Following Historic Floor Speech, Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock Continues to Call for Voting Rights Protections, Federal Action

Senator Reverend Warnock: “I rise, Mr. President, because that sacred and noble idea—one person, one vote—is being threatened right now. Politicians in my home state and all across America, in their craven lust for power, have launched a full-fledged assault on voting rights. They are focused on winning at any cost, even the cost of the democracy itself.”
New York Times: “[Senator Warnock’s] speech is also part and parcel of a Black tradition of calling on the government to fulfill the nation’s professed values”
Senator Jeff Merkley:” Not only was this Senator Warnock’s first floor speech, but it was also one of the most moving speeches I have ever heard. We need to get the For The People Act to the finish line to protect the right to vote for all Americans.”

***WATCH FULL VIDEO OF SENATOR WARNOCK’S MEET THE PRESS INTERVIEW [HERE]***

Washington, D.C. – Last Wednesday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) delivered a historic maiden floor speech calling for federal action to protect the sacred right to vote and uphold the foundational principles of American democracy. Senator Warnock continues to push his Senate colleagues to support the For The People Act, on which he is a lead co-sponsorand the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to further protect the right to vote and expand access to the ballot box to all eligible voters in Georgia and across the country.

Senator Warnock’s speech comes after the introduction of scores of voter suppressions bills in Georgia’s General Assembly and state legislatures across the country. Georgians, and Americans, listened to and heard Senator Warnock’s resonant call to action and renewed commitment to fighting for the dignity of every voter.

READ MORE on Senator Warnock’s call to protect voting rights:

NEW YORK TIMES: ‘This is Jim Crow in New Clothes’:

“Senator Warnock is part of that legacy. His speech is also part and parcel of a Black tradition of calling on the government to fulfill the nation’s professed values. The question, as always, is whether Congress will actually act to secure democracy for all of its citizens and whether we’ll withstand the inevitable backlash if it does.”

MSNBC’s MEET THE PRESS: ‘We all know hate when we see it’

Senator Warnock: “When you can buy a gun and create this much carnage and violence on the same day [in reference to ATL spa shootings] but if you want to exercise your right to vote as an American citizen, the same legislature that should be focused on this is busy erecting barriers to that constitutional right.”

AJC: Warnock, in first floor speech, champions federal voting laws to blunt GA’s proposed restrictions

“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he also plans to lean on Warnock for help making the case for why this bill should become law. ‘He knows what voter suppression is like in Georgia; he knows what they’re doing now,’ Schumer said, referring to a number of voting restrictions now being considered in the state legislature. ‘I think he’s going to be a very persuasive voice for Democrats and Republicans to pass S. 1.’”

MSNBC’s MORNING JOE: Sen. Warnock: Voting Rights Is Bigger Than The Filibuster 

Senator Warnock “Voting rights is not just one issue alongside other issues, it is about who we say we are. It is about our covenant with one another as an American people. […] My argument is that voting rights is bigger than the filibuster and we must pass voting rights, whether we get rid of the filibuster or not.”

WASHINGTON POST: Warnock: GOP voting restrictions resurrect ‘Jim Crow era’

“The first-term senator’s speech followed Senate Democrats’ introduction of a sweeping election law overhaul, called the “For the People Act,” that could override many of the restrictive measures that Republicans are pushing at the state level. Warnock is the Senate bill’s lead sponsor. The House passed its version in the previous Congress and again last month on a 220-210 vote that fell along party lines.”

GEORGIA RECORDER: Warnock argues for federal protection from state GOP voting bills


“During his 20-minute Senate chamber speech, Warnock drew parallels to the Jim Crow era that disenfranchised Black voters to the current Republican-led efforts targeting absentee and early voting options and an array of other changes to voting laws. Warnock said those proposals show the pressing need for bipartisan federal support behind the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.”

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF SENATOR WARNOCK’S FIRST FLOOR SPEECH HERE.

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