mccrery, when striking down shelby county. chief justice roberts relied on the proposition that minority voter registration and turnout has significantly improved in the country. should congress look at other indicators in addition to registration and turnout to measure the pervasiveness or persistence of race discrimination in the voting process? mr. mccrery? while he is frozen let me ask mr. spital, how has the public's ability to monitor voting changes been affected now that covered jurisdictions did not have to notify the attorney general of voting changes, and has the lack of notice impacted the ability of private plaintiffs to block changes through legislation? mr. spital: thank you very much for the question. absolutely, especially at the local level. without section 5 it is very difficult to be aware of the full range of a changes, discriminatory voting practices that are occurring at the local level which has been an impediment to civil rights organizations ringing litigation to challenge practices. rep. johnson: let

i went to go right to the shelby county opinion, and i have a question for mr. stein that deals with the addressing of concentration in the jurisdiction. justice roberts asserts it may deliver be constituted jurisdiction singled out for preclearance. could you quickly, mr. henderson, answer these questions. has your organization found there was a concentration of voting rights violations in certain jurisdictions? as the covid-19 crisis like in harris county escalated ongoing

she represents shelby county. we are so sorry for the loss of your staff member. so poignant that he was so young, but he died of covid, the very thing that you are all trying to fight. >> absolutely. it's such a devastating loss, someone who's been so instrumental in building my brand and being a part of my life has lost his life to this deadly disease. but what it is, it's just making my fight even more important as we continue to advocate for responsibility in how we're handling this disease. again, i have made it public that i'm asking our speaker and our governor not to call a special session. look, in tennessee, only six counties are implementing mandatory mask mandates, including mine and memphis. but only two of those counties are democratic strongholds. so you do see republican counties like williamson county being responsible and implementing mask mandates while their legislative friends are asking a special session to take

take shelby county, for example. the small county at the center of alabama has a population of just around 200,000 people. in 2013, it single-handedly gutted the voting rights act of 1965, opening the flood gates for voter suppression for years to come. that year justice roberts supreme court invalidated a key portion of the voting rights act known as preclearance, which essentially made sure states could not pass discriminatory laws that restrict people of color from voting. republicans in shelby county argued the requirements were outdated and too excessive and unnecessary. in the dissent, however, justice ruth bader ginsburg said throwing out preclearance is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you're not getting wet. and just like that what had been described as the heart of the voting rights act was gone. it was no accident that shelby county, a teeny tiny county in the south became the bell weather for voter suppression three years prior to the supreme court decision. the 2010 census found th

i find it interesting that in shelby county, among other things, it was suggested the evidence wasn't there or the need for police -- preclearance. yet the courts on the flipside are allowing some of these legislative hoses to go forth even though there was no true threat presented to election integrity or a massive threat with respect to elective fraud. that is one place i think the courts actually have a role is to look at the evidence. further to that is we go one step further and there is no evidence of massive fraud, no evidence this will actually provide for greater election integrity. what is the harm that happens to our community. what is the effect? the talk -- the court talks about totality but what are the real circumstances that happened. it's had an effect on all of our communities. it's clear this results in a reduction of the number of voters, the reduction of the ability of people to cast votes. that's where i would start with respect to what the role of courts should be. they are not there to provide legislative fixes but they are there to validate evidence and that's

[indiscernible] wasn't there an explicit invitation from the supreme court in shelby county vs. holder to update their precoverage formula for deciding which jurisdiction will be covered under precoverage? mr. nadler: there was indeed. the shelby county decision in 2013 invalidated section 4 which determined which jurisdictions, which states, political subdivisions of states were subject to preclearance under section 5 on the grounds it was out of date. didn't reflect current data. it specifically invited congress to update -- to update it under revised section 4 which is exactly what this bill does. mr. raskin: and all of that can -- [indiscernible] the voting rights act of 1965 in wiping out a lot of the traditional barriers to focus [indiscernible] and we know, of course, those barriers go all the way back to the end of the reconstruction period, literacy tests, character tests, and, you know, polling places, hardships imposed on registering people to vote. the voting rights act got millions more people involved in american politics and got them the right to vote. [indiscerni

