Transcripts For CSPAN3 Eric 20240704

Nassau and Suffolk County focused on education, Voting Rights and civic engagement. Public safety, criminal justice and environmental justice. As an elected member of the huntington town council, she focused on providing services to unemployed and underemployed residents, including job access to Job Development of life skills and access to not for profit assistance. So please join me in welcoming the stage. Councilwoman tracy edwards. Hi. Well, dont you look marvelous. I am thrilled to call moderate event with former congressman steve israel. Representative israel served in the us congress. From 2001 to 2017, including four years as chairman of the Democratic Congressional campaign committee. He left washington unindicted. He left washington undefeated and he. He left to pursue new passions and 2021, he opened a small independent bookstore for theodores books with his lovely wife, cara, who is sitting right there next to my gorgeous husband, walter who was sitting right there. In his historic of oyster bay, fulfilling a lifelong dream. And author. In his own right, he has published two critically acclaimed satires of washington, the global war on morals and big guns. He proudly serves us on the library of congress Madison Council as well. Many other board of directors, steve was most recently by president to the president s committee on the arts and humanities. Please welcome my mentor, my friend, my former councilperson my former congressman. An all around wonderful wonderful person representative steve israel. Stay here. How about how about a big hand for tracy . Isnt she extraordinary . Oh, love her. Im going to step i, i you know, theres a there is a Congressional District that you in that could use a democratic candidate. Im. I want to acknowledge some some wonderful friends and the attorney general is going to out here in less than 2 minutes. But i want to acknowledge new state senator kevin thomas, who is with us. Senator, thank you for the work that do now. Kevin is a senator. Eric was an attorney general. I was a congressman. But we have a president here, a bona fide president. And that is president of suny farmingdale, john nader, who is with us. Mr. President , thank you for being here and that we all know somebody who has worked tirelessly and, often a great risk in the fight, civil rights. Fred brewington is with us. Fred, thank you for being here. And of course, i see my my very friend and someone who also worked in the fight to go congress. And i dont think hes done yet. Robert is with us. Robert. So. 2 minutes or less, tracy told you how i Left Congress unindicted and undefeated in all that. But let me tell you how, i got there. And what happened when i got there the first act that i performed the First Official act of every new member of congress is to raise your right hand and take an oath to the constitution of the United States of america. We, the people of United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to and our posterity. Do hereby establish this the constitution of the United States of, america. And when did that on that . At that moment . When i raised my right hand and took that oath. I knew it wouldnt always be easy. What i didnt know was that there times when it was going to be almost impossible to protect and defend constitution of the United States because, of the levels of resistance on, the floor of the house to that very and so there were moments when we did fulfill our oath to the constitution. I would argue that we promoted the general welfare. We passed obamacare, making sure that if you were sick, you were getting taken care. And i would argue that we provided for the common defense. We passed record level on a bipartisan basis for veterans in the United States. Thats how you provide for the common defense. And i would argue that we established justice in 2006 when we voted to reauthorize the Voting Rights act that passed. Passed by a vote of 390 to 33. And i have to be honest with i wasnt all that proud to be part of 390. I was ashamed that there were 33 who voted against it that i could not understand how you could vote against reauthorizing the Voting Rights act that had been authorized and reauthorized by four separate president s, two separate political parties. And then i witnessed reversals, a stunning reversal when my friends, the other side of the aisle decided to in texas, not part of a decades process, but every ten years we redistrict. But they decided the hell we control texas. Were just going to do it whenever we want. And they eliminated the seats of some noble and hardworking, decent members of congress. And then i remember sitting with nancy pelosi in the Leadership Meeting when the news hit that the Supreme Court had struck down sections four and five of the Voting Rights act. And i want to let you in on a secret that the nancy pelosi said at the time, well, this isnt going to stand. Well get the bipartisan support that we need to, find a way around this. And eric holders going to talk about that tonight. And it never came. It never came. It finally there were times when i was so dispirited and so angry and so demoralized at this resistance. And then i met and became friends. John lewis and i sign up to the district and brought him to churches in glen cove. And then we went to see bryan cranston. Tracy in the broadway show all the way about the about president johnsons attempt to pass successful attempt to pass the civil rights act. And i said to him at the time john how do you do it how do you do it . And this is what he said to me, said, you know, steve, everybody wants to know, you know, about that day at the pettus bridge that i