[indiscernible] >> i look forward to being at the john lewis act introduction later today with terri sewell and i'll yield to susan delbene within the crosswalk caucus, susan was born there, to talk about this and the impact. but what we've seen time and time again is not just house republicans but republican state legislatures have sought to reduce opportunities for people to exercise their franchise and vote. i saw it on on the subcommittee with mr. fudge and g.k. butterfield time and time again. we did field hearings and went around the country and talked to voters and talked to local election officials. the importance of the john lewis voting act, the importance of what he fought for and the fact that we have his name on it, it's not lost on any members of the democratic caucus how important that right is and how sadly we still need to fight for it. i look forward to it and hope you'll join us at the press conference later today but it's an important part of who we are on the democratic caucus platform and it's important and terri sewell has done an amazing job leading house democrats t

thank you for being with us, congresswoman terri sewell.ng me now is the civil rights attorney general of black america, ben crump. brother ben, we thank you for joining us tonight. as you know, i was in florida yesterday to give that eulogy at the funeral of 52-year-old angela carr who was shot multiple times by what supremacist gunman, they are in jacksonville, two weeks ago. and you represent her family. two others were killed in the attack -- car, who are eulogized yes the day, -- i know that we try to get you in and you just couldn't get there, rather, but carr was it mother of three. a grant month or, are working as an uber driver. the severity of her fatal injuries, including gunshots to the face, led the family to decide against an open casket. speaking at her funeral in front of her family, i couldn't help but think about the appropriate cause of action, the pursuit of justice, when in this case a racist gunman ultimately takes their own life, but not before killing angela carr and two other people. simply because that were black.

representative terri sewell. first black woman to represent alabama in congress. congresswoman, thank you for joining today, this is quite extraordinary. you know republicans to these maps have been rebuffed the supreme court twice in the spam of months on this issue. why do they not understand first? >> laura, thank you for allowing me to be on your show today. when i went to law school, the supreme court said one. to find the supreme court, state legislators my state. the supreme court was unanimous in this decision to stop them for trying to reinstate those old maps. i'm thrilled. the real winners here. the state of alabama, all voters. because it is about fair representation. 27% of the black voting age population my stays african american. only one seat allows us to choose a candidate of outdoors. distributing a black vote in alabama, i'm thrilled that we are celebrating the alabama cannot go backwards. we are going forwards. forward with a fair congressional maps. >> it clears the way congresswoman for a mass proposed. by logistics week, a court appointed a

thank you, congresswoman sewell, for all you do. terri: that's my state senator. abha: and that can be emphasized enough, what the black caucus did in alabama -- in the alabama legislature, and how they were really overrun by the republican majority and by the republican executive officials who are continuing to pursue this case. the legal process has been doing everything right so far. we have had a chance to weigh -- obviously the court took -- i mean, it often surprises people, that three-judge panel, that was a two-trump appointee, three-judge panel. and the law -- terri: say it again. abha: two trump appointees and one reagan appointee. exactly. and the law and the facts were just so clear. and at every point they've allowed the litigants to weigh in, we have been arguing before them, before the supreme court, we weighed in on who the special masters could be and as you mentioned earlier, we are going to be weighing in very strongly about what is the right map to provide black voters that additional opportunity district. so again, i don't want to sound naive

[applause] >> good morning. >> good morning. >> i'm congresswoman terri sewell, and i have the greator every day of representing alabama's 7th congressional district. it includes the historic city of birmingham, montgomery, my hometown of selma, marion, and the black belt. it is america's civil rights district. sir reverend price, and the members of the historic 16th street baptist church, i want to thank you for welcoming us year after year. welcoming us not just now but you welcome people from all over the world who come. we know that this is a living, breathing church. active in its community, still. [applause] >> and we thank you. to justice jackson, the first black woman to serve on the united states supreme court, thank you. [applause] your very presence is meaningful in ways you will never, ever, ever truly understand. [applause] so today we remember, we reflect, we reconcile, and we rededicate. today once again we join together with these sacred walls, in these sacred walls and on this hallowed ground, to honor the lives of four precious girls, we do, mr. mayor, remember them

