amy: and we speak to democratic senator jeff merkley of oregon about the republicans blocking the debate on for the people act, the most sweeping voting rights legislation in decades. >> mitch mcconnell is not interested in the principles of our constitution, the rights of americans. instead, he is a cynical our strategy saying, gerrymandering is good for my party. amy: senator merkley sponsored the bill. we will speak voting rights and climate change. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. president biden said wednesday his administration will crack down on illegal gun dealers and will increase funding for police departments as part of an effort to combat a spike in gun violence across the united states. pres. biden: today the department is announcing a major crackdown to stem the flow of guns used to commit violent crimes. zero for gun dealers who willfully violate key existing laws and regulations. amy: biden's plan includes doubling funding for the community oriented policing services -- or cops -- program, a

joining us now democratic senator jeff merkley of oregon. thank you very much for joining us tonight. really appreciate it. >> pleasure to be with you, lawrence. >> you have become the senate's leading expert on this so-called filibuster rule, and it's really the 60-vote threshold rule, which is technically a different thing from filibusters. have you made progress to the point in presenting the case against it to your democratic colleagues that we are down -- would you say we're down to the point of senators sinema and manchin are the only ones left in coming to this agreement? >> lawrence, let me present it this way. there's been a social contract that the majority does not run over the top of the minority. it's very different from the house. that's from the very beginning, 26 senators said we could listen to each other and hear everyone out before we took a vote. that was so successful that in 1805, they got rid of the motion to close debate or call to question, because it was never needed because of this courtesy of listening to each oth

efforts to overcome again -- for old the people, for our very democracy. >> joining us now is jeff merkley of oregon. the very much for joining us senator merkley, i really appreciate it. >> pleasure to be with you, lawrence. >> you have become the senate's leading expert on this so called the filibuster rule. it's really the 60 vote threshold rule which is technically a different thing for the filibuster. and -- have you made progress to the points and presenting the case against it to your democratic colleagues that we are down? would you say we are down to the point of senator sinema and senator manchin being the only ones left in coming to this agreement? >> well, when we presented this way. there's been the social contract in the senate that the majority does not rule atop the minority. the house, from many years, they've listened to each other and i hear everyone out before we get the vote. that was so successful that in 1805 when the rules were written they got rid of a motion to close debate or to call in question but he was never needed because of this cursory need to listen to ea

senate democrat jeff merkley from oregon. good to see you as always. >> great to see you. >> i'm sure you don't like what mcconnell was saying today. but talk to us about it in the context of what you can do about what you don't like. >> well, you're absolutely right. i don't lying it at all. it was not that long ago that i was on the floor for 15 hours saying, don't steal a supreme court seat. never before in our history has the senate failed to hold a debate and a vote on a nominee, including during an election year. always, always happened. that's our responsibility. so here we are with the mcconnell saying previously, he's proud in life having stolen a seat from president obama and he'll happily do it again, and the damage to the court is enormous. it turns it into a warfare, a partisan warfare. we already have plenty of politics around the court but he's put this on steroids. an order of magnitude more intense now, the partisan of the court, and stacking it with federalist society members. we can make sure that mcconnell

joining us now is senator jeff merkley of oregon. he's the sponsor for the for the people act.night, i know it's a big night. >> thank you rachel. it's good to be with you it's a significant events. >> what are you expecting to happen tomorrow in the senate? >> well i anticipate that and i hope that we will have 50 votes to proceed. i want democrats to be united. we have engagement from every member of the caucus for joe manchin working hard to lay out a vision of how to protect these fundamental values and our constitution. the right to vote. to keep billionaires from buying elections, they're gonna keep politicians from gerrymandering districts and tactical representation. had to make sure there aren't conflicts of interest so public servants serve the public for court values in this legislation. it's important to every american. it's why this bill has such bipartisan support across the country everywhere except -- >> i'm struck by the very high levels of support in public polling for the legislation. both as a whole and when you break it down into its constituent parts. our

