HYDE-SMITH REITERATES OPPOSITION TO DEMOCRATS’ ELECTION TAKEOVER BILL
Miss. Senator Equally Critical of Senate Democrats’ Bid to Destroy Minority Party Rights & Open Door to Passage of Radically Bad Bills
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) on Wednesday night derided the latest doomed effort by Senate Democrats to orchestrate the federal takeover of elections, a feat that could only be achieved by imposing rules to silence half the Senate—and thus half the nation they represent.
Hyde-Smith confirmed her strong opposition to eliminating the Senate filibuster and voted against advancing HR.5746, the Democrats’ latest version of legislation to, among other things, federalize elections, ban Mississippi’s voter ID law, force taxpayers to fund political campaigns, and restore Justice Department rule over any changes to Mississippi election statutes.
“The people of Mississippi and this great nation have every right to be frustrated with Washington, D.C. Today, they face pandemic worries, inflationary prices on everything, a border under siege, rising crime rates, and ominous international threats—issues that should be at the forefront of the Senate agenda,” Hyde-Smith said.
“Instead, the U.S. Senate is spending more time fighting fake hysteria fanned by Democrats to justify a federal takeover of our elections. This bill, just like the last four versions, amounts to a cynical power grab and not a true effort to strengthen electoral integrity,” she said.
Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Rules Committee, also reiterated her belief that a successful effort to improve election integrity and voting rights will require a truly bipartisan approach.
“The failures and floundering that have characterized the first year of the Biden administration is the result of the hyper-partisan ‘my way or the highway’ approach embraced by the President and his allies. True voting rights and election reform legislation should have strong bipartisan support to be fully embraced by the American people,” Hyde-Smith said.
The demise of HR.5746 was sealed with enough Senators agreeing on a bipartisan basis to protect Senate rules that value the rights of the minority party. Hyde-Smith voted to opposed efforts by Senate Democrats to destroy a 60-vote procedural rule—the filibuster—to pass the measure.
“Protecting the traditional rights of the minority party in the Senate is equivalent to saving the institution and its role in our democratic government,” Hyde-Smith said. “Without the filibuster, Democrats could pass any notion from their endless radical agenda without true debate or compromise, effectively silencing the millions of Americans who live in Republican states.”
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