{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/leahy-murkowski-durbin-and-manchin-announce-bipartisan-compromise-on-the-john-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-act", "Leahy, Murkowski, Durbin And Manchin Announce Bipartisan Compromise On The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act", "2021-11-02", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AK", "Lisa Murkowski", "M001153", "www.murkowski.senate.gov", "murkowski", "https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/press-releases?PageNum_rs=41", "scraper", "Continuing Long Bipartisan History Of Restoring The Voting Rights Act\n\nU.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) Tuesday released a bipartisan compromise on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. This proposal \u2013 which builds on the version introduced earlier in October \u2013 reflects months of bipartisan negotiations and seeks to garner broader support in the Senate.\n\nLeahy, Murkowski, Durbin, and Manchin are committed to continuing their work on this compromise bill that will serve as a substitute for the introduced version of the legislation. The bipartisan compromise bill was crafted to build support of senators of both parties, and it stays true to the same bipartisan blueprint followed by Congress in each of the five times it has previously enacted legislation to update and reauthorize the Voting Rights Act of 1965.\n\nLeahy said: \u201cI am proud to continue Congress\u2019s long legacy of bipartisanship that dates back to the enactment of Voting Rights Act of 1965. Protecting our foundational right to vote is bigger than party; it is about our democracy. As we have done many times before, we must put aside our differences and come together to preserve what is most precious about our country: a system of self-government of, by, and for the people. That is what this bill does. Decades from now, when history tells the story of today\u2019s current threats to democracy, let it also tell the story of senators who rose above the fray to protect the right that gives democracy its very name.\u201d\n\nMurkowski said: \u201cVoting rights are fundamental to our democracy and how we protect them defines us as a nation. I have supported this particular legislation in previous Congresses and continued to work with my colleagues on it, because it provides a framework through which legitimate voting rights issues can be tackled. This year, our bill incorporates the Native American Voting Rights Act, which addresses some of the long-standing obstacles that American Indians and Alaska Natives face. Every American deserves equal opportunity to participate in our electoral system and political process, and this bill provides a starting point as we seek broader bipartisan consensus on how best to ensure that.\u201d\n\nDurbin said: \u201cIn our nation, there is no freedom more fundamental than the right to vote. Yet over the past several years, there has been a sustained effort to chip away at this right. I am pleased we have reached a bipartisan compromise to move forward on this legislation named after our late friend and colleague John Lewis, which will protect this \u2018precious, almost sacred\u2019 right. And I am hopeful that more Republicans will follow Senator Murkowski\u2019s lead in defending every American\u2019s access to the ballot box.\u201d\n\nManchin said: \u201cEnsuring our elections are fair, accessible and secure is essential to restoring the American people\u2019s faith in our Democracy. That\u2019s why my colleagues and I have come together to introduce the bipartisan John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The Voting Rights Act has been bipartisan since 1965. I commend my friend and colleague Senator Lisa Murkowski for keeping that bipartisan tradition alive despite partisan efforts on both sides of the aisle to prevent that from happening. In the weeks and months ahead, I am committed to building support for this bipartisan compromise that addresses the threats to voting rights across our nation without infringing on states\u2019 rights so that it can move through regular order with bipartisan support, just as it has done for the last 56 years.\u201d\n\nThe full text of the compromise bill can be found here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/leahy-murkowski-durbin-and-manchin-announce-bipartisan-compromise-on-the-john-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.920016948133707, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}