joining us now is oregon democratic senator jeff merkley wes one of the chief authors of the for theeople act. senator, thanks for joining us this morning. >> good morning. great to be with you. >> do you think -- look, things are not looking great for 60 votes. do you think that you will have all of your democrats together? >> well, i certainly hope so. today you can think of it as a test vote. do we have 50 democrats who say they're ready to debate in bill? i predict eventually we will have 50, i hope it's today and then we have to figure out how we try to recruit additional republicans. as joe manchin has mentioned he wants to have a bill that he can go out and recruit republicans to join us. after all, these are the most fundamental american values. every person access that ballot, billionaires can't buy elections. this is in the dna of every american. >> he's put forward, he's put out a compromise and actually what's been interesting is you've seen some progressive democrats who have jumped on board with this. expanding early voting, allowing same day and automatic registration,

congresswoman pramila jayapal and senator jeff merkley say they will not support a deal that does not invest in fighting climate change and new york senator kirsten gillibrand says other priorities need to be included too from the hard infrastructure like world broadband to the softer of the structure like a national paid leave plan, affordable daycare. >> and because it isn't clear that that bipartisan plan would pass congress. democrats may still move ahead with trying to pass their own infrastructure plan by trying to pass it with only democratic support using a process called budget reconciliation reporting live in washington. alexandra le mon, thank you for that report. alexandra. well, coming up next to the kron 00:00am morning news pride flags raised on or a daughter's memory or ripped. >> from her mother's fence. how neighbors are coming together to help support that mother. >> in the east bay pride flags hung in honor of a walnut creek. mother's daughter were ripped off and stolen. christine, lee's daughter died by suicide last year when christine found her pride flag in her

. >> joining me jeff merkley of oregon. he's one of the chief authors of the for the people act.ator, good to see you. thanks for joining. >> very good to be with you, don. >> you said if democrats can't protect voting rights it will be and i quote political armageddon. is that where we are? >> no, not yet. this was just the round one battle. there is going to be a round two, round three, round four, round five until we get this done because just fundamental constitutional values at stake here, the rights of every american to cast a ballot and help determine the future of our country. >> senator mansion proposed the compromise that includes many parts of the for the people act but requires some form of identification to vote and check out this new poll. 80% of all americans in favor of this requirement. you going to support it? >> the way that i've viewed his approach is to say how does this serve the fundamental premises of which they are formed? does it stop billionaires from buying elections to get rid of dark money? the answer is yes. second of all, does it provide early voti

he went to oregon senator jeff merkley's office, and when he allegedly sent the photo in a text to adon't snitch. all the cameras and videos from the scene were doing the snitching for him. >> this is not about somebody's political views. this is about somebody who is fto meanting hate and violence against your democracy and like-minded fellow travelers against people that all of us represent and who we stand for. >> reporter: chwiesiuk was arrested frayed morning charged with five federal misdemeanors alleging violent and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds. chicago police superintendent david brown says chwiesiuk was relieved of his policing duties on june 2nd when the department learned of his allegedly involvement. he had been an officer for 2 1/2 years. >> the fact that a chicago police officer has been charged in that attack on american democracy makes my blood boil. participating in the siege on the capitol of any way was a betrayal of everything we stand for. >> reporter: federal authorities say the phone associated with chwiesiuk sent roughly 36 messages take advantage pic

senator jeff merkley, "i'm disappointed by joe manchin's position on the for the people act, it is hugely popular among democrats, republicans come and independents across the country because it depends the vision of government by the people and ends the attack on a right to vote." the democrats saying "we do not need an op-ed to know you are unwilling to protect our democracy." this from congressman jimmy gomez, " if joe manchin is concerned about legislation, gop state legislators have given him plenty to worry about. if he refuses to end the filibuster, that he is complicit in the downfall of our democracy." we are asking for your views in the first hour of the washington journal. this is maureen from redwood city, california. a democrat. good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. i am calling with two data points i would like to point out to joe manchin, to everyone regarding joe manchin and how he is so wrong. number one, alg research did a poll in april 14th through the 18th. 79% of west virginians a proof of the for the people act. almost eight in 10 people want the for the p