was beaten. More important is how did i get back up . Thats whats important. Everybody wants to talk about abuses that were inflicted on me. More important is how did i fight . Thats why erics book is so important. It is a must read. I devoured it because it is about the infliction of injustice, but at the same time what we must do to fight back. And the major takeaway that i took from this book to me, the most the most profound that the attorney general was this dr. King, remember this . He said, the moral arc of history history, say it again, bends toward justice. Well, the attorney general said. Well, maybe, maybe when we really look at things, the moral arc of history doesnt really bend. It goes forward and. Then backwards, forward and then backwards. We give rights and then we take them away. We rights and we take them away. We have given rights and now we are an environment where they are being taken away. I cant think of a more profound and accomplished leader in the United States of america to bring to you this evening to talk about that process. And his extraordinary book. Youll be able to get your copies, have him sign it at the end. And so it is with extraordinary pride that i introduce you to 82nd attorney general of the United States, the africanamerican, to hold that office. Now senior counsel covington and burling, a civil rights leader, the chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, the attorney general of the united and civil rights leader, eric, give him a big round. Thank you, sir thank you. Thank you. Hey. All right. Well. Well, you know, you start off with a standing maybe we ought to leave now. We can only go this way from here. You know. Good evening. So were going to talk the book. Tracy and i will have a conversation with you for about a half an hour. So 35 minutes. And then were going to open it up to your pre submitted questions answers. And i want to begin where you began the book. You open it up on march 7th, 2015 in selma, 50 years after bloody sunday. Know youre the first africanamerican attorney general with the first africanamerican president at that moment. And id love for you to take us into that and ask this question. You grew up in east elmhurst, queens as you watched bloody sunday on television. Could you have ever imagined that you would be standing at that spot as the attorney of the United States . No, not at all. I mean, i watched the newsreel footage of. What happened on bloody sunday in a black and white tv because they were only black and white. We only had a black and white tv in the basement. My house, 360 601st street in east elmhurst. And i was profoundly moved by what i saw. I was 14 years old at the time i do the math on that old and to think that i would be 50 years later as the attorney general of, the United States with the first black president of the united and standing next to john lewis, who became was famous, became he became even more famous on that on that infamous day. That was not something that i could have imagined, but it was extremely to me to be there. I had already announced my resignation as attorney of the United States, and i said. I would stay on until my successor was was named. And i thought id take a relatively short period of time. But being republicans, the way the relationship i had with them, they thought they were going to punish me by keeping me in office longer than i wanted to stay. And as the got closer and i thought, well, you know what, i actually want to go to the 50th anniversary as a ag as opposed to the occupant of that office. And i kept. All right, dont confirm, loretta. Dont confirm, loretta. Loretta lynch came after and i said, dont confirm. And so i went there as the attorney general, the United States quite happy be in that position on that day. So, yes yesterday was juneteenth. Yes. So in addition to the acp in the audience we have a lot of people here who are advocates for change. So i would to start at the conclusion of book first. So after many years of advocacy and due to president bidens recognition of juneteenth and. 21 as the arc to bend even though its going backwards it does continue to bend. So you made the same point about progress in conclusion of your great book about not growing really about that resistance was much greater years ago. So we shouldnt give up too cynicism. We shouldnt give at all. So tell us what else do you see happening across the country to in of progress that in that will still us joy in our fight. Yeah i thats an important thing that in the struggle for equality the struggle for justice there is joy to be had. This is not something that we should think of as a task. This is something is supposedly defined us as a nation and it says who are i will see frankly as individuals are we committed to bending that arc. You know what always say is that the you know, dr. King said the arc of the moral universe is but it bends toward justice. But heres the deal is it doesnt bend on its own. It only bends when people, like us put our hands on arc and pull it towards justice. And there is i joy to be found in the struggle. You know, i got to know diane. Ive to know diane nash. And shes you know one of the great pioneers in, the Civil Rights Movement as a woman often overlooked. And she talks, you know, the freedom rides and the sit ins at lunch counters, the early days of the struggle and how there was a camerata, you know, a sense of purpose, a belief that things could be different. And there was joy to be found in that, although obviously you had to face great odds and they faced physical, you know, physical dangers. And so i think that same sense of joy and determination and commitment should be a part