Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) gave an impassioned defense of the Democratic push to enact voting rights reforms, which collapsed when two moderates joined Republicans to block a needed change in the filibuster rule.
Invoking the travails of bygone civil rights heroes, the powerful Senate majority leader said it was morally right to bring the doomed measure up for a vote even if it meant stoking outrage against Republicans and the Democrats who sided with them.
“Imagine telling Dr. King not to march from Selma to Montgomery because he could not be sure what obstacles awaited him,” Schumer said. “Sometimes, the only right option is to move forward.”