joining me now is the co-sponsor of legislation to revise the 13th amendment, senator jeff merkley ofator, welcome back to the sunday show. >> thank you very much, jonathan. good to be with you. >> so, when i saw the announcement that you put out about trying to fix this loophole in the 13th amendment, it sort of took me by surprise, sort of like the fact we had juneteenth as a federal holiday. why are you focused on that and why must this loophole be closed? >> a few years ago i watched a documentary, the 13th. when we grow up in grade school, high school, even in college learning that slavery ended with the emancipation proclamation and with the 13th amendment, it turns out that's not the case. within days of the 13th amendment being passed, many states were passing laws that made it possible to arrest, convict and re-enslave black americans. in fact, alabama at one point produced some 75% of its revenue convicting and re-enslaving black americans. and these were, these were not crimes that you and i think of as crimes. these were fake crimes. these were -- you changed employers wit

eric: let's have two views, jeff merkley, democrat of oregon, on his view. >> well, mitch mcconnell hasen rid of the filibuster on his top priorities. he got rid of it on the ability to do tax cuts for the richest americans, on the ability to do tax cuts for corporations, he got rid of it on the supreme court. but my point here is nothing we do today prevents him from doing this in the future because he's already demonstrated that whenever he has a priority that he thinks is useful to him, he'll pursue it. eric: and then krysten sinema wrote this in "the washington post" the other week, well, my support for retaining the 60-vote threshold is not based on the importance of any particular policy. it is based on what's best for our democracy. the filibuster compels moderation. it helps protect the country from wild swings between opposing policies, polls. so as you point out, i guess that is what the senate is for, you know? cool things off. >> exactly. you don't want things to move too quickly at all because it's dangerous to move too quickly, at least for our country -- these haws, they'

police department sweatshirt as he texted selfies of himself breaching the offices of senator jeff merkley. meanwhile weapons maker boeing , has resumed major campaign contributions to three republican congressmembers who voted to overturn the official certification of 2020's electoral college votes -- congressmember jack bergman, vicky hartzler, and steve scalise. boeing briefly stopped campaign contributions in the wake of the january 6 insurrection. marjorie taylor greene has apologized for appointing mask mandates -- comparing the mask mandates to the holocaust when over six among people work killed by nazi, germany. her comments came after she toured the holocaust museum in washington, d.c., on monday. in west virginia, the poor people's campaign led a "moral march on manchin" in charleston protesting democratic senator joe manchin's opposition to killing the filibuster. they also demand he reverse his opposition to the for the people act -- which would restore and expand the protections of the 1965 voting rights act, gutted by a supreme court in 2013. this is the reverend william bar

jeff merkley has a 12-page slide deck that i got a peek before. it poke holes into senator sinema. she mentioned several things that could happen if the filibuster is eliminated and it is not protected by our filibuster. >> now, jacqueline, are you trying to make the other reporters in the segment jealous that not only you are recovering the filibuster but you had a multi-slide powerpoint on our history on tuesday. >> i wish it was a little bit juicier. history has not changed the minds of some of these lawmakers. >> to be clear and i am making further power point. it does remind you why in discussing this it is difficult to find the political -- you have to learn the term culture and filibuster, just to get to the fact that maybe this is no t the wisest positions, the biden administration getting their agenda in place. mara, walk us through the political side of this where obviously some someone like sinema knows her and a lot of democrats think she's wrong, she believes either it works for r her or likely to backfire. >> she's maybe able to keep her seat in a year and a half or w

