Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Signs Landmark John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York Into LawInto Law

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul, at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, signed the landmark John. R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York (S.1046-E/A.6678-E) into law cementing New York State's place as a national leader on voting rights and fulfilling a key part of the Governor's 2022 State of the State agenda. The Governor signed the bill alongside Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, State Senator Zellnor Myrie, Assemblymember Latrice Walker, President of the NAACP New York State Conference Dr. Hazel N. Dukes and key voting rights advocates.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Wow. This is how we celebrate Juneteenth. We come together and we make changes that are going to affect the lives of millions of people across this country when they see what New York does here. So I want to thank all of you for coming on this significant occasion to really tell people where we stand as New Yorkers.

And Dr. Ramsey, I want to thank you for your leadership of this incredible organization. We're so proud, not just of the institution, but the individual that this is named after as a constant reminder that the search and quest to the march for justice never ends. And sometimes blood is spilled along the way, and we honor those people for the rest of our lives. So thank you, Dr. Ramsey.

An amazing partner I have in government who gets everything we need to do over the finish line sometimes in the wee hours, but Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has been an extraordinary leader.

Thank you. Dr. Hazel Dukes, the one and only, has joined us here today. It was important to Hazel that we signed this package of laws on this day around the date of the death of Medgar Evers because she told me how she marched behind his casket. She knew him, she knew the story. And so she'll give some more reflections in a couple of moments but thank you for making us so proud of you, Hazel. Because when you think about the words, civil rights, the 21st century, your name will always be associated with your leadership. Hazel Dukes, the extraordinary leader of our NAACP.

Also, Senator Myrie, who is the champion of many of the initiatives we are signing here today. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Myrie. Same thing, it has to happen in the assembly too. Assemblymember Latrice Walker has joined us.

Also, we want to hear from some of our other speakers, Fulvia Vargas-De Leon, Associate Council at Latino Justice. Lurie Daniel Favors, Executive Director for the Center of Law and Social Justice. You'll be hearing from her in a couple of minutes. And of course, someone who's one of my predecessors who knows the rough and tumble of this position like no other, but gives me great advice all the time, Our former governor, Governor David Patterson.

And Brooklyn Borough President, Antonio Reynoso has joined us as well as many other state and local officials. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke has joined us as well. Let's give her a round of applause. All the way from Washington fighting the good fight for us every day in that sometimes crazy place. I've been there. We serve together. But thank you for continuing to be a voice for all the people that you represent. And Former Council Member, Dr. Una Clark has joined us here as well. Let's give her a round of applause.

Once again, New York leads. New York leads when Republicans in Washington attack abortion rights, we protect them. When Republicans in Washington refused sensible gun safety legislation, we enact it. And when Republicans in Washington and state legislatures deny the right to vote and undermine our democracy, we do something here in New York. We pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

I'm so glad to be back at this college especially as we celebrate Juneteenth. We know the history, we know the history. I marched in what is claimed to be the largest Juneteenth freight in America after Texas. That would be in Buffalo, believe it or not. Got to do a little catching up here in Brooklyn. We got to do a little more, but Buffalo is the largest we marched there.

I was with Letitia James and many others who came together to acknowledge that that is a community still in great pain. After the Buffalo shooting, people wore t-shirts that were stamp-out white supremacy. It's a shame that we have to do that in this era, but I was so proud to march with them. But we talked about what this day meant. And in their honor, I wear this because it says choose life and it's got a little Buffalo on it. Some of the family members who lost loved ones want me to wear this.

But on this day, it was supposed to be a day of liberation for enslaved people 157 years ago, supposed to be. Because since that time, the journey has been long. It's been hard. As I mentioned, blood has been spilled along the way, but we never give up. We never give up because we stand on the shoulders of those who marched before us. And today, we're gonna make a significant step to honor those individuals. And we think about Megdar Evers, he was trying to vote in 1946 when a gang of white men surrounded him at the courthouse and they stopped him from casting his vote.

That had to be so dehumanizing for that young man who just wanted to do what he thought was his inalienable right as an American citizen. And he had to be prevented from that, but he would not be deterred for two more decades. He fought on, he spent long days and nights trying to fight for a more equal, more just, more righteous America. Fighting against racism, segregation, but ultimately he was killed by a white supremacist in 1963.

So that hate that we're experiencing now was prevalent then and literally for centuries before that. So we continue that fight and we won't stop here. This is New York State. And I'm going to give you a little more history too because I'm very proud when I see Hazel Dukes, the Genesis of the NAACP, was in our state. It started up where I come from the Niagara Movement. There are monuments and tributes to people who help create that underground railroad passage that came through Buffalo to give people freedom as many of them found their way over to Canada. That's a story we honor and talk about with great frequency.

