like the shelby decision and contrary to misinformation, this decision does not gut the vra. even after this decision, section ii remains an effective tool to stop discriminatory voting law. the decision denies critics the opportunity to use the vra as a partisan tool to stop policy decisions basically disagree with. following the 2020 election, several states passed commonsense election integrity reform measures, which we could agree with many of them behind closed doors. unfortunately, we have seen april's narrative pushed-- a false narrative pushed in an attempt to build a false narrative of voter suppression around the vra. legislatures are-- legislators are being maligned as trying to harm the measures they are trying to secure. georgia's commonsense election integrity lies being attacked as discriminatory. instead of attacking the motives of good americans on both sides, we should be working together to ensure that both minorities are protected from discrimination and that our elections are secured from front. -- fraud. i look forward to discussing this landmark voting

without them, the vra is on life support. we the people are left are very few ways to protect your precious right to vote. of course this decision couldn't have come at a worse moment. empowered by the shelby county decisions, fueled by the former president's big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, dozens of states have rushed to enact voter suppression laws. with each passing week literally tens of thousands of americans are having their right to vote chipped away. there was already a four alarm fire for america's voting rights before this decision w. the decision, it took away one of the last remaining tools to power the place. vra's section two effectively declared open season to suppress americans' voting right with impunity. i don't think we should sit idly by about this. those who argue restoring the vra is a partisan exercise could use a little history lesson. since its original enactment in 1965, the vr's core provisions have been reauthorized repeatedly. five times. five times, with overwhelmingly republi

the vra is one of the greatest achievements.s enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support, democrats and republicans alike, for virtually its entire existence. so as an affront to the world, two partisan decisions making our democracy accessible for millions, many who have been wrongfully shut out. it is these decisions we are making allowing them to be shut out again. in some ways the decision few a few weeks ago didn't surprise me. it involved the same playbook as the disastrous shelby county decision of 2013, where a partisan majority of the court replaced congress's clear, bipartisan will with its own, and gutted section five of the voting rights act. like shelby county, the brnovich decision ignored the well-established intent of congress and invented seemingly out of thin air new hurdles around section two of the vra. effectively strangling it. let's be clear, gutting section five and section two of the vra is not some exercise in judicial nipplings around the margins, where the vra can somehow improve just a few little things

around the margins, where the vra can somehow improve just a few things. section five and section two are the vital organs of the law. section five empowers the justice department to stop discriminatory changes to voting procedures from taking effect. something that was reported by democrats and republicans in the past, no matter which party held the presidency. section two empowersed ordinary americans to seek redress in court against voting changes discriminating against minority voters. so the partisan majority of exactly what it was doing by nullifying section five and section two of the act. without them, the voting rights act is on life support. we the people are left are very few ways to protect your precious right to vote. so of course, the decision could not have come at a worse moment. empowered by the shelby county decisions, fueled by the former president's big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, dozens of states rushed to enact voter suppression laws. with each passing week literally tens of thousands of americans are having their

the most recent voting rights vra rasterization was in 2006. the vote was 98-0 two let me repeat that. 98-0 so i think it's pretty clear every republican in every democrat in the senate voteder r it and you have a lot of republican senators who are serving today who voted yes. i just suggest everybody checked the past before arguing this and what is a partisan effort is thi court's decision of shelby county.e i offered to champion the bipartisan voting rights advancement act and push to enact rights to wrist or the voting rights act. a republican friends -- so i will put my full statement of record. mr. chairmanan i appreciate your courtesy. spent thank you senator leahy are the way to deduce the witnesses. josÉ garza joins us remotely. yes more than 40 years of experience in law dealing almost exclusively with federal law. his practice is focused on governmental entities and federal litigation including the first and 14th amendment issues redistricting federal voting rights and civil rights. mr. garza recently retired as litigation director fo

vra has beenrying to aract urbanites foyears. >> in 2006when we set up the council, we'd done a studyt found thvillage was about todi. so, we made a plan to install new infrastructurend develop r natural potential. two years later, we had internet access,nd then w road >> dgana tomic pretty ch mastermied the vilge'shen w juvenation she'a top manager,ho reloted to vrmdza years ago. she says having proper infrastructure in place is important for attrting new people. but sos the righmindset. >> covid has had a lasting impact, not only on vrmdza. i think e crisis has made people all over the world think abouwhat they ally value in life. >> dragana's idea was to combine tranquil village life with the opportunities afforded by modern technology. locals have benefitted as we, for ample, bgetting gh speed internet access. dragana has coached a number of villagers alread >>he newcome have heed in. many ways, especially drana.r of she was the first to hold workshops where the women got together and learned various things. all that helped us. >> sneana is one of the great success stories here in

i wonder, a lot of meetings with the joe manchins and the kyrsten sinemas on the board with passing vrareforming the filibuster. did the latest supreme court decision move them? is that dead on arrival or sis there a path forward. >> i still believe that theresy path forward and then discussions taken place in the senate democratic caucus about how they move forward on these efforts. but we can't just stay in place and just wait on those discussions. time is something in politics that you don't get back. you could raise more money but you don't get more time back. so we have to make sure that we're prepared on all fronts to keep this ball moving forward. so we'll let the discussions happen in the senate and we'll move forward, i believe that the senate democrats will get something done on voter rights. this cycle. but in addition the dnc has too be well prepared to make sure people are registered and educated and mobilize and protect them once they get to the polls. >> key to that, might be, it might be a necessity, is somehow eliminating or reforming the filibuster. i spoke with stepha

having to batten down the hatches and also politically speaking i moved to washington in 2006, and the vraely bipartisan lines. it was a huge deal, so we have moved politically big time. >> certainly. then came 2020. justice samuel alito wrote the decision for the majority basically saying because it may be inconvenient to vote, access to voting is not unequal. michael, your reaction? >> this is a continuation of the roberts' court devastating the voting rights act. you know, if you can't vote, if you can't fully participate in our democracy, then you don't have your citizenship. i think what we're seeing all across the country is republicans attempt to strip people's citizenship by stripping their right to vote. it really weakens our country and it is an insidious act which democrats have to push back against. >> justice kagan wrote the dissent saying what is tragic here is that the court has yet again rewritten in order to weaken a statute that stands as a monument to america's greatness and protects against its basest impulses referring to the voting rights act. abby, i mean you cover w