joining me now is alabama congressman terri sewell. congressman, thank you so much for being here. experts, i should note, are now going to be the ones who are drawing these three proposed maps. that's what they'll then decide on. it's not the state legislature like before. do you have confidence they'll be able to draw a fair map that accurately represents the state of alabama? >> i do. i have to say i was more than just disappointed that the state legislature didn't even try to adhere to the supreme court's ruling. the supreme court was pretty clear. they said draw two majority-minority districts or something quite close to it. and as you said, it was one district, my district, they took from 55% to 50%. and then they created another district that was around 39.9%. and definitely that's not quite close to it. but you know what, kaitlan? today was a victory for black alabamians but also all alabamians because what we're fighting for is fairness, right? we want to make sure that irrespective of your race or your zip code that every voter has an equal opportunity for their voice to

i am deeply honored, thank you so very much, congresswoman terri sewell from selma, alabama. we welcome all to our alc town, secure in our democracy. all of the goals are connected. i am thrilled to be cochairing the congressional black caucus foundation's 52nd annual legislative conference alongside my partner stacey plaskett. virgin islands in the house. our annual like to conference is a call to action. we have a lot of conversations this week but it is important to remember that this is a call to action. four to five by thought-provoking discussion. brainstorming on policy solutions and purposeful action that can be applied to communities across the country. that is what this town hall, that is what this family reunion is all about -- a call to action. it could not come at a more important time. this is a moral moment. we are called upon again to push the nation to center equity in all of its discussions and policy, and to move forward the continuing project of democracy. black folk have always had to play a particular kind of role in that work because we have been on the

joining me now is alabama's only democratic member representative terry sewell. thank you so much for joining us today. this is quite extraordinary, because the alabama republicans who drew these maps have now been rebuffed by the supreme court twice in a span of months on this issue. why did they not understand the first time? >> well, first of all, thank you so much for allowing me to be on the show today. when i went to law school, when the supreme court said you won, you won. so defying the supreme court was not a great idea. but despite the efforts by state officials in my state to obstruct, to delay, to defy, the supreme court was unanimous in its decision to stop them from trying to reinstate those old maps. and i am just thrilled. i think the real winners here is the state of alabama, all of the voters because it's about fair representation. 27% of the black voting age population in my state are african american. there are seven seats. only one seat allows us to choose a candidate of our choice. and that's simply only 14% reputation. so this is really abo

ready to get into some good trouble on national voter registration day, alabama congresswoman terri sewell reintroduced a bill that she says would push back against attacks on voter access, closing polling stations without notification bans on early voting and vote by mail. strict id requirements. the john lewis voting rights advancement act would require approval from the justice department before states with the recent history of voter discrimination can change election laws and procedures. the u.s. supreme court struck down a similar requirement in 2013. we have to repair the damage that was done by an out of control supreme court house democratic leader hakeem jeffries says the bill should unite congress voting right? shouldn't be a partisan issue. but house republicans say the legislation would give the federal government too much power over local elections and they recently advance their own election package to the house floor, equip states with tools make common sense. election integrity, reforms. >> it strengthens elections in d c protects americans first amendment rights during th

legislation, one of which was just reintroduced today, by the way, in the house by representative terri sewellegislation that would level the playing field across the country. every voter would benefit from having laws that dictate how you can get automatically registered, what you need to do in terms of having uniform identification requirements when you show up to vote, and insuring that you're protected when you're waiting in line at the polls. there are so many very basic commonsense measures that are subject to debate and litigation when they should be embraced by every legislature across the country. what we're going to wind up with, joy, is a situation where people who have elected very extremist conservative leaders are going to look at other states, some of them may be bordering those states and say why is it my neighbor across this line is able to access the ballot much more easily than i can? and i'm hoping that people will learn from those examples and really push their legislatures to do the right thing. >> i mean, the thing is that, let me put a map of the 366 laws of voting rest