Hillary Clinton Statement on the 51st Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act

On Saturday, Hillary Clinton released a statement on the 51st Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965. The act guaranteed the right to vote to all American citizens regardless of race. However, in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the act saying that it is no longer necessary given the current climate. Many have disagreed with the Court’s decision including Clinton, and in her statement, Clinton said that as president she would continue to fight to ensure universal voting rights. A copy of her statement is below.

“Fifty-one years after the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, Americans are now facing the most systematic effort to curtail those rights since the era of Jim Crow. Make no mistake, new voter restriction laws in seventeen states have replaced poll taxes and literacy tests as a thinly veiled attempt to achieve an old objective: disenfranchising African Americans, Latinos, low-income people, young people, and people with disabilities.

But we are fighting back. Last week, a court struck down North Carolina’s voter ID requirement, saying it was designed to ‘target African Americans with almost surgical precision.’ Similar restrictions have recently been overturned in Wisconsin, Texas, Michigan, North Dakota, and Kansas after courts found they were intended to discriminate as well.

This November, the notion that every American has a voice in shaping our future is at stake. Donald Trump supports discriminatory voting restrictions — and actually claims that without them in place, the results of American elections should be questioned. It’s a dangerous attempt to undermine the legitimacy of our democracy.

I have a very different view. I believe America is stronger when we expand access to the ballot box, not restrict it. That’s why I’ll fight to repair the Voting Rights Act, expand early voting, and introduce universal, automatic voter registration. 

Upon signing the Voting Rights Act in 1965, President Johnson said the right to vote ‘is one which no American, true to our principles, can deny.’

He was right.”

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News Source: The White House

Hillary Clinton and the CNN Democratic Town Hall

On Tuesday evening, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders took part in a CNN Town Hall live from Columbia, South Carolina. The event was held before Saturday’s primary. During the event, Clinton spoke about battling societal racism saying that white people should recognize “that our experiences may not equip us to understand what a lot of our African-American fellow citizens go through every single day.” She was also asked about her speeches for Wall Street firms and how she is the best candidate to work with Republicans in Congress get things accomplished. A video from the event is below.

Earlier in the day, Clinton held a “Breaking Down Barriers Forum” at the Central Baptist Church in Columbia. The event included speeches by mothers who have lost their children to gun violence and former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly. The topic of the forum was gun violence and policing policies. She spoke about systemic racism saying, “Something is very wrong when we have these incidents where kids can get arrested for petty crimes and lose their lives. Something is wrong when African Americans are three times more likely to be denied a mortgage as white people are, when the median wealth of black families is just a fraction of the median wealth for white families.” A video from the event is available on C-SPAN.

For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: CNN, Time, Mashable

Clinton Launches African Americans for Hillary

Yesterday, Hillary Rodham Clinton launched African Americans for Hillary at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, Clinton spoke at Clark Atlanta University where she was introduced by Rev. Jesse Jackson. Clinton spoke briefly at the event, but she hinted at her plans for criminal justice reform, something that she is going to be rolling out in the coming days. Clinton voiced her support for legislation that would ban racial profiling and would push to eliminate the distinction between crack and power cocaine in drug sentencing. She also voiced her support for “banning the box” on job applications indicating that someone has been convicted of a crime. She believes that criminal history is something that should be discussed further in the application and background check process. Clinton said, “We have to take on the continuing abuses where oppression is more prevalent than opportunity. We have to create those channels of opportunity so that we go from childhood to adulthood pursuing your dreams, instead of cradle to prison and seeing them die.” A video from the event at Clark Atlanta University is below.

Clinton then traveled to Charleston, South Carolina where she was the keynote speaker at the NAACP’s 98th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet. Clinton began her speech by thanking Mayor Joe Riley for his service as Charleston’s Mayor and his leadership following the shooting at Mother Emanuel Church. Clinton vowed to work with the NAACP to prevent racial profiling in South Carolina and across the United States. She pledged to work with Democrats and Republicans to pass meaningful criminal justice reform. She said, “Charleston has been through a lot. This state has been through a lot…The murder of the nine innocents at bible study; it renewed the call to do something about the senseless gun violence that stalks this county… Every American should be safe at school, or at the movies, or at church.” A video of Clinton’s full speech is below.

Today, Clinton is scheduled to will remain in South Carolina. For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution, News 2

Clinton Speaks About Voting Right in Alabama

On Saturday, Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at the Alabama Democrat Conference in Hoover. She addressed the issues plaguing the state of Alabama including the fact that the state opted not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. She focused on Gov. Robert Bentley and the state legislature making it more difficult to vote in the state saying, “Here in Alabama, without the right kind of ID, it’s nearly impossible to vote. I followed when Gov. Bentley and his administration closed 31 driver’s license offices across the state. They include every county where African Americans make up 75 percent of the voters. The closings will make getting license and personal identification cards much harder for many African Americans, particularly the elderly, erecting a big barrier to voting.”

Clinton is calling for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act that was gutted by the Supreme Court. Clinton also spoke about making college more affordable for those who want to go and attend a state school. She spoke about other aspects of her platform including investing in renewable energy, raising the minimum wage, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, helping small businesses, and introducing measures to curb gun violence. A full video of the speech will be posted when/if available.

Before attending the Alabama Democrat Conference, Clinton attended a private fundraiser hosted by Representative Terri Sewell in Birmingham. As with all private events, it was closed to the press.

Tomorrow, Clinton is scheduled to attend the New York City premier of Once and For All, a documentary about the 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference. For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: Montgomery Advertiser, WSFA