 nothing. <\/p>\n<p>And for our democracy and the work \u2014 and to deliver our work and [for] our people, it\u2019s up to all of us to protect that right.  This is a test of our time and what I\u2019m here to talk about today.<\/p>\n<p>Just think about the past election. <\/p>\n<p>A 102-year-old woman in Arkansas who voted for the first time on the very spot she once picked cotton.<\/p>\n<p>A 94-year-old woman in Michigan who voted early and in person in her seventy-se- \u2014 72nd consecutive election.  You know what she said?  She said this election was, quote, \u201cthe most important vote that we ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The daughter who voted in the memory of her dad who died of COVID-19 so others wouldn\u2019t have the experience of pain and darkness and loss that she was going through.  Patients out there. <\/p>\n<p>And the parents \u2014 the parents who voted for school their children will learn in. <\/p>\n<p>Sons and daughters voted for the planet they\u2019re going to live on.<\/p>\n<p>Young people just turning 18 and everyone who, for the first time in their lives, thought they could truly make a difference.<\/p>\n<p>America \u2014 America and Americans of every background voted.  They voted for good jobs and higher wages.  They voted for racial equity and justice.  They voted to make healthcare a right, not a privilege.<\/p>\n<p>And the reason that Americans went to vote and the lengths they went to vote \u2014 to be able to vote in this past election were absolutely extraordinary.  In fact, the fact that so many election officials across the country made it easier and safer for them to be able to vote in the middle of a pandemic was remarkable.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, in 2020, more people voted in America than ever \u2014 ever in the history of America, in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>All told, more than 150 [million] Americans of every age, of every race, of every background exercised their right to vote.<\/p>\n<p>They voted early.  They voted absentee.  They voted in person.  They voted by mail.  They voted by drop box.  And then they got their families and friends to go out and vote.<\/p>\n<p>Election officials, the entire electoral system, withstood unrelenting political attacks, physical threats, intimidation, and pressure.  They did so with unyielding courage and<\/p>\n<p>faith in our democracy.<\/p>\n<p>With recount after recount after recount, court case after court case, the 2020 election was the most scrutinized election ever in American history.  Challenge after challenge brought to local, state, and election officials; state legislatures; state and federal courts \u2014 even to the United States Supreme Court not once, but twice.<\/p>\n<p>More than 80 judges, including those appointed by my predecessor, heard the arguments.  In every case, neither cause nor evidence was found to undermine the national achievement of administering this historic election in the face of such extraordinary challenges.  <\/p>\n<p>Audits, recounts were conducted in Arizona, in Wisconsin. In Georgia, it was recounted three times. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s clear.  For those who challenge the results and question the integrity of the election: No other election has ever been held under such scrutiny and such high standards.<\/p>\n<p>The Big Lie is just that: a big lie.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>The 2020 election \u2014 it\u2019s not hyperbole to suggest \u2014 the most examined and the fullest expression of the will of the people in the history of this nation.  This should be celebrated \u2014 the example of America at its best.  But instead, we continue to see an example of human nature at its worst \u2014 something darker and more sinister.<\/p>\n<p>In America, if you lose, you accept the results.  You follow the Constitution.  You try again.  You don\u2019t call facts \u201cfake\u201d and then try to bring down the American experiment just because you\u2019re unhappy.  That\u2019s not statesmanship.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not statesmanship; that\u2019s selfishness.  That\u2019s not democracy; it\u2019s the denial of the right to vote.  It suppresses.  It subjugates. <\/p>\n<p>The denial of full and free and fair elections is the most un-American thing that any of us can imagine, the most undemocratic, the most unpatriotic, and yet, sadly, not unprecedented.<\/p>\n<p>From denying enslaved people fu- \u2014 full citizenship until the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments after the Civil War; to denying women the right to vote until the 19th Amendment 100 years ago; to poll taxes and literacy tests, and the Ku Klux Klan campaigns of violence and terror that lasted into the \u201850s and \u201860s; to the Supreme Court decision in 2013 and then again just two weeks ago \u2013- a decision that weakened the landmark Voting Rights Act; to the willful attacks \u2014 election attacks in 2020; and then to a whole other level of threat \u2014 the violence and the deadly insurrection on the Capitol on January 6th.<\/p>\n<p>I just got back from Europe, speaking to the G7 and to NATO.  They wonder \u2014 not a joke \u2014 they wonder, Gov \u2014 they ask me, \u201cIs it going to be okay?\u201d  The citadel of democracy in the world, \u201cIs it o- \u2014 going to be okay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Time and again, we\u2019ve weathered threats to the right to vote in free and fair elections.  And each time, we found a way to overcome.  And that\u2019s what we must do today.<\/p>\n<p>Vice President Harris and I have spent our careers doing this work.  And I\u2019ve asked her to lead, to bring people together to protect the right to vote and our democracy.  And it starts with continuing the fight to pass H.R.1, the For the People Act.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>That bill \u2014 that bill would help end voter suppression in the states, get dark money out of politics, give voice to the people at the grassroots level, create a fairer district maps, and end partisan political gerrymandering. <\/p>\n<p>Last month, Republicans opposed even debating, even considering For the People Act.  Senate Democrats stood united to protect our democracy and the sanctity of the vote.  