passed over to today, and section five was essentially gutted by the supreme court in the shelby county versus holder decision in 2013. just two weeks ago, the supreme court powerfully weakened section two in another case. this particular statute, the one that i believe was president reagan called the crown jewel of civil rights statutes, the statute that we recognize as having been enacted that the cost of activism and death. the beating of john lewis, so many others. this bill that is recognized as having freedom enfranchised the black population of the south, prior to the voting rights act, only 60% were registered to vote. after that jumped to 59%. interestingly, before the act, only 70% of white voters in mississippi were registered. after the act, 90%. when we expand the opportunity and access to vote for black voters, for latino voters, for asian american voters, actually expanded for all voters and that is good for democracy. likewise, when we suppress the vote, when we restrict access to voting for black voters, for latino voters, for elderly voters. we restrict it for everyone

in shelby county, it's the largest school district in the state of tennessee. more than 100,000 students. just in the last two weeks they've seen their case rate spike more than 200%. 25% of those cases are from those younger children. and so that's the main concern that we're seeing here in memphis as they go back to school. but it is this continued political conversation. and i asked the superintendent specifically about that in his decision to issue this mask mandate. take a listen to some of our conversation. >> the governor and i, we have a great working relationship. possibly disagree on the mask issue. but that's okay. right here in memphis shelby county schools, our students wear masks, but the governor does understand, this is a local decision. at the end of the day, we're going to do what's best for children and that's safety first. >> the superintendent says they are following the science. he wants to stay away from political drama. at the end of the day when it's just one of a handful of districts in the state doing this, the speaker of the state ho

>> mara, you're some shelby county. one of the only districts to mandate a mask mandate. what you are hearing from officials there? >> will with, ayman, unlike in florida, tennessee doesn't have a ban against a mask mandate in school districts. they left it up to local students to make the decision. but the republican governor bill lee here was advising against those mask mandates saying that he was against any school doing so. but shelby county is the largest school district in the state surrounding memphis, more than 100 thou students. the reality of the situation here is that over the last two weeks, they have seen a spike in cases of more than 200%. almost 25% of those cases are among kids younger than 17 years old. and so school officials here said there was no question when it came to wearing masks. i was here as school opened this morning. kids came bounding out of the cars already wearing their masks, excited to get back inside. school is back in person for the first time in a year and a half. i want to hear from one of the students. he is a senior year. he basica

she's the health director here in shelby county. talking about she's going to stand up to this political pressure. >> we understand that there's politics around this issue. but frankly, when you have sick children and you have dying children, that's never political. and i don't want to have even one more parent or parent -- a set of parents have to bury their child because they died of what could be a preventable disease. >> and chuck, these are not the same minor cases that we might have seen in children at the beginning of the pandemic. if they're hospitalized, it's often doctors tell me they are getting intubated, they are having severe reactions and even respiratory issues after they get covid and leave the hospital. and right now they're seeing their icus fill up to what they might normally see in the winter. and this is again as we're going into back to school period. they started school here just yesterday. dr. taylor mentioning that of the 18-year-olds and under that are eligible for the vaccine here in shelby county, only 7

the thing that doctors are looking at is the fact that the community here in shelby county where memphis is not fully vaccinated. the number of fully vaccinated adults sits at about 37%. i spoke with a doctor this morning about the types of cases they're seeing. take a listen. >> our vaccination rate unfortunately is not where we want it to be here in shelby county and the surrounding areas. i think that's fuelling the delta variant. we've seen completely healthy kids come in and be admitted. what we've seen with our patients that have some comorbidities we've seen it present pretty quickly. >> reporter: he said healthy kids and kids with comorbidities, other doctors mentioning memphis is a diverse urban population. so those issues around racial lines applies to kids too, but he did emphasize these are healthy children he's seeing as well. dr. fauci mentioned anybody spending time around kids should be vaccinated because these younger kids can't be. >> it is so frustrating and scary to think about a children's hospital being full by the end of the week. then you think about what's happen

