距离2022年中期选举还有不到10个月的时间，总统乔·拜登周二，他支持对参议院规则进行历史性的修改，允许两项全国投票权法案通过，称他支持“摆脱”阻挠议事如有必要。

总统在亚特兰大发表讲话时说:“我认为，对我们民主的威胁是如此严重，我们必须找到一种方法来通过这些投票权法案，对它们进行辩论，投票，让大多数人获胜。“如果最低限额被否决，我们别无选择，只能改变参议院的规则，包括为此取消阻挠议事。”

拜登指出，在州一级，全国共和党人只需要简单多数就能通过限制性投票立法，而参议院只有60%的选票。

“州立法者可以简单多数通过反投票法，”他说。“如果他们能够做到这一点，那么美国参议院应该能够以简单多数来检查投票权。

“今天，”他继续说，“我明确表示要保护我们的民主，我支持改变参议院的规则，无论需要以何种方式改变这些规则，以防止少数参议员阻止投票权的行动。”

但要取消或批准阻挠议事规则的例外——该规则要求一项法案需要60票才能推进——将需要至少一半平分秋色的参议院支持这样做。

而温和派民主党人，如西弗吉尼亚州的乔·曼钦(Sens. Joe Manchin)和亚利桑那州的基斯顿·西内马(Kyrsten Sinema)反对这样的改变。

拜登没有明确提到他们的名字，但他说，“每一位参议员，无论是民主党人、共和党人还是独立人士，都必须宣布他们的立场，不仅仅是现在，而是整个时代。”

总统说:“接下来的几天，当这些法案付诸表决时，将标志着这个国家历史上的一个转折点。

不过，这一赤裸裸的声明似乎并没有打动西内玛。

她的发言人在演讲后的一份声明中说，参议员“继续支持参议院60票的门槛，以保护国家免受联邦政策反复激进逆转的影响，这将加剧不确定性，加深分歧，并进一步削弱美国人对我们政府的信心。"

在过去的几个月里，拜登对阻挠议事或改变规则的例外表示开放，以允许投票权立法通过。

但他在其他问题上花费了大量时间和政治资本——冠状病毒疫情、基础设施和他的“重建得更好”的社会提案。

他在周二的演讲中，加上上周攻击前总统唐纳德·特朗普的言论，将这个问题提到了最重要的位置。

他说，他呼吁国会共和党人在2020年总统选举中把选民的意愿变成一个“纯粹的建议”，而不像共和党人过去那样有勇气站出来争取投票权。

拜登说:“没有一个共和党人表现出勇气，站出来对抗一个被击败的总统，保护美国的投票权，没有一个人。“一个也没有。”

在总统发表上述言论的一周前，他对前总统唐纳德·特朗普的虚假言论进行了严厉谴责，称是他而不是拜登赢得了2020年的指控

回顾1月6日袭击国会大厦的“暴力暴徒”，拜登周二首次公开将此次袭击定性为“未遂政变”

他说:“这就是为什么我们今天在这里反对美国那些看重权力凌驾于原则之上的势力，那些试图发动政变的势力——这种政变通过散布怀疑和兜售欺诈指控，试图从人民手中窃取2020年大选，违背了美国人民合法表达的意愿。

“听我说清楚，”拜登对聚集在亚特兰大的一群人说。“美国灵魂之战尚未结束。”

“我们必须确保1月6日不是民主的终结，而是我们民主的复兴，”他继续说道。

拜登星期二与副总统一起发表了讲话卡玛拉·哈里斯来自克拉克亚特兰大大学和莫尔豪斯学院。

哈里斯在向总统致开幕词时说:“我们将为确保我们最基本的自由而战——投票的自由。“这就是为什么我们今天来到亚特兰大——来到民权运动的摇篮，来到由伟大的国会议员约翰·刘易斯代表的地区，在马丁·路德·金牧师的生日前夕。”

帕特里克·塞曼斯基/美联社

副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯和总统乔·拜登抵达后发表讲话支持张成泽..