But as Medgar Evers knew, there are so many fights to be had and one of them is protecting the right to vote because our democracy only works if everyone who's eligible can participate in it. And that the right of the voters is respected. Something we're seeing under assault in our nation's capital every single day in the news. The shocking revelation that there are people out there who are so firm in their belief that Donald Trump should remain their president fostered by him, that they literally attacked our capital for the first time since it was attacked during the war of 1812.

That is going to be a mark on our state, our community, our nation, forever. People always talk about the attack, I think it was 1814, literally horses crashed through. And then 2021.

But also there are people out there willing to undermine our elections by taking over the Capital. There are also those who do it day after day and try to be a little more quiet about it in state capitals. A little more sinister, a little more under the - some of the boards of elections.

And they are out there trying to do the same thing, to strip away the right that Medgar Evers was also denied. They don't care that the laws have changed. And when we see what's happening in the Supreme Court and Washington, it's kind of a reminder, sometimes the laws you have on the books just aren't enough. So, then you look to your state leaders, your state legislators, and say we are going to make the changes we need.

Across the country, we're seeing stricter voter ID laws, shorter early voting periods, and more burdens when you're trying to vote by mail. We're seeing people purged on voter roles. We're seeing attacks play out in real-time.

And in Washington, they had the opportunity to do something that was significant. To name a package of reforms that say no more, named after civil rights icon John Lewis. John Lewis. I heard John Lewis speak at my daughter's college graduation at the Virginia College in 2011. He had those young people screaming his name, standing on their feet, cheering like I've never seen before. It was so inspiring as he talked about what he did when he was their age, he called this generation to serve and to fight back. And they were so enthralled with him.

And literally, two weeks later, I won an election I wasn't expected to win. I took my seat, and I went over after being sworn in, I went over to John Lewis. I said, you do not know the impact you had on this group of a lot of white kids in the audience. You made them believe. You opened their eyes to something perhaps they were not aware of. They needed to hear your voice, John Lewis, and thank you for doing what you did.

He became a great friend of mine when we served together in Congress. He was powerful. And I know our delegation in Washington, Yvette Clarke and all the others, they're standing up and fighting. They're trying to get it done. They're trying so hard and I admire that. But the assaults from the Republicans, the roadblocks, seem to be never-ending.

But here in our state, we are not bystanders. We are upstanders. We're going to stand up to these injustices. We'll let them know how we treat this in New York. We don't just say something, we do something because that's what John Lewis called us to do. He fought for justice. He fought for the right to vote until the very day he died. And in the final message to our country, he wrote, democracy's not a state, democracy's an act. And each generation must do its part.

My friends, today we're acting, we're acting. We're demonstrating to the rest of the nation, what they can be doing in state capitals. When Washington refuses act, the state legislatures, the state leaders, they have the power to stand up.

We honor these individuals and we are going to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York State to make sure that our election laws improve the voting process and protect our voters. We're going to fight back against voter suppression, voter, dilution, intimidation, deception, and obstruction.

We're providing more language assistance. If you can't understand the language that your ballot is in, how can you possibly vote? We are changing that as well.

And we're going to change our election laws so we no longer hurt minority communities. We said we're going get it done. We did this before, we did early voting, and I hope everybody's gotten their early vote in - it's a lot easier. I did mine on Saturday. Get your early votes in. Tell everybody.

We've added polling sites to college campuses and we've restored the right to vote, but today's legislation will not be the last. We'll always find where there's cracks, where there's not perfection. When we can look at our laws and say, let's fix them and make them even stronger.

That's what the elected leadership does with the support of advocates who find these deficiencies and bring them to our attention.

So, as always, when the federal government fails to act, you can count on New York to punch back and fight even harder. We will not rest, we will not rest, while these injustices continue. As I said, we did it with abortions. We did it with reproductive freedom. We did it with gun legislation, and now we're doing it again with voting rights.

So, we honor Juneteenth. We honor Medgar Evers. We honor John Lewis, but we're not looking backwards any longer. We'll continue to write the wrongs of the past, but let's create a future we don't have to do that any longer so our children and their children don't have to look at our generation and say they're going to right the wrongs of our past.

We have the power in our hands. The question is, will we use it? The answer is, today we are. And that's why I'm so proud to be here, to sign this landmark legislation, no state in the nation - you hear this a lot - no state in the nation has stood up with the courage and the conviction and the power that we have by protecting these important rights. Thank you, everyone. Appreciate you being here today.

Source