of efforts. I mean, if you look the book about people doing regular people, socalled ordinary people, but, you know, all extraordinary really doing things that you could not imagine happening. Women fighting for the right to vote. I mean, we take that for granted now, that was not something that was preordained. Dr. King john lewis, diane nash, pull down a system of american apartheid, you know, and you think im sure they must have had moments when they thought, can we really do this . Can we actually change the system in that fundamental way and in they did that. So the issues we face today might seem daunting, but with that same sense of commitment, purpose, joy and with a recognition of our history, i think theres really nothing that we cant do. It doesnt mean its going to be easy. Its going to be a struggle. And were not going to oh, its not going to be a linear process. Were always going to be successful. Well take a couple of steps back, but if we commit to it, if we pledge ourselves to one another, if we find joy in the work we can, we can be successful. You talk throughout the book about the expansion of rights and the contraction of Voting Rights. And i suppose one of the lowest points that that we went through or one of the lowest points was that day in 2013 when the Supreme Court evison the Voting Rights act by striking down sections four and section five. And in the book say that ruling will go down one of the most flawed, ideologically driven Supreme Court decisions in the history. And its a case to which i just so to be a party shelby versus holder for that those not familiar with the case take us through it. You know first off its the Shelby County versus holder case but all my friends know that only call it the Shelby County case. I dont want my name associated with that. Thats like, you know, having the dred versus holder, you would not want to be in history. You dont want to have whenever people see that move, that awful, you know, the holder not only dont want to be a part of that. I mean part of it is what in your introduction you kind of laid it out. I Mean Congress had consistently reauthorized the Voting Rights act since 1965. And in that latest reauthorization, there was overwhelming support in the house of representatives. It passed the senate unanimously, signed by a republican president , George W Bush. Interestingly, every time the Voting Rights act was reauthorize. He was signed by a republican president. And so George W Bush signs it. Congress says, you know, had done extensive hearings, huge numbers of people testify, huge written record numbers of exhibits to show though america had changed, we had made progress. There was need for a continuation of Voting Rights act, Supreme Court without holding hearings, not looking at the record that was presented to it decided in the words the chief justice who wrote the opinion that america had changed and america had change sufficiently that you could do away with, in essence, a vital part of Voting Rights act by gets a little complicated, but in essence, in essence as a result of affecting one section you took away from the Justice Department. The ability the preclearance ability the Justice Department had. That means in covered jurisdictions around the country before you made an electoral change, you were in a covered jurisdictions. And it was largely the old south, but not always the south. You had to go to the justice if you wanted to close a polling place, you had to go to the Justice Department. If wanted to change the voting requirements you took that away. That that from the Justice Department and it wasnt a question of days or weeks or months before. You know they changes and said, all right, we dont have to worry about the Justice Department within hours, they were in the process of putting in place. Then i think attorney general greg abbott, now the governor, texas, tweeted something out about, well, we dont have to worry about eric holder anymore. And the Justice Department in texas has from that point going on to become the place where his most difficult to vote in this country as a result of that decision. At the last count, i saw 1700 polling places around the country have disproportionately in of color. So when you see all these long lines, you wonder, well, why is that all . Because there are fewer polling places. And then also you say, well, why does georgia pass a law that says you cant give food, water to somebody whos waiting in a line to vote . Well, all right. So you create long lines. You then take away the ability to make it. You know, easy or less difficult for people to stay line. And so few people get off those lines. And it doesnt take a lot, you know, i mean, you look at president bidens margin, georgia senator ossoff, senator warnock, they won by relatively percentages. And if you get people off lines, that has a impact. You also a disproportionate amount voter purging as a result again of the inability of the Justice Department to do preclearance. And you see you see purging happening again in disproportionately communities of color. Its always disproportionately in communities of color, but also with regard to those groups that are identified as democratic. There was a statement, i guess only three or four weeks ago. I cant believe the republicans, they say these things on tape. You know, its of like really on a woman named Cleta Mitchell talked about how republicans didnt do well with young people. So you think what is that we should do then lets come up with ways in which make appeals to young people. No lisa we have to make it more difficult for young people to vote and all of these things are now easier to do because of what