senator jeff merkley has been out front on all these issues. thank you for spending some time with us today. the i mean, are we about to enter into a debate in this country about minority rule, about obstruction, about what is the filibuster? >> we're going to enter into that debate and enter into what is american democracy and who should have access to it? this will fundamentally be a debate in talking to white house officials, this is going to be a debate about whether or not we want america to be the place that the founders -- the founders wanted it to be, which is a place where people could vote and people could have access to who were the elected officials. when i talk to activists and civil rights leaders, they tell me that not only, of course, are they going to continue to put pressure on lawmakers to put in bills and try to push back on this filibuster issue and try to get the for the people act passed. i've been talking to officials who say two other things need to happen. the first is the doj needs to start taking action to figure out

on friday, for example, a chicago police officer was arrested and accused of breaking into jeff merkley's office with the mob. the complaint includes a selfie in the officer ripley's office while wearing a hoodie with the chicago police department logo on it. a maryland woman was charged after her compass sudden instagram video in which a cute face appears. she was just in the capital for the first time today. she stormed the capitol, she's the new congresswoman, she's the new speaker of the house. also today, a virginia couple became the first capital defendants to plead guilty and get a deal that carries minimal if any jail time. which prompts a question that will not face federal prosecutors and judges which is what kinds of consequences will people face? how will the government distinguish between people that were trespassing but were not violent and those who were violent, right? also, how will the government get to the bottom of the coordination between the rioters? for instance, when militia groups like the proud boys the pre-percenters and the oath keepers with significant evidenc

now oregon senator jeff merkley and georgia congressmember nikema williams have introduced legislation the 13th amendment. for more, we're joined by jorge renaud, national criminal justice director for latino justice. he was previously incarcerated for over 27 years in texas where he picked cotton, chopped trees, and did road work. he joins us from austin. and joining us from washington, d.c., is the sponsor of this amendment -- to the amendment, congress member nikema williams. it is great to have you with us for the first time as you replace john lewis in congress. let's start with this. can you talk about what is called the abolition amendment? >> absolutely. thank you for having me. i think we need to look at exactly where we are in our country right now. we are in a period of reckoning with our country's history. yesterday on the floor we voted to remove statues of people who voluntarily serve the confederacy in this country. we saw what happened on january 6. we came together as a country and voted in a very bipartisan -- people like to use that word so much -- bipartisan faction

. >>> joining me now, democratic senator jeff merkley of oregon.e of the chief authors of the for the people act. senator, good to see you. thanks for joining. >> very good to be with you, don. >> so you have said if democrats can't protect voting rights, it will be -- and i quote here -- political armageddon. republicans blocked your bill tonight, so is that where we are? >> no, not yet. this was just the round one battle. there's going to be a round two, a round three, round four, round five until we get this done because just fundamental constitutional values at stake here. the rights of every american to cast a ballot and help determine the future of our country. >> senator manchin proposed a compromise that includes many parts of the for the people act but would require some form of identification to vote. check out this new monmouth poll. 80% of all americans in favor of this requirement. are you going to support it? >> the way that i've viewed his approach is to say, how does this serve the fundamental premises of which there are four. one,

democratic senator jeff merkley of oregon predicted on "cnn today" that he thinks at least a few republicans might vote with democrats, but perhaps he's being naive. cnn's ryan nobles is live for us on capitol hill. this afternoon democrats were able to get west virginia democratic senator joe manchin on board with today's vote. what do we know about the legislation and the negotiations? >> well, this was an important step for democrats because even without those ten republicans who are likely to block this measure from moving forward, they didn't even have 50 democrats on board with moving the legislation forward. that changed after a breakthrough in negotiations this afternoon. and essentially what manchin has agreed to is allowing the motion to proceed and then have a vote on a separate amendment should the legislation make it to that next stage. the problem is it's unlikely to get to that stage because there is just no indication that there are ten republicans willing to continue this debate. in fact, this is a piece of policy where you see a sharp divide between democrats and republican

