Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Supreme Court Decision In Allen v. Milligan Ruling That Alabama Must Redraw Their Congressional Map Due To Violations Of The Voting Rights Act

Washington, D.C.– Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the Supreme Court decision that ruled that the Alabama State Legislature violated the Voting Rights Act and congressional districts must be redrawn. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today, our democracy held firm against voter discrimination; the Supreme Court has ruled that Alabama’s Republican-drawn congressional districts discriminate against Black voters, violating the Voting Rights Act, and must be redrawn.

This case is a message to every American who has ever struggled to cast a ballot, or felt like their vote does not matter—our democracy is worth fighting for. We can make change happen—that’s what the Voting Rights Act represents.

But today’s case also reminds us that Jim Crow and racial disenfranchisement live on to this day, in ways both subtle and explicit. Discrimination at the ballot box is very real in today’s day and age—Alabama state lawmakers intentionally tried to dilute the voices of Black voters through discriminatory districts.

It is a good thing for democracy that the efforts of Alabama lawmakers to disenfranchise Black voters have failed in this case.

So once again, democracy held firm, but the struggle for equal representation of course continues.

We must fight to make redistricting fairer, much fairer throughout the country. We must do more at the state level. And we must do more in Congress to pass legislation that will strengthen the Voting Rights Act and fight back against racial discrimination at the ballot box.

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