i, say, is the one of the worst opinions in Supreme Court history, the Shelby County case. I wonder if chief Justice Roberts now having i mean, thats 2013, ten years ago. If you look on what has happened since the Shelby County case ten years ago and all the negative things that have happened to our system electorally, whether or not he would still that america has a sufficiently changed you also turn it over to tracy in a moment but theres quote by another republican in your book, President Trump, who in a moment of perhaps honesty said, well, if we support all these Voting Rights bills, well never elect a republican again in america. On the record, refreshing honesty again, they say this stuff like in front of the cameras and on tape. But, you know, its interesting. He i think about when he was referring to vote by mail specifically and that is statistically not true. I mean, vote by mail it is seen it has become something that democrats used more frequently or focused on more frequently in the recent past, because weve said, all right, lets get as many people to vote as is possible and have talked about. Well, he cant do vote by because it induces fraud which is in which is simply you know simply not true. The statistic autistics have shown that voting by mail tends to raise number of people who vote but does not really benefit one side or the other. But it increases wherever it is allowed to occur. So to your point, the Brennan Center said that voter fraud would occur probably just as likely getting struck by like by lightning. Yeah. So do we do. Because it just seems, though, that all of these efforts have been expedited and, escalated since the january six insurrection. People are more so i think, you know we need some help with what is our course of action. What you think that we need to do. Well think we have to focus on a lot of this stuff that is not necessarily sexy a lot of the structural problems that we have in our electoral the problem of partizan racial gerrymandering. Thats something that allows you know the minority to exercise his majority power you know people are in these safe districts and they can do things with the desires of their constituents but not face an electoral consequence if youre in a a gerrymandered district, youre concerned about a primary youre not concerned about general election, which pushes republicans further and further to the right. And to be fair know, pushes some democrats further and further too to the left. So focusing structural problems, you know, who actually staffs the electoral system on election day, you know, that is the one thing that i have found most disturbing in the recent past. I mean, these are republicans, these are democrat independents. These are just citizens. Good citizens, you know, devoting time to making sure that people a good voting experience on, election day or, you know, during early, early voting and, threatening those folks going after those folks charging them with being that. You know, that is, i think extremely problematic. But what is it that we can do . Well, first off, first and foremost, we a vote. We got a vote in every election. You cant this is not you cant do democracy on an episodic basis you know. Oh, steve israel running. I want to vote for him but you dont vote either down ballot. You dont go all the way down the ballot. If hes not on the ballot, youre as enthused. You know, youve to be. Youve got to show up for every election. Youve got to be concerned about every office that is on the ballot, because one of the realities is that a day to day basis, our lives are more affected by people who serve at the state and local level than by who serves in congress. Right. Know, i mean, if you look at whats going on around the country now with these draconian anti choice laws, these are being passed not in congress. Now theyre facilitated by a really bad Supreme Court decision. But its the state legislatures that are, in fact, doing these things. You know just had an election in wisconsin where a very progressive woman has won a wisconsin Supreme Court seat. And one of the things she talked about was that Wisconsin Republicans were supporting after roe versus wade is decided, it goes back to the old law which was passed in wait for it, 1849 and which did not have any exceptions. And as i out during the campaigning, i said. 1849 women couldnt vote people like me couldnt vote. There was a whole lot of things people like me couldnt do before. In 1849. And so thats the law that were going back to. But again a very, very wisconsin the state legislature, i think its probably the most gerrymandered state in the country was prepared to let that law, you know, stand stay in place and well see what the new Wisconsin Court does with it. You mentioned the permeation of supposedly nonpartisan boards, canvassers and commissions. I worry about this a lot. In fact, you talk about people who say things that they shouldnt. Steve bannon in a podcast said publicly, were taking over all of the elections and how by by purging right from these boards, people who believe that plus two equals four and replacing with ideological zealots. Can you talk are you as worried as i am that that in four they can take over the through this process. Yeah. I worry that a great deal again given the margins that we see this is a pretty divided country though not as divided as think certainly divided in terms of volume. You know, both sides kind yelling. But in terms of numbers, there are a lot sane people than insane the country, but a lot the same people are relatively quiet so but so that but you know the bannon statement worries me a great deal if you have if replace folks again as i said, regular