and, ali, i'm going to talk to senator jeff merkley of oregon about his effort to revise the 13th amendmentl talk to beto o'rourke, who is leading a big rally today in texas on voting rights as the senate prepares to vote for the for the people act, and then chicago mayer lori lightfoot will be here to talk about why she calls racism a public health threat in chicago. a very busy day on the sunday show. >> i'm exhausted just listening to that. for those people who didn't -- over the last year a lot of people watched films associated with black history in america, but for those who haven't watched "the 13th" this is a good example of when there were labor shortages, police went on round-ups to find people who committed no crime or committed remarkably petty crimes so they could be made to work for corporations. and that is a legacy that we still live with today. so i am really looking forward to this conversation on your show. jonathan, thank you, as always. jonathan capehart on the sunday show starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern here on msnbc. >>> what happens when you do everything in your powe

. >> senator jeff merkley, the lead sponsor of the for the people act getting that first key vote tomorrowe senate. good luck, sir. we would love to have you back once we see what happens in that important vote. thank you. >> thank you very much, rachel. >> we've got more ahead. stay with us. ry antiperspirants. the new provitamin b5 formula is gentle on skin. with secret, outlast anything! no sweat. secret. ♪ ♪ the light. it comes from within. it drives you. and it guides you. to shine your brightest. as you charge ahead. illuminating the way forward. a light maker. recognizing that the impact you make, comes from the energy you create. introducing the all-electric lyriq. lighting the way. ♪ ♪ nobody builds 5g like verizon builds 5g because we're the engineers who built the most reliable network in america. thousands of smarter towers, with the 5g coverage you need. broader spectrum for faster 5g speeds. next-generation servers with superior network reliability. because the more you do with 5g, the more your network matters. it's us...pushing us. it's verizon...vs verizon. and who wins? y

for his role in the january 6th capitol insurrection, karol chwiesiuk allegedly entered senator jeff merkley'she capitol crip before leaving through a broken window. chicago police superintendent david brown relieved chwiesiuk from duty after being made aware of his role in the insurrection. >> what happened in dc on january 6th was an absolute disgrace. the fact that a chicago police officer has been charged in that attack on american democracy makes my blood boil. it makes me sick to my stomach. and, yes, if these allegations are true, it breaks my heart. >> the officer is facing five federal misdemeanors, including knowingly entering a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct. >>> speaking of the attempted insurrection, the fbi is still looking for hundreds of people who stormed the capitol on january 6th, and now stepping up to help federal investigators, a sprawling community of social media detectives. cnn's sarah murray reports on a group that calls themselves sedition hunters. >> reporter: from the mob, a hand reaches out with a tase

also with us leading off is senator jeff merkley the

. >>> coming up on the sunday show senator jeff merkley. "the sunday show" starts at 10:00 a.m.rn. or last minute gift shopping rashida rashida: i'm putting a bow on it! wow. even sneaking away for a vacay rashida. rashida: shhh! i've earned this? from home improvement, drugstores, select travel and more earn 5% cash back that automatically adjusts to your top eligible spend category, up to $500 spent each billing cycle. (vo) jack was one of six million pets in animal shelters in need of a home. he found it in a boy with special needs, who also needed him. as part of our love promise, subaru and our retailers host adoption events and have donated 28 million dollars to support local animal shelters. we're proud to have helped over 230,000 pets so far... changing the lives of dogs like jack, and the families who adopt them. subaru. more than a car company. big businesses like major league baseball trust t-mobile. because the business of baseball reaches across america, just like t-mobile's 5g. from the front office, to the scouts in the heartland, to the virtual draft. and t-mobil

