U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Missouri, said Friday she is continuing to fight to ensure Black voices are heard by co-sponsoring one of the first acts of the 117th Congressional session: H.R. 1, For the People Act.
The bill addresses voter access, election integrity, election security, political spending and ethics for the three branches of government.
Bush joined a group of community leaders and another of the bill’s co-sponsor, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Kansas City, in a media briefing Friday afternoon by Zoom. The meeting was among dozens of events nationwide urging Congress to pass both the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, H.R. 4.
Bush talked about the history of Black and Brown voter suppression, and how that effort continues today.
“There was an actual effort to overturn the election because they didn’t want Black and Brown and indiginous votes to count,” Bush said of the recent presidential election. “It happened right here in Missouri. Republican lawmakers passed unnecessary voter ID laws and a notary requirement. We saw polling places in our communities close and roadblocks put up to prevent formerly incarcerated people from reclaiming their rights.”
She also mentioned Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, who she said “saluted the white supremacicst mob” that stormed the Capitol Building earlier this month.
“All of these measures have one thing in common — they have one direct aim: To ensure that our voices are not heard,” Bush said.
Senate Democrats have called for an ethics investigation into Hawley’s objection to certifying Pennsylvania’s electoral votes.
“Joe Biden and the Democrats talk about unity but are brazenly trying to silence dissent,” Hawley wrote in a statement this week. “… Democrats appear intent on weaponizing every tool at their disposal — including pushing an unconstitutional impeachment process — to further divide the country. Missourians will not be cancelled by these partisan attacks.”
Kayla Reed, executive director of Action St. Louis, also talked about the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 during the media briefing Friday. She said that the riots were, in part, a response to the election results.
“Because there’s this belief that Black and Brown voters should not be able to determine who is elected and who will lead this country,” she said. “What we saw in D.C. was about power. Who has the power to decide the leadership of this country? And while there are no longer white supremacists scaling the buildings of Congress and attempting to kick down the doors of the halls of Congress, there are many who will use the power of their office in the coming year to suppress the Black vote — and that backlash will be aggressive and it will be swift and we must be ready.”
Several people during the meeting noted that Missouri is one of the few states that has not expanded voting access in decades. Reed said the state does not have early voting or automatic voter registration and was hesitant to expand access to the ballot during the pandemic through means such as mail-in voting.
Denise Lieberman, general counsel for the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, also noted the need for massive voter reform is evident. She cited that there were approximately 2,500 incidents in Missouri called into the election protection hotline in November.
H.R. 1 has 236 co-sponsors in the U.S. House.
Cleaver said Friday the House will more than likely pass the bill, but it’s fate in the U.S. Senate is less certain with the 50-50 party split.
Others who spoke during the meeting included the Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould, Missouri Faith Voices; Nimrod Chapel Jr., president of the Missouri State Conference of NAACP; and Pat Jones Macklin, with the Kansas City Labor Council.