citizens simply trying to do a good civic deed with people who are partizans or who have an agenda. You know, if theres a challenge to, you know, tracy, shes voting in, you know, somebody challenges her and then a partizan person who has to make a decision on the spot and says, well, yeah, i find that to be valid. All you get as a provisional, you know, you do enough of those things and that can have that have an impact. I dont think that you can do they can do sufficient amount to actually turn elections but you can certainly do it in such a way that you shake the confidence of people in results of the election. And that is as almost as pernicious as, you know, changing election. And if the american dont think that the is fair, that elections are somehow rigged, that the will of the people is not consistent with the votes that are counted that has a real negative impact on our democracy, our systems and can have an influence ultimately on on policy. So i worry about you know, statements like that from from bannon so tell us about the ndr c in drc. Thats the how can we help . Whats the drc, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee formed january of 2017. Um, we decided that if you looked at the redistricting process, redistricting occurs usually a year after the census. So every ten years and if you look at what happened in 2011 democrats got we got our clocks cleaned you know they had republicans had a thing called project map where they really focused redistricting and. We did not. And as a result, they put in place a whole bunch of gerrymanders in 2011 that really have lasted for the course of a decade and, were hard to unwind. Some still exist. One, as i said in in wisconsin. And so we decided all right for cycle lets form up an organization that will make sure that the redistricting process has done enough way a fair way not to gerrymander for democrats. My belief that if the system is fair, democrats will do just fine. Now, a partizan democrat. But i think you i think weve got better candidates. I we have policies that are more in line with the desires of the people. If we are organized, you know, well do just fine. And if we have a fair electoral system, we have a fair process to, draw the districts so that we dont have all these republican gerrymanders. Democrats will do just fine. And so we have been in in existence since 2017. We have supported candidates who would stand for fair redistricting. We have stood for the creation of independent commissions, draw the lines instead of having partizan state legislatures do them. Weve brought lawsuits just had a big win in a case brought up for the Supreme Court in alabama. We brought lawsuits. Weve also tried to raise consciousness of the American People about the importance of gerrymandering. When you say when we i notice in 2017, right, were going to form the nerc, were going to fight racial and partizan. And you can see the reporters were looking at their watches, their eyes were over. I know. And, you know, i think to myself, wow, we got to make people understand the. Reality is, if you care about a womans right to choose, if you care about climate change, if you care about criminal justice reform, if you care about any of these things, you have to care about gerrymandering. Because the reality is gerrymandering can put in place people who dont have seeing desires for reform and will have less support than people who share your views. You know, the district can say, you know, we want have all we stand for criminal justice. We want to make sure that women have the right to choose. That can be the majority a district. But because of the way in which lines are drawn majority people in the state but because of the way in which the lines are drawn, a minority can do things that are inconsistent with the majority of the voters and you end up with almost like a apartheid where a minority majority power. And that, i think, is something thats obviously not good for democracy not good for this country. And something that we are weve been pushing against for the last six years now, let me share some data, you on that. In 2014, when i chaired the d triple c, we won 1. 4 million votes more than the republic nationally in congressional races. And our gains were limited to eight seats because is this built in advantage . With traceys permission, im going to ask you a final question about the book, and then were going we have some questions with tricia and i will share. Okay. And then have a tradition at theodores where we ask an author to read a passage. So final question from me. The book is done in three parts. And so the first part is kind of a chronology of the expansion contraction of of Voting Rights. And so you begin with how white men won the vote. And then how black men won the vote and white men stole it, and then how women won the vote and then how black americans won the vote in made america democracy. Part two you analyze the attempts by by many to subvert undermine and we can Voting Rights. And then in part three you talk about a more perfect future ideas on how we can reform the system. Many, many reforms in there which do you believe is the most urgent . Thats almost ask me which of my three kids do i like the most . On a given day, i can give you an answer to that question, but i think, you know, i kind of look at look at them. Ill do it very quickly like each branch. I think we need to have term limits for Supreme Court justices. When i talk about in the book is 18 year terms its of the things, as i note in the book that the chief justice and i really agree on it. He in a speech talked about 15 year term limits. So i think the 18 years, you know, people serving