Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at Martin Luther King Jr.’s crypt.Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock
PresidentJoe Bidenand Vice PresidentKamala Harrispaid tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. on Tuesday, touring Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church — where King served as pastor until his death in 1968 — and laying a wreath at the crypt where the civil rights icon and his wife, Coretta, are interred.
According to a pool report from reporters with them, Biden and Harris met privately with the King family prior to the ceremony.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at Martin Luther King Jr.’s crypt.Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock
Speaking to reporters about Air Force One, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Atlanta was a significant backdrop for Biden and Harris' speech, as it is one of19 statesto pass “voter suppression laws attacking the right to vote” in 2020.
According to the progressive-leaning Brennan Center for Justice,at least 17 Republican-controlled state legislatureshave enacted new laws that restrict voting access around the country.
Democrats have recently said that revising U.S. Senate rules may be necessary to pass voting rights legislation, so that Republicans cannot use the filibuster to block debate on the bills.
“The next few days, when these bills come to a vote, will mark a turning point in this nation,” Biden said Tuesday. “Will we choose democracy over autocracy, light over shadow, justice over injustice? I know where I stand. I will not yield. I will not flinch. I will defend your right to vote and our democracy against all enemies foreign and domestic. And so the question is where will the institution of the United States Senate stand?”
Harris made a similar plea to lawmakers, urging them to take action to strengthen voting rights: “The bottom line is this: Years from now our children and our grandchildren. They will ask us about this moment. They will look back on this time and they will ask us not about how we felt. They will ask us what did we do.”
Some Georgia voting rights activists chose toboycott Biden’s speechon voting rights Tuesday, arguing it was a mere “photo op” when more concrete action was needed.
Speaking to reporters outside the Ebenezer Baptist Church on Tuesday, Biden offered a word of confidence to those activists who worry about the future of the bills.
source: people.com
