I sent this to a list of friends and acquaintances, so you may have gotten it, if you were on that list. If not, or you need a refresher, please read this!
Dear Friends and Acquaintances,
I know some of you think I’m extreme in my political zeal, but please put such personal judgements aside for the moment because I’m writing you about none other than the most critical, important legislation of our lifetimes…and since I’m close to 81 that’s quite a statement.
I’m asking, begging, pleading for you and others in your circle of friends and family to contact your Senators to end the filibuster and support and vote for S.1, the For the People Act. I’ll explain with well-documented factual information why this is so necessary. Really, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, if you care about a functioning democratic Republic, this IS important to you. Whether you contact your Senators regularly or have never contacted them; even if you think you haven’t a minute to spare, this is the time to carve out 1 minute each to call each one. If you don’t know the numbers or how to email them, call me and I’ll get the information for you (719-839-0875). Most, if not all, Senators have a “Contact Me” form on their websites that makes it very easy to send a message. I’m providing lots of background, but if you already know this, please just call them, even if you have Democratic Senators that you think support S.1, they may not support ending the filibuster. I wonder how many of today’s Senators know the filibuster was never part of the imagining of our country and its original documents by the founding fathers!
Even if you don’t want to read all of my research, but you know you support the principles of voting rights for all of us who have the right to vote, PLEASE contact your Senators in favor of abolishing the filibuster AND supporting S.1, the For the People Act. Quite frankly, if this doesn’t happen, the democratic principles on which our Republic is founded will be gone before the next election in 2022. Honestly, this is NOT an exaggeration or overreaction.
OK, here’s the background. Ending the filibuster is important for 2 reasons: it will be used to effectively block the For the People Act; it is a throwback to an earlier time when the most of the issues facing this country were less intense and complicated and eloquent oratory was in vogue. It has evolved so that today it can be used by 1 Senator or a group to block any legislation they don’t agree with. No wonder we have these do-nothing Congresses! The majority of my information about the filibuster is from the Senate’s own website, the “Senate Through the Ages” section, historically documented facts. There is NOTHING in the Constitution about filibustering, nor in the original Rules of the Senate. Certainly long speeches for and against legislation happened in the early days of the Senate. “It wasn’t until the mid 1850s that the term ‘filibuster’ started being used, derived from the Dutch word for freebooter and the Spanish word ‘filibusteros’—to describe the pirates then raiding Caribbean islands.” [All quotes are from the Senate website unless otherwise noted.] This label gives you an idea of what was thought of it.
“In 1917, with frustration mounting and at the urging of President Woodrow Wilson, senators adopted a rule (Senate Rule 22) that allowed the Senate to invoke cloture and limit debate with a two-thirds majority vote….Even with the new cloture rule, however, filibusters remained an effective means to block legislation, since a two-thirds vote was difficult to obtain. Over the next four decades, the Senate managed to invoke cloture only five times. Filibusters proved to be particularly useful to southern senators who sought to block civil rights legislation, including anti-lynching bills. Not until 1964 did the Senate successfully overcome a filibuster to pass a major civil rights bill.” The emphasis is mine, but the quote, again, is directly from the Senate’s own official history. This was the most consistent and frequent use of the filibuster in Senate history, and this is exactly what it is being used for again, except this time, it’s affecting a much larger group including seniors, the disabled, anyone who has trouble getting to the polls in the shortened hours and locations available through new laws being considered or already passed in at least 44 states! Cloture was changed in 1975 by the Senate to 60 votes.
Today, Senators don’t even have to talk nonstop, they can just threaten a filibuster and stop a specific piece of legislation dead in the water. On June 22 (last month), the threat of a filibuster was used to stop even debate on the For the People Act! The filibuster has no place in today’s world or our Senate. It is not an aid to democracy as Joe Manchin (D WVA) says, but the exact opposite! [Additional information available from many sources, 2 responsible ones are listed at the end of this letter.]
Now, facts about the For the People Act, S.1.
The For the People Act does much for election reform, including prohibiting “dark money.” According to sworn testimony before the House Rules Committee on the Act, currently nonprofits and shell companies can spend untraceable dollars to influence elections. The Act would require all political contributions greater than $10,000 to be subject to disclosure laws. Again, according to testimony, dark money groups spent over $1 billion in the 2020 election cycle. “These secret contributions are dangerous,” wrote Fred Wertheimer, director of nonprofit group Democracy 21, as part of his testimony to the Rules Committee. “Since the source and amount of the money are secret, there is no way to hold the donors who provide this money and the members of Congress who politically benefit from the money accountable for any corrupting influence the large contributions may exert on public policy decisions.”
No one can register to vote today or under S.1 who hasn’t shown in some way that they are a real person and citizen. Voter fraud in this country is insignificant and has never been shown in any way to change any election’s results! S.1 makes it easier to register to vote, yes, but that doesn’t mean you don’t still have to be a citizen, over 18, and meet the specific qualifications of your state (www.vote.org/voter-registration-rules/). As for ease of voting, which S.1 also addresses, the U.S. military has used mail-in voting since the Civil War; several states use it, including Colorado where it’s been used since 2013. Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington also have established mail-in voting systems in place.
One of the most important provisions of S.1 is the end to partisan gerrymandering by either party!
It differs significantly from the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill, H.R. 4 (it hasn’t been introduced in the Senate yet, although the GOP Sente leadership has already expressed opposition to it), which only restores and strengthens some of the provisions in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It does not cover most of the issues covered in S.1, nor is it a substitute for S.1. which also does away with all the current voter suppression state acts passed and being considered. S.1 also reforms the Federal Election Commission (FEC), so that it becomes nonpartisan and workable. The FEC is critical because it enforces the campaign financing laws of the Presidential and Congressional elections. Neither party disagrees about its dysfunctional status today and for the past several years. Trevor Potter, former FEC Chair and a Republican testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration in support of the For the People Act (S.1) on March 24, 2021. He stated “Historically when the country has confronted challenges to our democracy, Republicans and Democrats have come together to craft solutions. American democracy is again in need of repair, and I would hope that lawmakers from both parties can come together to enact needed reforms right now. The consequences of inaction are too great.” “FEC dysfunction has played a critical role in the creation of many of our political system’s worst problems, including dark money, rampant collaboration between candidates and supposedly independent outside groups, and many of the gaps in the law that increase our vulnerability to foreign interference in our campaigns.” www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/congress-must-pass-people-act.
Needless to say, there is more I could write about S.1, but for really complete information, you may want to read the Act itself.
For more information: Feel free to leave your question as a comment. Plus here are some other sources.
Filibuster:
www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/filibusters-cloture/overview.htm
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/case-against-filibuster
For the People Act
www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1/text
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/annotated-guide-people-act-2021
THANKS!
Doann Houghton-Alico
(she/her)