Hillary Clinton Statement on The March on Washington Anniversary

Hillary Clinton released the following statement in honor of the 53rd anniversary of the March on Washington. The march was held August 28, 1963.

“Tomorrow, we mark the date on which hundreds of thousands of Americans marched on Washington on behalf of human rights.  Standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. uttered words now etched forever in our nation’s history:

‘I have a dream, that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

His call to action sparked the momentum needed to pass the Voting Rights Act –  knocking down legal barriers that had stood for generations, and ensuring every American could exercise their constitutional right to vote.

In 2016, we’ve come a long way since the days of Jim Crow.  Yet too many Americans still face systemic racism and constant assaults on their franchise.  Something is profoundly wrong when decades after Dr. King addressed the nation, so many Americans still feel that their country values them less, simply because of the color of their skin.

That’s just one reason why the stakes in this election are unlike any we have faced before.  Those brave men and women who marched, and sat, and bled for civil rights in America must not have done so in vain.

As President, I’ll stand up to bluster and bigotry, and fight back against efforts to restrict access to the ballot.  Let’s make it easier for people to vote, not harder.  Let’s make sure every state has at least 20 days of in-person voting, and no one ever has to wait more than 30 minutes to cast their ballot.  And let’s automatically register every American to vote on their 18th birthday.

The power of American democracy comes from the fact that no one is left behind – no matter where they come from, what they look like, or who they love.  That’s what I mean when I say that we’re stronger together.

So today, let’s continue to be inspired by the self-evident truths that first united our nation, and live up to what a young minister dreamed and declared fifty-three years ago.”

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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