Biden Praises House for Passing Election Reform

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President Joe Biden praised members of the House of Representatives for passing a comprehensive election reform and voting rights bill, saying he will continue to work with Congress to “refine and advance it.”

“The right to vote is sacred and fundamental — it is the right from which all of our other rights as Americans spring. This landmark legislation is urgently needed to protect that right, to safeguard the integrity of our elections, and to repair and strengthen our democracy,” Biden said. “I look forward to working with Congress to refine and advance this important bill. And I look forward to signing it into law after it has passed through the legislative process, so that together we can strengthen and restore American democracy for the next election and all those to come.”

He added: “In the wake of an unprecedented assault on our democracy; a coordinated attempt to ignore, undermine, and undo the will of the American people never before seen in our history; and a new wave of aggressive attacks on voting rights taking place in states across the country, I applaud Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and the House of Representatives for passing H.R. 1, the For the People Act of 2021.”

The For the People Act would expand opportunities to vote by mail, require that states establish electronic voter legislation, and empower the Department of Justice to enforce voting rights law.

The bill passed along party lines. Republicans have been largely critical of the legislation.

Yesterday, former Vice President Mike Pence voiced his opposition to the legislation, saying the bill “would increase opportunities for election fraud, trample the First Amendment, further erode confidence in our elections, and forever dilute the votes of legally qualified eligible voters.”