jeff merkley said there's no guarantee of success but senate democrats have a plan. he said they'll quickly negotiate a new voting rights bill centered on manchin's plan that all 50 democrats back and see if any, much less ten republicans will sign on. my guess is no republicans will sign on to that. let me let y'all know in advance they aren't. >> that's why people watch your show, joy. that's why they watch your show. >> absolutely. but shouldn't senator manchin and senator sinema, i don't know if they're on your committee. are they going to go on this trip? it seems to me that it might be helpful for them to hear from the people you're going to hear from. >> let's step back about the manchin proposal. first of all, what we voted on yesterday was to move to a debate on the bill. he's done some good faith work and i know stacey has told you about this, including now considering including same-day registration in his proposal along with the early voting, the 15 days of early voting and a number of other things. there's clearly still language that has to be worked out

. >> senator jeff merkley, the lead sponsor of the for the people act getting that first key vote tomorrow good luck, sir. we would love to have you back once we see what happens in that important vote. thank you. >> thank you very much, rachel. >> we've got more ahead. stay with us. much, rachel >> we've got more ahead. stay with us l working. in the kind of work that i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. this is power. so's this. you recognize it. but for the corporate special interests and billionaires buying our elections, dark money is power. billions spent manipulating elections. gerrymandering partisan congressional districts. and restricting our freedom to vote. exactly why we need the for the people act--h.r. 1. to finally ban dark money. ensure fair congressional districts. and protect our freedom to vote. because the real power is

are a bunch of the more liberal members of chuck schumer's caucus, ed markey, bernie sanders, jeff merkleyho have said, wait, wait, we're going to do this bipartisan thing and all the traditional roads and bridges and locks and dams with the promise sort of kind of that we're going to get to the stuff that we want to do on climate change and taxing the rich, they're very hesitant. ed mark ey has been running around with that thick boston accent, no climate, no deal. >> no climate, no deal. >> sorry, i'm from philly, i can't get the boston accent. >> it's 60 minus 20, before you get to the house, right? >> part of this is, they want the democratic senators at issue here, manchin and sinema to sign essentially in blood that if we do this bipartisan deal you will be with us when we do something else. manu raju is reporting that senator sanders is working on a $6 trillion follow-up package, expansion of medicare, prescription drugs in there, climate issues, might put immigration issues in this. so essentially what the progressives are saying, is we'll -- we're just talking about the senate. th

also with us, rachel, leaving office senator jeff merkley who is the senate leading expert on the so-calledomes all the important after today's -- >> excellent, excellent. i'm not sure that i've ever seen steve kornacki and his khakis at work on a choice of voting election. so, i'm very much looking forward to see you break. >> yeah, rachel. i started to write a script about the rank choice thing. and i did a couple, took a couple of shots at it, and i just want -- i'm leaving that to kornacki. it is just going to be [laughs] ... and here is steve kornacki. [laughs] and go ahead and explain ranked choice. it is tough. >> when it comes to -- from the point of view of the voter, i've always thought that it should be called one, two, three voting. and this case will be 1 to

my job this weekend through the weekend is to work with senator manchin and jeff merkley and others asinto action here and find something that works for everyone across the country. once we get a measure like that if we can get it done i think a lot of people didn't think it was possible with senator manchin's announcement last week but if we get something that works done, then we go from there and we'll figure out the procedures later. i think it is really important for the democratic party to stand up against what the republicans are doing here. it is so cynical. >> do you think senator manchin -- do you think he'd be willing to make some sort of compromise on the filibuster? >> i take every day at a time with voting rights just as voters do. i believe failure is not an option here. what is going on is pure evil. what used to be a bipartisan idea in our democracy that we should be able to vote is literally being slammed every day and the opening segment of your show said it all. when we have republicans over in the house that won't even vote for gold medal, congressional medals for t

joining us now a lead sponsor of the bill senator jeff merkley democrat of oregon. appreciate you being with us. there is very little mystery on how the vote to advance debate on this act is going to go tomorrow. even if democrats are able to get senator manchin on board and vote in unison you still won't break a filibuster. what do you and other democrats hope to accomplish with the vote? >> we hope tomorrow we'll see that the democrats and independents are united. 50 senators saying this should be on the floor being debated and we are hopeful that maybe a couple republicans will pobl u part with mitch mcconnell and say they, too, want to defend the constitution. they, too, don't think billionaires should buy elections. that we should have a debate on this. they, too, want to defend the right to vote and end gerrymandering. we are not expecting that but just to have this vote tomorrow is to start kind of this accelerated, intensive process of saying if we're going to save the vision of our constitution we really have to get these national election standards in plac