in shelby county vaccination is only about 37% so a mask mandate in schools like shelby county is doing but across the state could have a big impact but as we've seen, not a ban on mask mandates in school but the republican governor bill lee discouraging that. garrett? >> the low vaccination 80s a problem. morgan and mara, thank you both. >>> coming up, the military will require all u.s. troops to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. i'll talk to the director of the national institutes for health about why the pentagon is taking this step and why now. >>> plus the fbi is reviewing documents related to the 9/11 attacks to determine whether they can be released publicly, 20 years later. the decision comes just days after survivors and victims families told president joe biden to skip memorial events this year. we'll go back to our top story later, infrastructure bill, congresswoman debbie dingell joins us live. with clinically-proven ingredients and his gum problems have vanished. (crowd applauding) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. that del

county versus holder, the then attorney general. then again the more recent decision earlier this summer by the supreme court on section two of the voting rights act. what could they be thinking? thinking, caring, i don't know. whatever it is, they are just saying the constitutional basis for the legislation was not ironclad enough that we made sure that it was. congresswoman terry sewall has been working on this issue. she represents selma in congress, so her connection to john though to voting rights and sacrifices made is a great one. i was so proud she prevailed. the john lewis bill also had the great support of the chairman of the judiciary committee, mr. nadler. the chair of the house administration committee, which does elections, the good work of mr. butterfield -- now with the election in 2020 we see even more need, all the more need not just for hr4 and now as1 -- s1 in the senate. the nullification of election that they are putting forth, probably 20 laws that have become law. hundreds have been introduced. you have to wo

i was recently -- the case of shelby county versus holder. that would be eric holder, the former attorney general. right now he is working very hard to pass hr four, hr one, fairness in elections and the rest. i saw him recently and said to his wife, thank you for sharing eric with us, because the work he is doing for voting rights is just so remarkable. so remarkable. she said to me, you do not have to thank me for his doing that work, and she showed me a picture of lyndon johnson signing the voting rights act. lucy baines is behind him. she was with all of you last week, she said i was standing behind my daddy. a few steps away is her sister. one of the first we tried to go to college at the university of alabama that george wallace prevented. she said, you do not have to thank made for the work. it is in our family. john lewis was about connections, connections. how he fought the fight himself, brought him to the place he was, and looks to the future. how proud he would be at our texas friends. [applause] so, here we are. we were here when

randolph at the shelby county health department, he said that he is extremely disappointed because all of this could have been prevented if more people had been vaccinated. only 37% of people in the county here are vaccinated. and what is more, and more concerning, during the month of july, after the republican statehouse pushback, they were ordered to halt any outreach to minors when it comes to vaccination via social media, they canceled any vaccine events on school grounds during the month of july leading up to going back to school. and that has since been reinstated. but obviously doctors very concerned about the impact that that could have had as kids are going back to school. the state health commissioner warning that by the end of this week, all children's hospitals could be full. >> wow. doctor, we're seeing these headlines all over the country about hospitals being overwhelmed just like they were a year ago. your hospital i know has paused all elective surgeries. last year around this time we saw the scramble for things like ppe and ventilators. are we about to be in the same

there were two children in shelby county where memphis is that died from covid-19 over the week. there are children across the state who are on ventilators because of covid-19, and unfortunately, the speaker of the house for the state of tennessee expressed a few days ago that any school district that tried to put in a mask mandate would be penalized, that they would call a special session of the legislature to try to outside law the ability to do that, and that any school district that closes schools because of high covid-19 case rates would be penalized financially where they would take the money out of those schools and give vouchers to -- for those children to attend private schools. it's that kind of intimidation that's going to work against the health and well fare of our children. >> i appreciate both of you what you do. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having us. >> thanks. >> up next, more breaking news. the list of new york district attorneys asking about the investigation into if governor. tlt latest on that ahead. i was drowning in student loan debt. i wa