We must pass the For the People Act.  It\u2019s a national imperative. <\/p>\n<p>We must also fight for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore and expand \u2014 (applause) \u2014 to restore and expand voting protections and prevent voter suppression.  All the congresswomen and men here \u2014 there\u2019s a bunch of you \u2014 you knew John, many of you.<\/p>\n<p>Just weeks ago, the Supreme Court yet again weakened the Voting Rights Act and upheld what Justice Kagan called, quote, \u201ca significant race-based disparity in voting opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Court\u2019s decision, as harmful as is, does not limit the \u2014 Congress\u2019 ability to repair the damage done.  That\u2019s the important point.  It puts the burden back on Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act to its intended strength.<\/p>\n<p>As soon as Congress passes the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, I will sign it and let the whole world see it.  (Applause.)  That will be an important moment. <\/p>\n<p>And the world is wondering \u2014 the world is wondering \u2014 and Dwight knows what I\u2019m talking about, for real.  You know, the world is wondering, \u201cWhat is America going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But we also have to clear-eyed about the obstruction we face.  Legislation is one tool, but not the only tool.  And it\u2019s not the only measure of our obligation to defend democracy today. <\/p>\n<p>For example, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the United States Department of Justice is going to be using its authorities to challenge the onslaught of state laws undermining voting rights in old and new ways.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>The focus \u2014 the focus will be on dismantling racially discriminatory laws, like the recent challenge to Georgia\u2019s vicious anti-voting law.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice will do so with a voting rights division that \u2014 at my request \u2014 is doubling its size in enforcement staff.  (Applause)<\/p>\n<p>Civil rights groups \u2014 civil rights groups and other organizations have announced their plans to stay vigilant and challenge these odious laws in the courts.<\/p>\n<p>In Texas, for example, Republican-led state legislature wants to allow partisan poll watchers to intimidate voters and imperil impartial poll workers.  They want voters to dive [drive] farther and be able to be in a position where they wonder who\u2019s watching them and intimidating them; to wait longer to vote.  To drive a hell of lot lo- \u2014 excuse me \u2014 a long way \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 to get to vote.  They want to make it so hard and inconvenient that they hope people don\u2019t vote at all.  That\u2019s what this is about.<\/p>\n<p>This year alone, 17 states have enacted \u2014 not just proposed, but enacted \u2014 28 new laws to make it harder for Americans to vote, not to mention \u2014 and catch this \u2014 nearly 400 additional bills Republican members of the state legislatures are trying to pass.<\/p>\n<p>The 21st century Jim Crow assault is real.  It\u2019s unrelenting, and we\u2019re going to challenge it vigorously. <\/p>\n<p>While \u2014 (applause) \u2014 while this broad assault against voting rights is not unprecedented, it\u2019s taking on a new and, literally, pernicious forms.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no longer just about who gets to vote or making it easier for eligible voters to vote.  It\u2019s about who gets to count the vote \u2014 who gets to count whether or not your vote counted at all.  It\u2019s about moving from independent election administrators who work for the people to polarized state legislatures and partisan actors who work for political parties.<\/p>\n<p>To me, this is simple: This is election subversion.  It\u2019s the most dangerous threat to voting and the integrity of free and fair elections in our history.  Never before have they decided who gets to count \u2014 count \u2014 what votes count.<\/p>\n<p>Some \u2014 some legi- \u2014 state legislatures want to make it harder for you to vote.  And if you vote, they want to be able to tell you your vote doesn\u2019t count for any reason they make up.<\/p>\n<p>They want the ability to reject the final count and ignore the will of the people if their preferred candidate loses.<\/p>\n<p>And they\u2019re trying \u2014 not only targeting people of color, they\u2019re targeting voters of all races and backgrounds.  It\u2019s with a simple target: who did not vote for them.  That\u2019s the target.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unconscionable.  I mean, really, I \u2014 it\u2019s hard to \u2014 it\u2019s hard to declare just how critical this is.  It\u2019s simply unconscionable.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve got to shore up our election system and address the threats of election subversion, not just from abroad \u2014 which I spent time with Putin talking about \u2014 but from home.  From home.<\/p>\n<p>We must ask those who represent us at the federal, state, and local levels: Will you deny the will of the people?  Will you ignore their voices?<\/p>\n<p>We have to ask: Are you on the side of truth or lies; fact or fiction; justice or injustice; democracy or autocracy?  That\u2019s what it\u2019s coming down to.<\/p>\n<p>Which brings me to perhaps the most important thing we have to do: We have to for- \u2014 forge a coalition of Americans of every background and political party \u2014 the advocates, the students, the faith leaders, the labor leaders, the business executives \u2014 and raise the urgency of this moment.<\/p>\n<p>Because as much as people know they\u2019re screwing around with the election process, I don\u2019t think that most people think this is about who gets to count what vote counts \u2014 literally, not figuratively.  You vote for certain electors to vote for somebody for President.  State legislator comes along \u2014 under their proposal \u2014 and they say, \u201cNo, we don\u2019t like those electors.  We\u2019re going to appoint other electors who are going to vote for the other guy or other woman.