格鲁吉亚是已经通过的19个州之一新的限制性投票法自2020年大选以来。根据美国司法部的数据，全国共有34部这样的新法律无党派布伦南正义中心，而且大部分都在共和党控制的州。

许多新法律受到前总统广泛选举欺诈的虚假指控的推动，旨在邮寄投票，实施更严格的选民身份要求，允许更少的提前投票日，并限制投票箱。

周二的行程遭到了一些投票团体的批评，这些团体在给《亚特兰大宪法日报》的一份声明中警告说，除了在众议院和参议院通过投票权的最终计划之外，“任何其他不足之处”都是不充分和不受欢迎的。"

周一下午，亚裔美国人倡导基金、亚特兰大北佐治亚州劳工委员会、黑人选民事务基金、GALEO影响基金和新佐治亚州项目行动基金都表示不会出席活动，并要求拜登和哈里斯留在华盛顿。

“我们不需要另一场演讲，”黑人选民事务基金执行董事克里夫·奥尔布赖特说。“我们需要的是行动——我们需要的是计划。”

拜登周二的讲话是他发表的第三次聚焦于投票权问题的讲话。是在总统之后表示在接受美国广播公司《今夜世界新闻》主播大卫·穆尔的采访时，他表示，他将对参议院对阻挠议事的一次性规则进行修改持开放态度，这将允许简单多数通过新的投票法。

值得注意的是，没有出席拜登讲话的还有佐治亚州投票权活动家和州长候选人斯泰西·艾布拉姆斯。

拜登说，他周二上午与她进行了交谈，并将其归咎于日程安排问题。

“今天早上我和史黛西谈过了。我们关系很好。我们把日程安排搞混了。今天早上我和她谈了很久。我们意见一致，一切都很好。”

白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)在周一的简报中反驳了对总统的批评，强调周二的演讲将专注于向前推进。

“我们理解许多倡导者对该法案尚未通过成为法律感到沮丧。他很想亲自签署成为法律。但明天是一个机会，来谈论前进的道路看起来像是倡导什么——为了参议院的前进。”

参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默承诺将很快就投票权立法进行投票，并警告说，如果共和党阻挠这一努力，他将迫使马丁·路德·金日再次投票。

白宫坚称，拜登将与舒默“步调一致”，推进投票，但“日复一日”

与此同时，共和党人反对拟议中的联邦投票法，称其为政府越权。参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔说，民主党人正在宣扬“由党羽煽动的”关于投票权的“虚假陈述”、“虚假愤怒”和“虚假歇斯底里”

Biden says he supports changing filibuster rule to pass voting rights bills

With less than 10 months until the 2022 midterm elections, PresidentJoe Bidenon Tuesday backed a historic change to Senate rules to allow a pair of national voting rights bills to pass, saying he supported "getting rid of"the filibusterif necessary.

"I believe that the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills, debate them, vote, let the majority prevail," the president said, speaking in Atlanta. "And if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules including getting rid of the filibuster for this."

At the state level, Biden noted, only a simple majority has been required for Republicans across the country to pass restrictive voting legislation -- compared to 60% of the Senate, or 60 votes.

"State legislators can pass anti-voting laws in simple majorities," he said. "If they can do that, then the United States Senate should be able to check voting rights by a simple majority.

"Today," he continued, "I'm making it clear to protect our democracy, I support changing the Senate rules, whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a minority of senators from blocking action on voting rights."

But to eliminate or grant an exception to the filibuster rule -- which requires 60 votes for a bill to advance -- would require at least half of the evenly split Senate to support doing so.

And moderate Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema, of Arizona, oppose such a change.

Without explicitly invoking their names, Biden said "every senator, Democrat, Republican and independent, will have to declare where they stand, not just for the moment, but for the ages,"

"The next few days, when these bills come to a vote, will mark a turning point in this nation's history," the president said.

That stark declaration did not appear to move Sinema, though.

Her spokesperson said in a statement after the speech that the senator "continues to support the Senate's 60-vote threshold, to protect the country from repeated radical reversals in federal policy which would cement uncertainty, deepen divisions, and further erode Americans' confidence in our government."

