Texas Dems & Civil Rights Leaders Call on Pelosi & Schumer to Cancel August Recess

WASHINGTON — Capitol Hill is abuzz over the sweeping bipartisan infrastructure measure that passed a key test vote Wednesday. Democratic leaders hope to pass it and then let their members head home — or to a secluded beach — for their annual August recess, but some Democrats are demanding Congress stay in the steamy nation’s capital all summer. Unlike years past, the demand isn’t coming from federally elected officials — it’s coming from the more than 60 Texas Democrats still held up in D.C. 

Those state lawmakers argue returning home isn’t an option for them, because Gov. Greg Abbott is vowing to arrest them the moment they touch Texas soil so conservatives can get the quorum necessary to pass the controversial new voting legislation advocates fear will disenfranchise countless Texans.

While most Democrats in Congress are itching to flee Washington, Texas Democrats’ message to Congress is simple: Don’t go on holiday while the right to vote is under assault.  

“We’re here and we’re making sacrifices, but it pales in comparison to sacrifices that were made by our forefathers from shoulders we stand on,” state Rep. Ron Reynolds, the 1st vice chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, told reporters on Wednesday. “There are millions and millions of Americans that are dependent on us and dependent on the United States Senate to pass this federal legislation.”

With federal lawmakers itching to flee the swamp, the Texas legislators brought in reinforcements to assist in their uphill battle. Martin Luther King III, his wife Arndrea Waters King and nationally renowned activist Rev. Al Sharpton joined them in lobbying key Democrats on Capitol Hill. 

They’re demanding national Democrats assist local Democrats in these voting rights skirmishes that are destined to fail in conservative strongholds. And it’s not just Texas. New voting restrictions have now passed in one-third of states this year alone. 

Today the House Oversight Committee will hear their pleas, but everyone knows the House is the low-hanging fruit. It’s the Senate that matters, and they have yet to lock in support from all 50 Senate Democrats on their legislative wishlist: Passing the For The People Act (or H.R.1), the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and filibuster reform. That’s not news to them. 

The Kings and Sharpton met with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, along with House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. 

With the Senate sharply divided, Manchin’s the one they need most — which they know well.  

“We had a very candid conversation,” Sharpton said of their meeting with Manchin. “He expressed to us his problems with HR 1. He also expressed to us that our calling for him to support [removal of] the filibuster, — he was not prepared to do that. He did not rule out a carve-around. He says he’s meeting with other Republicans and that he is in support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Law.”

After some meetings at the Capitol, they gathered — with the press in tow — at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to highlight their fight for ballot access.  

As King III stood humbly below the face of his father, he recounted how his parents sacrificed everything in their struggle for civil rights so he and his siblings wouldn’t have to. But he said they now find themselves carrying the torch.

“We could not come to Washington without showing support and solidarity with people on the front lines that have brought this issue, that my father stood for, to national attention,” King said. 

Still, like his parents — in the face of what seem to be insurmountable odds — he remains hopeful. 

“Something is wrong within our nation at this moment,” King said. “But it is not something we cannot fix.”