for 30 and 40 years in an unelected position with that much power, i think that thats too long. So thats one on the legislative side. I think need to eliminate the filibuster in the senate. And so thats something i think and when it comes to the executive branch stuff, i think that we need to you know, we to pass the john lewis Voting Rights act, which would have done away with a lot of the things that we identify the book as as negative do away racial and partizan gerrymandering guarantee a certain amount of early days for for for voting, allow people to vote by mail or a whole range of things just to make it easier for people both to register and to vote. You know, im not afraid of. The American People, you know as a democrat, i want as many people to as is possible. And im confident that you know, well do pretty well. The thing that republicans i think fear most are the the voters you like. Oh, we want too many of them voting, as you said you know President Trump said because if too many of them vote, we wont win and think about that, you know, think about what does that say about your party your partys programs, your view of democracy. If you think that greater voter means that you lose out, your reaction ought to be, well, all right, so how do we change our programs how do we change our candidates so that increase the number of votes we get as to well, lets figure out ways which we can decrease the number of people who will have the ability to vote. So i a whole list of them in there and picked those those few out but i like all of them actually i like them all but. Well, one more, one more. Okay, one more. Do away with the electoral. Oh, oh. Now that thats people say. Well you can do the trick because that involves a constitutional amendment. It doesnt necessarily is the thing called the National Voter compact where the states what each state would agree we are not going to cast our electoral votes. Who won our state will . Cast our electoral votes, who won the National Popular vote and if you get enough states that reach the level of 270 electoral votes, which is what you have to get in order to elect a president , you dont need all 435, 270. You can really the Electoral College reflect, the popular vote. And i think at last count up to about 197. I think states have agreed to do that. Theyve all signed legislatures have signed signed on to this. And once you get to to all of these things become self. And then those states would then their votes not for who won their state, but who won the national vote. And so that is something i think need to focus on as well. Great one yeah, so we are blessed to have Law School Students in the audience all right. So we need good young lawyers. So what from law school have you taken with you throughout your career and . What advice do you have for them . Hmm. Well, first id say that follow your heart, if youre a law student, youre young, youve got the ability to to experiment. I went into law school having graduated with a degree in American History and kind of thinking, all right, now what do i do . And somebody said, well, you know, you could teach. And i thought, well, lets not inflict eric on the minds of young people. Im not going to that. And somebody said to me, well, go to law school, because you can do a lot with a lot legal degree. So i law school as kind of a haven for the undecided know id go there but i got there and in my first year i took criminal law from a guy named telford taylor, who had been a nuremberg prosecutor. And it really kind of grabbed i said, you know what, i actually want to be a litigator. I want to do criminal law. So i became a prosecutor, so i say that, you know, that experience of doing things, taking classes that were unexpected and they had an unexpected appeal for me, really just, really kind of shaped my my career and understanding the history of the law and how the has changed from the early times in our republic to where it now and you get the chance to do that through the study of law in law school. I think that has been something that has been helpful for me as well. Its it kept in me in this know this 72 year old body a real sense of optimism if you know our history, if you know from whence we came to where we are in all the struggles in between, it makes the things that we face today in the solutions that we need to you know put in place makes those solutions doable. So. I know you know this area a little bit, but many of the people in this audience are represented by congressman george santos. Thats thats pretty. So when you think about the chapters in the book talk about stolen, right. When you think about the chapters in book what practice Call Solutions within the book most applicable, do you and how do we we claim our district because honestly, effectively we are on represent you know so what do we do. Well first off you got to vote. I mean, you know, that is at a base. And i say that people say, no, no really, you got to vote. I dont care if its raining outside. I dont care if the lines are long. I dont care whatever you have to vote. Youve also got to organize and. Make sure that you know not enough for eric to vote. Steve to vote for tracy to vote. You know, are we making sure is going to vote . You know, president obama always says, you know, he talks to black voters. He says, well, you got to make sure that you you know, your cousin pookie vote has his line, not mine. And so making sure that your your friends are engaged in voting, but then also making sure that you support the candidates or the candidate who will run against somebody like like like santos, you know, its in, you know better, than me. I mean to run a campaign doing a whole