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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. ByCongressman Mondaire Jones January 6, 2022:

Today, on the one year anniversary of the violent insurrection at the Capitol, Congressman Mondaire Jones (D-NY), a national leader in the fight to protect voting rights and save American democracy, released the following statement reiterating his calls for the Senate to reform the filibuster to advance democracy-saving voting rights legislation.

“A year ago today, just days after being sworn into office, I, along with so many others, nearly died in the violent insurrection at the Capitol. That unprecedented attack is a painful indication of the deep crisis facing our democracy, a crisis that continues to grow more dire by the day.

There can be no doubt that the events of January 6th were inspired by, and designed to promote, the Big Lie of mass voter fraud, which Donald Trump and the GOP have used to justify racist voter suppression laws in states across the country. It was clear then, and is clear now, that the modern-day Republican Party is more interested in preserving the rule of its authoritarian leadership than in preserving our democracy.

That’s why Democrats have spent the last year working to counter the dangerous myth of mass voter fraud and advance legislation to protect the sacred right to vote, including the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, both of which I’m proud to have helped author. But despite the House doing our job and passing multiple pieces of democracy-saving legislation, the Jim Crow filibuster has obstructed any meaningful progress in the Senate.

Unless, at the very least, an exception is made to the filibuster to advance voting rights legislation, our democracy will fall deeper into crisis. Republicans will disenfranchise their way back into power in 2022, and use that power to install their chosen candidate in the White House in 2024, regardless of what the American people say. American democracy as we know it will cease to exist.

This is the reality we face if we fail to meet the urgency of this moment. But we are not powerless to stop it. The future of our nation depends on every Democratic Senator putting country before politics to do what is necessary to save our democracy. Literally nothing is more important.

Having seen firsthand on that fateful day just how fragile our democracy is, I will continue to do everything in my power to save it. With so much at stake, I pray that my colleagues in the Senate will do the same.”