Americans—including Teamsters—will be honoring the legacy of civil rights and labor leader Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 17, 2022, and what better way to celebrate King’s achievements than passing voting rights legislation.

In 1965, after the U.S. Senate passed its version of the Voting Rights Act, the House Rules Committee was holding up the legislation when King wrote an editorial in the New York Amsterdam News.

“There must be a change,” King wrote. “There will be a change. For to deny a person the right to exercise his political freedom at the polls is no less a dastardly act as to deny a Christian the right to petition God in prayer.”

Twelve days later, the House panel approved the bill, and President Lyndon Johnson signed Congress’s final version into law on Aug. 6, 1965. King was in attendance.

Fast forward to 2022. Congress has an opportunity to pass voting rights bills to protect the right to vote. 

“On behalf of the 1.4 million-member Teamsters Union, we urge Congress to pass this vital legislation,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President.

“It is important for the American people. It is important for Democracy. And it is the best way to honor King’s legacy 57 years after the Voting Rights Act was signed into law,” Hoffa said.

“I urge Republicans to join Democrats in passing this vital legislation,” Hoffa said.

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