. >> and coming up on the sunday show, senator jeff merkley on his bid to change the 13th amendment.ent lingering vestige of slavery that is still impacting people today. an important conversation coming up on the sunday show at 10 am. introducing the new citi custom cash℠ card, a different kind of card that rewards dan where his spending is trending. just ask stepping outside his comfort zone dan... dan: okay, i don't know where the hole for this is. or fourth time streaming that period drama dan... dan: you just made me miss her best line, dan: so now i'm going to have to start it again. even insisted he didn't need directions dan. dan: okay, i'm not lost. i'm exploring. dan: that said, do you know where i am? from select gas, streaming, travel and more earn 5% cash back that automatically adjusts to your top eligible spend category, up to $500 spent each billing cycle. [woman] what is that? [man] uh, mine. why? it's just that it's... lavender, yes it is. old spice, it's for men. but i like the smell of it. [music playing] ♪ sometimes you wanna go ♪ ♪ where everybody knows your nam

. >> i want to ask you about the stakes of this vote today, because senator jeff merkley according toelling acti activists, he says "we are going to lose the opportunity to enact legislation for a decade or longer, calling it policy and political armageddon." do you agree with that, senator? do you think that is what the stakes are here today? >> hallie, i think the stakes are very high and i also know today is not the end. so i feel confident we as democrats will be together standing up to protect people's freedom to vote, standing up against billionaires buying elections, we know that there won't be one republican standing there with us, but we also know we have an attorney general and a civil rights division, and a commitment from the president of the united states, and we will continue on in every way we can. this is not the end of the fight. this is the beginning of the fight, because this is fundamental and it's stunning to me that we are in 2021 and we are having to basically just protect people's fundamental ability to vote. >> i know that you have been open potentially to tal

in march, my colleague from oregon, senator jeff merkley, and i urged the biden administration to support a supplemental disaster appropriation to urgently address to direct federal resources to communities throughout america struggling to recover from hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other 2020 natural disasters. president biden came to louisiana once more. he heard from mayor nick hunter, governor about edwards, myself, that we could hopefully have some relief. we need programs like community development block grants, disaster recover, mitigation funding, and u.s. army corps of engineer funding for the southwest coastal louisiana hurricane and storm damage risk reduction. emergency solutions grants, social services block grants to provide assistance to the thousands of families who lost their home due to hurricanes like those i've been describing. now we're past due moving quickly. if it happened tomorrow, it still would have not happened quickly. and we're going into another year which could have similar storms. we need to help the people of southwest louisiana. the region has been p

senator jeff merkley, "i'm disappointed by joe manchin's position on the for the people act, it is hugelyopular among democrats, republicans come and independents across the country because it depends the vision of government by the people and ends the attack on a right to vote." the democrats saying "we do not need an op-ed to know you are unwilling to protect our democracy." this from congressman jimmy gomez, " if joe manchin is concerned about legislation, gop state legislators have given him plenty to worry about. if he refuses to end the filibuster, that he is complicit in the downfall of our democracy." we are asking for your views in the first hour of the washington journal. this is maureen from redwood city, california. a democrat. good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. i am calling with two data points i would like to point out to joe manchin, to everyone regarding joe manchin and how he is so wrong. number one, alg research did a poll in april 14th through the 18th. 79% of west virginians a proof of the for the people act. almost eight in 10 people want the for the peo