range of youve got to make appearances so you can certainly help there you got to somehow reach the voters. You can certainly help in that regard. Youve got to raise money you know, can certainly help there. Theres a whole bunch of stuff that goes into a Successful Campaign and finding a way to be involved in that campaign to make it successful and you know, removes a person like santos who is not effectively represent the district. I think has got to be of uppermost importance. Now, it means that its going to be difficult to do the stuff ive said, you know, you important personal lives youve got business things youve got to do and so youve got to graft on to that know a Civic Responsibility im talking about but ill tell you this might be difficult to do but youre going to feel better about it. Having been engaged in a campaign to try to reclaim district, to to foster our to have somebody whos truly worthy of you represent, you in the house of representatives. So not easy to do, but something that will make you feel about yourself and will make this country better because of the work that that you do. So, as you know, the acp has focus areas and one of them is civic engaged voter turnout. So what advice do have for us from the acp for encouraging voters in underserved communities . Because at times people apathetic and theyre weary, you know. So i understand youre talking about the joy, but what advice do you give to as organizations . What can we do better . Yeah, you know, you have to find the way. How do you like the fire people . Because i hear that so often or my vote doesnt count really . I guess it does. I mean, the margins that we see in these races are relatively small. So vote, in fact, does. But beyond that, beyond theres a debt that has to be repaid. There are people who sacrificed, who gave their lives so that you would have the ability to vote and you dishonor them by not taking your will. But to the polls or by filling out a mail in ballot and expressing what your electoral preference is. You know, you think about in that what was supposed to be freedom summer, you know, those three civil rights workers, chaney, schwerner and goodman, who gave their lives now people dont understand that. They gave they lose. They died in 64, but dont remember that they died trying to register people to vote they gave their lives. John lewis got a skull crack on the Edmund Pettus bridge in 1965. People say in the march from selma to montgomery. Okay. You remember what that was to get people the right to vote. And so anybody who my vote doesnt matter. Hey, youre statistically wrong. And its youre thumbing your nose at people. Those three civil rights workers at john lewis at Martin Luther king. Youre that the efforts that they were choosing before and you know the suffragettes youre saying that what they did does not merit honor does not merit support and other thing is that making folks understand that if youre dissatisfied with government and the way and youre apathetic because government is not response if well governments not going to be responsive if youre not a part of the process to change the government, you know, i mean, there are other we see active and the congressman better than me you know people around guns those folks who are Second Amendment types i guess thats what they call gun supporters. Theyre theyre active. You know, they vote theyre single issue voters. They get out there, they vote, and they get a disproportionate amount of power because of that. You know, the biggest bloc in this country right now is young people. And if young people voted in the same to the same degree, that baby my generation did, they would have huge amount, greater amounts of power, maybe wouldnt be as apathetic. Last thing ill say in that, wisconsin, where i campaigned women affected by and concerned about their right to choose came out in huge numbers young came out in huge numbers young young people came out in huge numbers focusing on issues of guns, democracy and also on went on choice in there. They changed Supreme Court in they flipped the Supreme Court. And well be interested to see if lawsuits are brought what that new supreme does. And you will then have a more Responsive Government in wisconsin and thats possible in parts of the country as well. I know that people are going line up within the next minute or so to get their inscribed copy of this amazing book, our unfinished march by eric holder. And we have a tradition at theodore, his books, where we asked the author to to have the final words closing words, but words the book. And i was hoping that you would read this paragraph from the introduction. We began this conversation on the pettus bridge, and i would like to end this conversation on the pettus bridge with this segment of the introduction. Okay. This is from a speech that gave at the brown chapel in selma on that day. And a chapter that congressman chose. And i think its good way to end. And so this is me speaking to folks at brown chapel in selma on the 50th anniversary from, the speech and. I said, i have no expectation that our goals will be simple achieve or that complex challenges will be easily overcome. I know that our road will be long and many obstacles will stand in our way, but i have no doubt that if we stand together, if we walk together, if we believe we always have in the power of our ideals and the forces of our shared community, not only cause, but our country shall overcome. Eric holder, our unfinished turned author. Well, joining us now is youtuber max miller. He is the author of this new book, tasting history. Mr. Miller, first of all, how did you get into cooking in the first place . Yeah, its actually