county decision, being able to lose only three, she got every single democrat, and if all of this goes through with those margins, if we get -- you know, it will not be $3.5 trillion. it might be $3.2. whatever it might be, it is amazing this could happen with those numbers and let's give the props where they belong, and that starts with nancy pelosi. >> and, john, joe manchin and kyrsten sinema did the ted cruise move, not as dramatically as back in the day, but they reached across the campus and tried to influence the house of representatives, which is -- which is simply not done. it's not supposed to be done. and they had absolutely no effect. they were trying to encourage the ten moderate democrats to hold the line. and in the end, nancy pelosi really crushed joe manchin and kirs sten cinema in that attempt. >> the thing about that, lawrence, is it is not supposed to be done. and the only penalty for trying to do it is the penalty that was inflicted on manchin and cinema this week is they look ineffectual. i'll use that as a noun rather than an adjective. it gives you some sense th

county versus holder, the then attorney general, and, again, the more recent decision earlier this summer by the supreme court on section 2 of voting rights act. what could they be thinking? thinking, caring, i don't know. but whatever it is, if they're just saying that the constitutional basis for the legislation was not ironclad enough, then we made sure that it was. congresswoman sewell has been working on this issue. as you know, she represents selma in the congress, so her connection to john lewis, to voting rights and sacrifices made is a great one and i was so proud that she prevailed. the john lewis bill also had the great support of the chairman of the judiciary committee, mr. nadler, the house administration committee, lofgren, the good work of mr. butterfield in collecting the data, as well as now secretary marcia fudge. she did that before she left. now, even with the election in 2020, we see even more need because of the actions taken during the election in 2020 and since. all the more need, not just for h.r. 4, but for h.r. 1, now s. 1 in the senate. the suppression of the v

in 2013 the supreme court's decision in shelby county versus holder suspended the preclearance process, the justice department's single most powerful and effective tool for protecting the right to vote. the department's ability to protect the right to vote has been eroded as a result. for the justice department, restoration of the voting rights act is a matter of great urgency. >> that was assistant attorney general kristen clarke issuing a stark warning on the threat to voting rights yesterday. her plea echos similar calls for action from the country's top democrats. >> we're facing the most significant test of our democracy since the civil war. i'm not saying this to alarm you. i am saying this because you should be alarmed. >> all americans have the right to vote. and with it the opportunity to determine their own future. however, today, the ability of americans to exercise that right is under vicious attack. >> let me be clear, republicans refusing to support anything on voting rights is not an excuse for democrats to do nothing. >> here's the problem. that urgent rhetoric is simpl

but, remember, we, right now, because of the supreme court's decision year ago, in the shelby county case, don't have protect for voters of color in the way that we have done in the past. so redistricting is on the table, too. we're going into a season of redistricting, where drawing the lines of power that will sit in place for ten years is also at stake. so, this is the thing. is that right now, the democrats have to act. they have to act boldly, because they have everything to lose. >> dean, the john lewis act passed out of the house this week. there's been a lot of comparison to the for the people act, which is a much broader bill that would preempt state voting, election laws. the john lewis act, more narrow. it creates procedural rules governing voting rights violations. in basic terms, is this enough to effectively slow down these laws that we're seeing across the country? >> it would have a huge impact, alicea, but here's the big picture. in august 1965, black americans had more voting protections than they do in august 2021. and that's not hyperbolic. that's because the voti

h.r. 4 is focused on overturning the supreme court decision, shelby county vs. holder, and reinstituting federal power over state election laws. preclearance was established in 1965 because there were blatant attempts to disenfranchise african-americans. we're not debating that today. we've made great progress since 1965. so what's the purpose of h.r. 4? h.r. 4 is a federal power grab. this bill would gut, this bill would gut voter i.d. laws across the country. the bill would allow the biden department of justice to veto state voter i.d. laws. in my home state of wisconsin, some said commonsense voter i.d. laws would lower turnout. they were wrong. in 2020, wisconsin had the fourth highest voter turnout in the country. this bill would make it harder for states to maintain accurate voter rolls. accurate voter rolls are essential for local election officials to accurately administer elections. this bill is a federal overreach. instead of federal overreach, let's get to work and make it easier to vote and hard to cheat. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the ge

