HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is joining the call of Martin Luther King III to hold a speak-out and community wide march to demand the passage now of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Robert Lewis Voter Enhancement Act.
The congresswoman said we can either protect the filibuster, an outdated and abusive Jim Crow relic, or we can protect our democracy and deliver real results for the American people.
A statement released by Jackson Lee’s office stated, for this reason, it is the duty of the Senate to provide for a suspension of the filibuster when a vote concerns the integrity of our democracy and ensuring the rights enshrined in our Constitution. It is anathema to our democracy that the Constitutional rights held by the people can be curtailed by a procedural mechanism such as the filibuster that was created over a century ago.
Jackson Lee will be joined by other elected officials, community and religious leaders, including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and NAACP Houston President Bishop James Dixon.