democrats in the house ways and means committee. you can get the tax returns that no one s ever seen. they cover six years of former president trump s taxes. information about his personal finances, corporate entities. this is crucial stuff. out front is lloyd doggett. congressman, i spoke with you the night the supreme court gave you the green light to get trump s taxes. here we are ten days later. the committee has got them in hand. what is the committee doing with them right now. erin, finally after making the motion in february 2017, almost five years ago, the ways and means chairman has access to those returns. the we had a meeting yesterday. he explained the process. he indicated that he did have access to them, that he had
he had marched in the 1960s. he was beaten so badly he was nearly killed trying to cross the bridge in selma, alabama for voting rights. congressman cantor joined john lewis on his annual pilgrimage back to alabama in 2013 and again in 2014. the night the supreme court ruled against the voting rights act, eric cantor cited his pro-found experience john lewis in alabama. he said, i m hopeful congress will put politics aside as we did on that trip and find a reasonable path forward then sures that the sacred obligation of voting in this country remains protected. eric cantor said he was on board for finding some sort of reasonable path forward from day one. then in january, a bipartisan group of lawmakers put forward legislation to restore the voting rights act. the bill made a big exception for state laws that require voters to show new forms of i.d.
back to alabama in 2013 and again in 2014. the night the supreme court ruled against the voting rights act, eric cantor cited his profound experience john lewis in alabama. he said, i m hopeful congress will put politics aside as we did on that trip and find a reasonable path forward that ensures that the sacred obligation of voting in this country remains protected. eric cantor said he was on board for finding some sort of reasonable path forward from day one. then in january, a bipartisan group of lawmakers put forward legislation to restore the voting rights act. the bill made a big exception for state laws that require voters to show new forms of i.d. the bill sponsors reportedly did that to attract support from eric cantor. they even left his home state of virginia off the list of states that need special attention. this bill was a valentine to eric cantor trying to get him on
policies like requiring i.d. that black and hispanic voters were less likely to have, or cutting the days for early voting that were favored by black churches. something else happened after that supreme court decision that was really interesting to watch. no mainstream republicans wanted to be seen as cheering too hard for what the court had done, even though it was the five republican appointed justices who made up the majority in that decision. a few key republicans in congress said they wanted to put some of the votes rights act back into place. eric cantor had begun joining congressman john lewis on his pilgrimage to alabama. he had marched in the 1960s. he was beaten so badly he was nearly killed trying to cross the bridge in selma, alabama, for voting rights. congressman cantor joined john lewis on his annual pilgrimage
[ applause ] i am proud to sign the voting rights act reauthorization and amendment acts of 2006. [ applause ] when congress renewed the voting rights act in 2006, the house vote was 390-33 in favor. those 33 no s were all republican members of congress, but 192 republicans voted for the voting rights act, including the top two republicans in the house today, john boehner and eric cantor both voted for it. and george w. bush, president george w. bush signing it proudly and said we will defend it in court. in the senate, the voting was unanimous. zero senators voted against reauthorizing the voting act in 2006. that signing ceremony was one big bipartisan garden party. the consensus was clear.