Advocates Weigh in Following Vote on Bipartisan Jan. 6 Commission: It’s Time to Eliminate the Filibuster and Protect Our Democracy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2021

CONTACT

press@fixoursenate.org
press@indivisible.org 

 

Advocates Weigh in Following Vote on Bipartisan Jan. 6 Commission: It’s Time to Eliminate the Filibuster and Protect Our Democracy 

“The path forward is clear: The filibuster must be eliminated as a weapon that a minority of senators can wield to veto popular democracy-protecting bills”

Washington, DC — Following the Senate Republicans filibuster of legislation to create a bipartisan commission investigating the January 6 insurrection, Indivisible, Fix Our Senate, and 56 other organizations representing millions of people across the country released the following statement calling on Senate Democrats to finally eliminate the filibuster:

“This is no longer a debate about hypotheticals: Senate Republicans have filibustered a bipartisan bill to form a bipartisan commission investigating an attack on their workplace and the seat of our democracy. Despite Senate Democrats ‘imploring’ Republicans to work with them to get this done, Sen. McConnell and his caucus swatted away every attempt at good faith bipartisan work and committed themselves to partisan obstruction. Now the path forward is clear: The filibuster must be eliminated as a weapon that a minority of senators can wield to veto popular democracy-protecting bills. 

“Democrats won the White House, Senate and House on promises to protect our elections, stand up to special interests, and restore our democracy – and they have a mandate for action on the January 6th commission, the For The People Act, and other bills protecting and expanding our democracy. After seeing obstruction in action, Senate Democrats have a choice – they can protect the filibuster or deliver on critical and popular policies to protect our democracy. They won’t be able to do both.”

At the same time GOP legislatures are attacking voting access in states across the country, some Senate Republicans admit there is nothing Democrats can do to get their support for the For The People Act, crucial legislation to ensure voting access and election integrity. Senate Minority Leader McConnell has called blocking the For the People Act his “top priority” and is committed to using the filibuster as a weapon to keep our democracy rigged. Investigating an insurrection and protecting voting rights should not be controversial or partisan legislation, and a minority of Senators should not be able to block such bills. 

Progressive momentum and support for eliminating the filibuster continues to build. Last week over 250,000 people joined Senator Merkley, Senator Warren, and advocates and activists across the country in a virtual town hall calling for the elimination of the filibuster. And Fix our Senate and Indivisible joined New York activists in pressuring Senators to end the filibuster with #FilibusterFriday, a weekly momentum-building effort on social media, along with over a dozen partner organizations. The effort includes an action center to help grassroots activists email, call, and tweet their senators to end the filibuster to pass democracy reforms. Last week’s efforts reached over 13 million Twitter users.

The statement was signed by the following organizations 

1. America’s Voice
2. Athens County’s Future Action Network (OH)
3. Battle Born Collective
4. Blue Wave Postcard Movement
5. Broward for Progress
6. Businesses for a Livable Climate
7. CA Businesses for a Livable Climate
8. Call to Action Colorado
9. CatholicNetwork US
10. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
11. Clean Elections Texas
12. CO Businesses for a Livable Climate
13. Colorado Small Business Coalition
14. Common Defense
15. Communications Workers of America
16. DC Vote
17. Demand Justice
18. Demand Progress
19. DemCast USA
20. Equal Justice Society
21. Evergreen Action
22. Fix Our Senate 
23. For All
24. Free Speech For People
25. Friends of the Earth
26. Indivisible 
27. Mainers for Accountable Leadership
28. Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action
29. MoveOn Civic Action
30. New Energy Economy
31. No Dem Left Behind
32. North Range Concerned Citizens
33. Oil Change U.S.
34. Our Revolution
35. Our Revolution Michigan
36. People’s Action
37. People’s Parity Project
38. Progress Arizona
39. Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
40. Public Citizen
41. RapidShift Network
42. RepresentUs New Mexico
43. Rise Up WV
44. Secure Elections Network
45. Sierra Club
46. Spirit of the Sun
47. Stand Up America
48. Take Back the Court
49. The Borneo Project
50. The Workers Circle
51. UltraViolet Action
52. Unite North Metro Denver
53. Voices for Progress
54. Vote Save America
55. Wall of Women
56. Women’s March
57. WV Citizen Action
58. Working Families Party