Over the past few months, Biden has expressed openness to an exception to the filibuster, or altering the rule, to allow the voting rights legislation to pass.

But he has expended much of his time and political capital on other issues -- the coronavirus pandemic, infrastructure and his "Build Back Better" social proposals.

With his Tuesday speech -- coupled with his remarks attacking former President Donald Trump last week -- he brought the issue to the forefront.

He called out congressional Republicans, he said, for turning the will of the voters into a "mere suggestion" in the case of the 2020 presidential election and not having the courage to stand up for voting rights as Republicans have in the past.

"Not a single Republican has displayed the courage to stand up to a defeated president to protect America's right to vote, not one," Biden said. "Not one."

The president's remarks came a week after he delivered a searing condemnation of former President Donald Trump's false claims that he, not Biden, won the 2020 allegation

Recalling the "violent mob" that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, Biden on Tuesday characterized the attack, for the first time publicly, as an "attempted coup."

"That's why we're here today to stand against the forces in America that value power over principle, forces that attempted a coup -- a coup against the legally expressed will of the American people by sowing doubt and vending charges of fraud, seeking to steal the 2020 election from the people," he said.

Patrick Semansky/AP

President Joe Biden speaks in support of changing the Senate filibuster rules that have st...

"Hear me plainly," Biden told the group gathered in Atlanta. "The battle for the soul of America is not over."

"We must make sure Jan. 6 marks not the end of democracy but the renaissance for our democracy," he continued.

Biden spoke Tuesday alongside Vice PresidentKamala Harrisfrom the grounds of Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College.

"We will fight to secure our most fundamental freedom -- the freedom to vote," Harris said, opening for the president. "And that is why we have come to Atlanta today -- to the cradle of the civil rights movement, to the district that was represented by the great Congressman John Lewis, on the eve of the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

Georgia is one of 19 states that have passednew restrictive voting lawssince the 2020 election. There have been 34 such new laws in total across the country, according to thenonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, and most of them in states controlled by Republicans.

Many of the new laws, fueled by false claims of widespread election fraud by the former president, take aim at mail-in voting, implement stricter voter ID requirements, allow fewer early voting days and limit ballot drop boxes.

Tuesday's trip was met with criticism from some voting groups that warned in a statement to the Atlanta Constitution-Journal that "anything less" than a finalized plan to pass voting rights in the House and Senate is insufficient and unwelcome."

On Monday afternoon, The Asian American Advocacy Fund, Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council, Black Voters Matter Fund, GALEO Impact Fund and New Georgia Project Action Fund all said they wouldn't be attending the event and asked Biden and Harris to stay in Washington.

"We don't need another speech," said Cliff Albright, executive director of the Black Voters Matter Fund. "What we need is action – what we need is a plan."

Biden's Tuesday speech was the third he has delivered focused on the issue of voting rights. It came after the presidentsignaledin an interview with ABC "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir said that he would be open to making a one-time Senate rule change to the filibuster that would allow a simple majority to pass new voting laws.

Notably, also not in attendance for Biden's speech was Stacey Abrams, the Georgia voting rights activist and candidate for governor.

Biden said he spoke with her Tuesday morning and blamed it on a scheduling issue.

"I spoke with Stacey this morning. We have a great relationship. We got our scheduling mixed up. I talked to her at length this morning. We're all on the same page and everything is fine."

In her briefing Monday, White House press secreatary Jen Psaki pushed back on criticism of the president, stressing that the speech Tuesday would be focused on moving forward.

"We understand the frustration by many advocates that this is not passed into law yet. He would love to have signed this into law himself. But tomorrow's an opportunity to speak about what the path forward looks like to advocate for – for this moving forward in the Senate."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised a vote on voting rights legislation soon and warned that if Republicans filibuster the effort, he will force another vote by Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The White House has insisted Biden will "work in lockstep" with Schumer to move a vote forward but are taking it "day by day."

Republicans, meanwhile, oppose the proposed federal voting laws, characterizing them as government overreach. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said Democrats are promoting a "fake narrative," "fake outrage" and "fake hysteria" on voting rights "ginned up by partisans."