In The Washington Post, Henderson and Podesta Call For Filibuster Reform to Protect the Freedom to Vote

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Stephen Peters, The Leadership Conference,
peters@civilrights.org, 202.466.1887
Colin Seeberger, Center for American Progress, [email protected], 202.741.6292

“…with the future of our democracy hanging in the balance, we believe the Senate must do whatever it takes… to safeguard our elections and democratic process for all Americans.”

WASHINGTON — In a powerful op-ed in The Washington Post titled “We once backed using the filibuster. Now it must be reformed,” Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and John Podesta, the founder and chair of the board of directors for the Center for American Progress, argue that the Senate must reform the filibuster in order to protect the freedom to vote for all Americans.

The two leaders’ op-ed, which appeared in the Sunday print edition of The Washington Post, says in part: 

“In the 1980s, the two of us worked together and, when no other tool was available, argued in support of using the filibuster to protect the independence of our federal courts and Americans’ individual liberties,” wrote the two civil rights leaders. “Instead of promoting debate and compromise, or serving as a ‘cooling saucer’ to the House’s hot tea, the filibuster has in recent years become a tool of the minority to block legislation on nearly every major issue facing our nation.

“With goodwill and comity exhausted, and against the backdrop of states determined to disenfranchise their own citizens, we now support broad reform of the filibuster to allow a majority vote on many of the other most pressing issues for American families,” they continued. “Yet, with the future of our democracy hanging in the balance, we believe the Senate must do whatever it takes, be it broad reform or a narrow exception, to safeguard our elections and democratic process for all Americans, just as it did nearly six decades ago. We must make it easier to vote — not harder — for both our citizens and senators alike.”

Read Henderson and Podesta’s full op-ed in The Washington Post here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans, through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. Our aim is not just to change the conversation, but to change the country.

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