in shelby county, tennessee, kids under 17 make up nearly one-quarter of the infections and in mississippi nearly 1,000 students have tested positive for covid just days into the new school year. we have got the best team following the latest developments. allyson barber in mississippi, da sha burns in tennessee and dr. scott gottlieb is here. dasha, how bad is the covid spike among kids in tennessee, and more importantly, how sick are they? >> reporter: steph, i'm in the highlands, a region where i've spent a lot of time over the last year. a lot of time engaging with the hospital system here, and their staff is telling me what they're seeing among kids right now the unprecedented. yesterday, among the cases in their system, 29% of positive cases were among those under the age of 18. stephanie, in washington county, the school system here only a week into reopening, they already have 50 students and staff testing positive, and 194 in quarantine. but, stephanie, despite that, there is no mask mandate in this district or the vast majority of districts in this area. there is no social distan

in 2013, the supreme court's decision in shelby county vs. holder blocked the department of justice from overseeing elections in places that historically discouraged and suppressed the votes of black, latino, and other communities of color. since that decision, texas has removed its voter suppression with a vengeance. it has closed 750 polling sites, including 452 polling sites in counties with the largest increases in black, latina voters and more than any other state in the union. now texas republicans are trying to add new restrictions to voting. let's be clear about these bills, what they are, and what they are not. these bills are not an effort to make voting in texas more secure. these bills are part of a racist right to vote. these bills takes power and choice away from the people of texas and let the politicians decide who their voters are. simply put, these bills are an attack on voters and on the rights guaranteed by the constitution. but there is a solution. congress must act. congress must pass the for the people act which would e

in my district, prior to the shelby decision, we had a voting rights county. but clearly the threats to our ability to vote are not limited to my district, as this year alone 18 states across our country have passed 30 laws making it harder to vote. mr. panetta: that's why i voted for this bill. that's why john lewis served and sacrificed. and that's why he crossed edmund pettus bridge in 1965 and in 2020 when i was honored to cross it with him hand in hand. tonight we not only upheld the legacy of john lewis, but by passing h.r. 4, we were able to provide citizens, eventually provide citizens with more opportunity to vote in our democracy. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from oklahoma seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mrs. bice: thank you. the swaights unfolding in afghanistan -- situation unfolding in afghanistan is dire but in the midst of crisis, there is always light to be found. in oklahoma's fifth congressional district, that light is al

namely, that since the shelby county ruling the supreme court in 2013, america has been suffering from a rash of voter suppression, including violence. the data demonstrates this narrative is blatantly false. rather than me make general allegations, that may be specific about some of the radical leftists were aligned to the american people. it starts at the top, with president biden. even the leftist washington -- had to give their strongest rating of four pinocchio's. is that lark lobbyist voice shouting the now familiar trope of jim crow 2.0, which we heard congressman owens speak to from his own experience. vice president harris recently flip-flopped from her anti-voter id condition in an interview on bet. an interview in which that was overshadowed by her comment that people who live in rural communities are not capable or smart enough to use voter id. vice president harris is rural people are stupid you is no less prejudiced in her view shared implicitly by summing others on the left that minorities are somehow incapable of getting and using voter ids, like everyone else. i hear v

representative: was it just section five that was overturned in the shelby county decision eight years ago? mr. bernal: yes. representative and the reason was because this body failed to update the data? mr. bernal: that was among the reasons. representative: so the 96 to five voting rights act remains in effect, provision, section five, overturned because was 50-year-old data. do you believe texas should submit to the department of justice for any changes it makes in voting laws or formulas? mr. bernal: yes. ms. collier: the historical nature of texas -- representative: yes or no? should they submit to the department of justice for preclearance? ms. collier: yes. representative for the record: my colleagues want to differ to washington for what we should do in texas. are you all aware you are violating texas law by being here right now instead of in the texas legislative session? it would be in order to arrest you were you in the state of texas to get you to the steakhouse, do we agree those -- at the statehouse, do we agree on those? mr. bernal: that is unconstitutional. i don't thin