H.R. 4 Passed the House ... So What?
We definitely need a strong voting rights law. But, there's a lot of premature praising and celebration of a bill that can't get through the Senate and hasn't been signed into law
Publisher’s Note
The House today passed H.R. 4, an essential piece of legislation otherwise known as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Introduced by Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL), it passed by party line: 219 Democrats versus all 212 Republicans. A number of groups, from Members of Congress to a former Attorney General, are either applauding or celebrating its passage or offering platitudes to the memory of their late "friend" and civil rights icon John Lewis ...
But: what exactly are they celebrating about?
There are two big problems here with the tendency of Democrats - in particular - to victory lap every last incremental step or move towards the goal post they make during major policy fights, especially in the war to preserve voting rights ...
It's Not Law, Yet
That HR 4 passed the House is no big achievement - because it's not law, yet. Nor was it really that much of a big sweat because Democrats - the only political party that supports voting rights and that doesn't reject Constitutional rights and government - actually control the House. To make this law, it must pass the Senate to get to the President's desk for signature. So, why are folks celebrating a formality that we all know doesn't register anything on the political Richter scale?
Plus: This is actually the second time HR 4 passed the House and didn't go anywhere else beyond that point. It still hasn't passed the Senate, nor any voting rights legislation for that matter, because Democrats 1) have a very slim 50+1 tie breaker majority and 2) Confederates ... sorry, Republicans, keep blocking any voting rights legislation by using the filibuster. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has given no indication, yet, that he's willing to push Rep. Jim Clyburn's (D-SC) proposal to deploy a "filibuster exemption," which would entail classifying the voting rights bill as a Constitutional measure so it can circumvent the filibuster as such. And President Biden refuses to put any real bully pulpit muscle behind this and won't divorce from his old school nostalgia for the filibuster (which, by the way, is ruining America).
There's nothing to celebrate, yet. It's not law. Get it passed through the Senate, get it signed into law by the President and then (maybe) we'll go out for drinks.
"Who's John Lewis?"
The vast majority of Americans who truly care about voting rights and who do vote know who the late John Lewis was and the great work he did. We all loved Lewis, and we adored and respected his gentle, but persistent statesmanship. But, the insistence of voting rights advocates and Democrats to constantly market his name with every mention or dramatic maneuever in the voting rights fight may actually be a bit less productive than mainstream advocates think. This fight is not about him or any one person’s “legacy.”
There must be much more urgency and red alertness around the plight for voting rights. Without it, we are inches away from regressing back to a time we thought we left behind; we are also inches away from the sort of permanent despotism that can only be unraveled through violent social unrest &, potentially, armed revolution - and no one, at least no one with any sense and kids, wants that. Hence, voting rights is a real existential issue. Yet, advocates keep framing it in the press and in public statements in soft brush strokes. It's something to preserve so, simply, "our voices can be heard." Or: we must pass it "because that's what John Lewis would've wanted." Or: we must push voting rights because "our democracy depends on it."
These end up as lofty, on-the-camping-trail phrases that diminish the real importance of the vote and the danger to it. Voting is not a "voice;" it is personal protection and muscle for you, your family, your neighborhood and the community. It is a weapon to combat fascism. It's the tool we use to elect people who enact layers of public policy to protect our communities and, ultimately, keep us all alive. Without it, we leave ourselves vulnerable to destructive tyranny. The still millions of Americans who remain untapped or resistant non-voters because they're not being approached or because they're not seeing the real value of voting to their lives either do not know who John Lewis was or do not care. They need to know: What's in it for them? And everyone from Democrats to mainstream voting rights advocates are not answering that. That is something, definitely, that John Lewis would've wanted them to do.