民主党众议员汉克·约翰逊。周四，在国会山哈特参议院办公楼外发生的一起精心策划的非暴力反抗行动中，有10名示威者被美国国会警察逮捕。
约翰逊和投票权倡导者参加黑人选民事务基金的“兄弟行动日”，这是一场由黑人男子领导的抗议活动，旨在倡导投票权，呼吁国会结束阻挠议事，通过法案为了人民法案。
这次示威是7月15日黑人女性领导的抗议活动的后续活动以九次逮捕告终，包括逮捕国会黑人核心小组主席众议员乔伊斯·比蒂。
据报道，虽然国会中的投票权辩论仍主要是党派性的，但大多数美国人认为，有合法资格投票的人应该能够投票调查来自皮尤研究中心。周四公布的数据显示，57%的美国人更多地将投票视为所有合格美国公民的“一项基本权利”，“不应受到任何限制。”调查显示，不到42%的人认为“投票是一项伴随责任而来的特权，如果美国成年公民不符合某些要求，投票可能会受到限制”。
民主党推动通过联邦投票权立法的力度继续加大，至少有16个共和党领导的州已经这样做了通过了限制投票权的法律，包括收紧缺席投票和邮寄投票规则的措施，以及实施新的选民身份和签名要求。
专家表示，在前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)对2020年选举中的选民欺诈提出虚假指控后，共和党推出了这些措施。不成比例地影响少数群体的选民准入。
尽管共和党州议员和联邦议员坚称，实施投票限制是为了确保选举安全，但美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)在7月13日的一次演讲中抨击了这些努力，称共和党限制投票的企图是“21世纪的吉姆·克劳攻击。”
正在…拜登利用他的总统影响力来壮胆民主党推动通过联邦投票权立法，他还没有同意结束阻挠议事。总统公开支持改革这一规则。
进步的众议院民主党人，包括约翰逊和纽约州众议员贾马尔·鲍曼、得克萨斯州众议员希拉·李庚翔和得克萨斯州众议员阿尔·格林，在周四的集会上与示威者站在一起，他们说拜登的讲话还不够。
鲍曼敦促拜登采取进一步行动，帮助结束参议院的阻挠议事规则，他说，要通过民主党议程上的进步法案，这一变化是必要的。结束阻挠议事将有效地允许法案以简单多数通过，而不是以60票通过。
“这些法案，他们坐在参议院，根本不动。为什么呢?因为种族歧视的吉姆·克劳遗迹被称为阻挠议事，”鲍曼说。
“这不仅仅是总统发表关于种族平等的演讲，或者写新闻稿说他支持种族平等。这关系到你的政策，你的主张，你的预算。因此，我们呼吁总统成为种族公正和公平的领袖，以便南1张钞票在参议院通过，这样南4账单通过参议院，这样《乔治·弗洛伊德治安司法法案》就能通过参议院，这样我们就能真正发展成为我们这样的多种族民主国家，”鲍曼继续说道。
李庚翔赞扬了投票权抗议者，并誓言她和其他国会黑人核心小组成员将继续示威，直到联邦投票权立法在国会通过。
“我们承诺，骚动不会停止。我们将日复一日地出现，因为我们体现了宪法，”李庚翔说。
“无论付出什么代价，我们都会以非暴力犯罪者的身份出现，”她继续说道。“我们是不听话的公民。我以已故的约翰·刘易斯的名义离开你，他说:“继续。”"
Rep. Hank Johnson among 10 demonstrators arrested at voting rights protest
Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., was among 10 demonstrators arrested by U.S. Capitol Police on Thursday in an orchestrated act of civil disobedience outside the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill.
Johnson and voting rights advocates participating in Black Voters Matter Fund's "Brothers Day of Action," a protest led by Black men to advocate for voting rights, called on Congress to end the filibuster and pass theFor the People Act.
The demonstration was a follow-up to the Black women-led protest on July 15, whichended in nine arrests, including the arrest of Congressional Black Caucus chair Rep. Joyce Beatty.
While the voting rights debate remains largely partisan in Congress, the majority of Americans believe that people who are legally qualified to vote should be able to, according toa surveyfrom Pew Research Center. Data released on Thursday revealed that 57% of Americans view voting more as "a fundamental right" for all eligible U.S. citizens and "should not be restricted in any way." Less than 42% believe "voting is a privilege that comes with responsibilities and can be limited if adult U.S. citizens don't meet some requirements," according to the survey.
The push from Democrats to pass federal voting rights legislation continues to grow as at least 16 Republican-led states havepassed laws that restrict voting rights, including measures that tighten rules for absentee and mail-in voting, and impose new voter ID and signature requirements.
Experts say the GOP measures, which have been pushed in the wake of former President Donald Trump's false allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election,disproportionately impact voter access among minorities groups.
Although Republican state and federal lawmakers maintain that voting restrictions were imposed to make elections secure, President Joe Biden blasted the efforts in a speech on July 13, calling GOP attempts to limit ballot access a "21st century Jim Crow assault."
WhileBiden has used his presidential influence to emboldenDemocrats' push to pass federal voting rights legislation, he has yet to endorse ending the filibuster. The president has openly supported reforming the rule.
Progressive House Democrats, including Johnson and Reps. Jamal Bowman, D-N.Y., Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, and Al Green, D-Texas, who stood with demonstrators during Thursday's rally, said that Biden's speech was not enough.
Bowman urged Biden to take further action to help end the filibuster rule in the Senate, a change he said is needed to pass progressive bills on the Democratic agenda. Ending the filibuster would effectively allow bills to be passed with a simple majority, instead of the 60 needed with it in place.
"These bills, they sit in the Senate, not moving at all. Why? Because of the racist Jim Crow relic called the filibuster," Bowman said.
"It's not just about the president giving a speech on racial equity, or writing a press release saying he's for racial equity. It's about your policies, it's about your advocacy, it's about your budget. So we are calling on the president to be a leader for racial justice and equity -- so that theS. 1 billpasses in the Senate, so that theS. 4 billpasses the Senate, so that the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passes the Senate, and so that we can really evolve into the multiracial democracy that we are," Bowman continued.
Jackson Lee praised voting rights protesters and vowed that she and other Congressional Black Caucus members will continue demonstrating until federal voting rights legislation passes in Congress.
"We committed that the agitation is not going to stop. We will show up, day after day after day, because we embody the Constitution," Jackson Lee said.
"Whatever it takes, we'll be there as nonviolent perpetrators," she continued. "Civil disobedient persons we are. I leave you in the name of the late John Lewis who said, 'Carry on.'"