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because here\u2019s the deal: In 2020, democracy was put to a test \u2014 first by the pandemic; then by a desperate attempt to deny the reality and the results of the election; and then by a violent and deadly insurrection on the Capitol, the citadel of our democracy.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been around a long time in public life.  I thought I\u2019ve seen it all or most of it all.  But I never thought I\u2019d see that, for real. <\/p>\n<p>And in spite of what you see on television \u2014 and you saw it \u2014 you have senators saying it was just a day at the Capitol, just people visiting the Capitol.<\/p>\n<p>Folks \u2014 but we met the test.  Because of the extraordinary courage of election officials \u2014 many of them Republicans; our court system; and those brave Capitol police officers \u2014 because of them, democracy held.<\/p>\n<p>Look how close it came.  I mean, for real, how close it came.  We\u2019re going to face another test in 2022: a new wave of unprecedented voter suppression, and raw and sustained election subversion.  We have to prepare now.<\/p>\n<p>As I\u2019ve said time and again: No matter what, you can never stop the American people from voting.  They will decide, and the power must always be with the people.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why, just like we did in 2020, we have to prepare for 2022.  We\u2019ll engage in an all-out effort to educate voters about the changing laws, register them to vote, and then get the vote out.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll encourage people to run for office themselves at every level.<\/p>\n<p>We will be asking my Republican friends \u2014 in Congress, in states, in cities, in counties \u2014 to stand up, for God\u2019s sake, and help prevent this concerted effort to undermine our elections and the sacred right to vote.  (Applause.)  Have you no shame?  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s stopping foreign interference in our elections or the spread of disinformation from within, we have to work together.<\/p>\n<p>Vice President Harris and I will be making it clear that there\u2019s real peril in making raw power, rather than the idea of liberty, the centerpiece of the common life.<\/p>\n<p>The Founders understood this.  The women of Seneca Falls understood this.  The brave, heroic foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement understood this.  So must we.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t about Democrats and Republicans; it\u2019s literally about who we are as Americans.  It\u2019s that basic.  It\u2019s about the kind of country we want today, the kind of country we want for our children and grandchildren tomorrow.  And quite frankly, the whole world is watching.  Folks \u2014 (applause).<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not being sentimental.  I\u2019m not preaching to you.  I\u2019m just giving it to you straight, as I promised I would always do \u2014 lay things out on the line and honor your trust with trust [truth].<\/p>\n<p>So hear me clearly: There is an unfolding assault taking place in America today \u2014 an attempt to suppress and subvert the right to vote in fair and free elections, an assault on democracy, an assault on liberty, an assault on who we are \u2014 who we are as Americans. <\/p>\n<p>For, make no mistake, bullies and merchants of fear and peddlers of lies are threatening the very foundation of our country. <\/p>\n<p>It gives me no pleasure to say this.  I never thought in my entire career I\u2019d ever have to say it.  But I swore an oath to you, to God \u2014 to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.  And that\u2019s an oath that forms a sacred trust to defend America against all threats both foreign and domestic.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>The assault on free and fair elections is just such a threat, literally.  I\u2019ve said it before: We\u2019re are facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.  That\u2019s not hyperbole.  Since the Civil War.  The Confederates back then never breached the Capitol as insurrectionists did on January the 6th.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not saying this to alarm you; I\u2019m saying this because you should be alarmed.  <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m also saying this: There\u2019s good news.  It doesn\u2019t have to be this way.  It doesn\u2019t have to be, for real.  We have the means.  We just need to show the will \u2014 the will to save and strengthen our democracy. <\/p>\n<p>We did it in 20- \u2014 we did it in the 2020.  The battle for the soul of America \u2014 in that battle, the people voted.  Democracy prevailed.  Our Constitution held.  We have to do it again.  <\/p>\n<p>My fellow Americans, it requires fair-mindedness; devotion to justice; corny as it sounds, a love of country.  It requires us to unite in common purpose, to declare here and now: We, the people, will never give up.  (Applause.)  We will not give in.  We will overcome.  We will do it together.  And guaranteeing the right to vote, ensuring every vote is counted has always been the most patriotic thing we can do.  (Applause.)  <\/p>\n<p>Just remember, our late friend John Lewis said, \u201cFreedom is not a state; it is an act.\u201d  \u201cFreedom is not a state; it is an act.\u201d  And we must act, and we will act.  For our cause is just, our vision is clear, and our hearts are full.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>For \u201cWe the People,\u201d for our democracy, for America itself, we must act.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops and all those stand watch over our democracy.  (Applause.)  But act.  We\u2019ve got to act.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Philadelphia, PA&#8230;.Thank you. (Applause.) I see an awful lot of good friends out there. Please have a seat if you have one. I \u2014 let me begin by saying I used to be important. (Laughter.) I used to be the chairman of the board of this place. And Jeffrey Rosen allowed me to do that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":124963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Fullscreen-capture-7132021-60856-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/124963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}