Washington, D.C. -On Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hearing to commemorate Black History Month by examining lessons from the civil rights movement on combating efforts to suppress the right to vote and how many of these lessons are particularly urgent in the face of similar voter suppression efforts today.
Despite hard-fought victories to protect and expand voting rights, today many Americans-especially in minority communities-face increasing barriers to registering to vote and casting their ballots. Many states are attacking the right to vote using tactics similar to those that civil rights pioneers battled more than 50 years ago.
Unfortunately, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is refusing to allow votes on two critical bills passed by the House of Representatives that would protect Americans’ right to vote.
On Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chairwoman Maloney, and others will hold a ceremony to rename the Committee hearing room in the late Chairman Elijah E. Cummings’ honor.
Protecting the right to vote is an issue that Chairman Cummings cared about deeply. In 2019, Chairman Cummings launched an investigation with Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Chairman Jamie Raskin into allegations of voter suppression in Georgia, Texas, and Kansas. The Committee will release an update on its investigation this week.
HEARING DETAILS
WHERE: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020
TIME: 11:00 a.m. EST
WITNESSES:
Diane Nash
Civil Rights Activist
Founding Member, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Timothy L. Jenkins
Board Member, Teaching for Change
Board Member, Civil Rights Movement Archive
Founding Member, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Reverend Doctor William J. Barber II
President, Repairers of the Breach
Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
Marcia Johnson-Blanco
Co-Director, Voting Rights Project, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
COMMITTEE ROOM DEDICATION DETAILS
WHERE: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020
TIME: 4:00 p.m. EST
This event is by invitation only, but open to the media. Camera crews must RSVP to the Radio-TV Gallery at 202-225-5214.
