Senate Democrats push a voting rights bill that most likely won't pass

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Senate Democrats¹ push a voting rights bill that most likely won't pass

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They are planning to debate voting rights bills and hold a vote on changing Senate rules to pass them. They are expected to fail despite intense public pressure from the White House.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Senate Democrats are barreling ahead with a public showdown over the filibuster³ and voting rights. Vice⁴ President Kamala Harris kept up the pressure yesterday on members of her own party who say they'll block the Democrats' plans. She was asked during a service event marking Martin Luther King Day what her message is to Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: There are a hundred members of the United States Senate, and I'm not going to absolve⁵ - nor should any of us absolve - any member of the United States Senate from taking on a responsibility to follow through on the oath that they all took to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

MARTINEZ: Pressure from the White House has not shifted things in the Senate. So why are Democrats marching ahead anyway? NPR congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell is following all of this. Kelsey, why are Democrats doing this right now, when you got things like inflation, omicron, supply chain issues that are top of mind for so many voters right now?

KELSEY SNELL, BYLINE⁶: Well, basically they're running out of time. This is, after all, an election year, and in the last election, Democrats promised voting protections - things like ensuring access to mail-in voting and making Election Day a federal holiday - and that's what's in these bills. You know, they need to make sure that they prove to voters that they tried, and they need to show exactly who stopped them from making these changes into law. That's part of what's going on here. It also allows them to demonstrate the same thing with the filibuster because they do have activists⁷ and some in the base who have been demanding, you know, changes to the filibuster since Biden became president.

Now, these votes will show that they tried, but it's also kind of an attempt to blunt criticism that they aren't doing enough. While shining a light on the fact that Republicans are continuing to publicly fight about election security, Democrats want to keep the focus on former President Trump⁸ continuing to lie about the 2020 election.

MARTINEZ: OK, a couple of different hurdles⁹ here - filibuster and voting rights. Who's standing¹⁰ in the way of each part of this?

SNELL: So let's go in order of when they're going to run into these hurdles throughout this week. Now, Democrats have a plan to allow them to start debate on the voting rights bills without any Republican filibuster, but there's still another filibuster to get through. They need 60 votes to end debate and hold a final vote. Most Republicans oppose the voting rights bill, so they can't move forward. They just don't have a shot at getting to 60. So Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to bring up filibuster reform.

Now, there are a few different options. They're considering different ways to change the filibuster. Some of those have more support than others, but all of them you need unanimous agreement among Democrats to get the changes passed, and as you said, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona says she opposes any changes to the filibuster. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has also signaled that, you know he might be OK with some changes, but there's really no incentive¹¹ for him to vote for any of those changes now, when they've got no chance of actually happening.

MARTINEZ: What about changing the Electoral Count Act? That's something Republicans seem willing to talk about.

SNELL: Right. And there is some bipartisan talk about that, but what they're talking about is much narrower and focused on changing the law that governs the counting of Electoral College votes. You know, this - they want to clarify the law, including the limits of power of the vice president to reject electoral votes, what insurrectionists were calling for former Vice President Pence to do on January 6. The White House and Democratic leaders initially¹² rejected any efforts to do that, and no legislation really exists yet, but Republican senators in these talks, like Mitt¹³ Romney, say they're willing to talk if the White House will get engaged.

MARTINEZ: That's NPR congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell. Kelsey, thanks.

SNELL: Thanks for having me.

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 absolve   

v.赦免，解除（责任等）

参考例句：

• I absolve you,on the ground of invincible ignorance.鉴于你不可救药的无知，我原谅你。
• They agree to absolve you from your obligation.他们同意免除你的责任。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

9 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

12 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

13 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。