Padilla: We Need the For the People Act and We Need it Now
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) spoke alongside the Declaration for American Democracy coalition, members of Congress and activists on thecritical need to pass S.1, the For the People Act. As former Secretary of State for California, Padilla has seen first-hand the positive impact of implementing voting reforms like the ones contained in the For the People Act. The rally comes as Republican legislators across the country continue to push voter suppression bills that would disproportionately harm communities of color, young people, and working families.
WATCH: View Video of Padilla’s Remarks
Key Excerpts:
- Republican legislators across the country are hell bent on rolling back the clock on voting rights. That’s why we need the For the People Act. And we need it now.
- Republican legislators clearly want to suppress the vote, they want to suppress our voices, and they’re very intentional about it. The way these laws are written are a direct attack on the political voices of communities of color, of young people, and working families andwe’re not going to stand for it.
- I know some of the critics of the For the People Act have suggested falsely that we’re seeking to federalize elections, a federal takeover of elections. Nothing could be further from the truth.
- For the prior 6 years, I was Secretary of State for the state of California, where we built themost inclusive democracy of any state in the nation. These reforms work. They lead to more participation, safer elections and a stronger democracy and the whole world – thewhole country deserves the same.
The full transcript of Padilla’s remarks as delivered below:
PADILLA: Good morning, everybody.
Now we all know why we are here. And we all know time is of the essence.
Why are we here? Because despite the success of the 2020 election – want to talk historic turnout during a global health pandemic – Republican legislators across the country are hell bent on rolling back the clock on voting rights.
That’s why we need the For the People Act. And we need it now.
To think that after a successful election we’re seeing more than 360 bills to restrict access to theballot is unconscionable. The Republican legislators clearly want to suppress the vote, they want to suppress our voices, and they’re very intentional about it.
The way these laws are written are a direct attack on the political voices of communities of color, of young people, and working families and we’re not going to stand for it.
And I know some of the critics of the For the People Act have suggested falsely that we’re seeking to federalize elections, a federal takeover of elections. Nothing could be further from thetruth.
What I’m asking for, what the American people demand and deserve is the federal baseline of voting rights and access to the ballot for every voter in America.
And the measures, the reforms called for in the For the People Act aren’t just what we think are good ideas and we’ll cross our fingers and hope they work, we know they work. I know they work.
For the prior 6 years, I was Secretary of State for the state of California, where we built the most inclusive democracy of any state in the nation. These reforms work. They lead to more participation, safer elections and a stronger democracy and the whole world – the whole country deserves the same.
Thank you for your advocacy, let’s light up those phones, fire up those text messages, let’s get this done.
###