NATION
6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
McConnell leads GOP fight
against voting rights bill
By Brian Slodysko and
Christina A. Cassidy
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Repub-
licans launched an all-out
assault Tuesday, May 11
on sweeping voting rights
legislation, forcing Democrats
to take politically awkward
votes spotlighting the increas-
ingly charged national debate
over access to ballots.
The measure would bring
about the largest overhaul of
U.S. elections in a generation,
touching on almost every
aspect of the electoral process.
Democrats say the changes
are even more important
now as Republican-controlled
states impose new voting
restrictions after the divisive
2020 election.
Yet it’s a motivating issue
for Republicans, too. GOP
Senate leader Mitch McCon-
nell is so determined to stop
Democrats that he’s person-
ally arguing against the
measure in Tuesday’s Rules
Committee session, a rare
role for a party leader that
shows the extent to which
Republicans are prepared to
fi ght.
Republicans will offer
scores of amendments to
highlight aspects of the bill
they believe are unpopular,
including the creation of a
public fi nancing system for
political campaigns, an over-
haul of the federal agency
that polices elections and doz-
ens of provisions that would
dictate how states conduct
their elections.
“We’ll hear a lot of fl owery
language today,” said McCon-
nell. “But we all learned early
in life if you can write the
rules, you can win the game.”
The congressional effort
comes as states including
Georgia, Florida, Arizona and
Texas are pushing new vot-
ing rules, spurred by former
President Donald Trump’s
false claims about election
fraud after his 2020 loss.
Democrats are on defense,
having been unable to halt
the onslaught of new state
rules that will take months or
years to litigate in court. That
leaves passage of legislation
through Congress as one of
the few remaining options to
counteract the GOP efforts.
“These bills moving in state
capitals across America are
not empty threats, they are
real efforts to stop people
from voting,” said Sen. Amy
Klobuchar, a Minnesota
Democrat and chairwoman of
the Senate Rules Committee.
Republicans argue the
new state rules are needed
to clamp down on mail bal-
lots and other methods that
became popular during the
pandemic, but critics warn
the states are seeking to re-
duce voter access, particularly
for Black voters, ushering in
a new Jim Crow era for the
21st century.
There was no widespread
fraud in the 2020 election.
Trump’s claims were rejected
by Republican and Democrat-
ic election offi cials in state
after state, by U.S. cybersecu-
rity offi cials and by courts up
IDAHO GUNS
THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021
Judge dismisses NRA’s
bankruptcy case
■ Ruling means NRA has to face New York state lawsuit
By Jake Bleiberg and Michael R. Sisak
Associated Press
Alex Wong/Getty Images-TNS
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell,
R-Ky., speaks during a hearing before Senate Rules and
Administration Committee on March 24, 2021.
“We’ll hear a lot of fl owery
language today. but we all
learned early in life if you
can write the rules, you
can win the game.”
— Sen. Mitch McConnell
to the U.S. Supreme Court.
And his attorney general at
the time said there was no
evidence of fraud that could
change the election outcome.
Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also
spoke during the Rules panel
meeting to add his weight
to the debate, excoriating
Republicans for embracing
Trump’s false claims about
the election.
“President Trump told a
big lie, one of the biggest ever
told. We all know that, every
single person in this room
knows that,” Schumer said.
“And it’s taking root, this
big lie is taking root in our
country, not just in the minds
of his voters but in the laws of
the land.”
President Joe Biden has
said the federal bill would “re-
store the soul of America” by
giving everyone equal access
to the vote.
Known as the For the
People Act, the legislation
was given top billing on the
Democratic agenda, but
the path ahead is unclear.
Moderate members of the
Democratic caucus — not just
Republicans — pose a sizable
obstacle to the bill becoming
law.
Sens. Joe Manchin of West
Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema
of Arizona have both said
they oppose making changes
to the Senate’s fi libuster
rules, which would be needed
to maneuver the bill past
Republican opposition and
pass it with a simple majority
in a 50-50 Senate, with Vice
President Kamala Harris
delivering the tiebreaking
51st vote.
Manchin has called for any
elections overhaul to be done
on a bipartisan basis. Other
Democrats want to pare back
the bill to core voting protec-
tions to try to put Republicans
on the spot.
Both Manchin and Sinema
were getting face time with
President Joe Biden this
week, as their votes are also
vital to passing the president’s
infrastructure plan. Manchin
came to the White House on
Monday, while Sinema was to
do so on Tuesday, according to
the White House.
House resolution H.R.
1, and its companion, S. 1,
in the Senate have been in
the works for several years.
As passed by the House in
March, the legislation would
create automatic voter regis-
tration nationwide, require
states to offer 15 days of early
voting, require more disclo-
sure from political donors and
restrict partisan gerryman-
dering of congressional dis-
tricts, among other changes.
It would also compel states
to offer no-excuse absentee
voting.
It would force the disclosure
of donors to “dark money”
political groups, which are a
magnet for wealthy interests
looking to infl uence the politi-
cal process while remaining
anonymous.
Democrats have been mak-
ing their own changes to the
bill to draw support.
In the latest version of the
legislation, states would have
more time and fl exibility
to put new federal rules in
place. Some election offi cials
had complained of unrealistic
timelines, increased costs and
onerous requirements.
States would have more
time to launch same-day voter
registration at polling places
and to comply with new voting
system requirements. They
would also be able to apply
for an extension if they were
unable to meet the deadline
for automatic voter registra-
tion. Offi cials have said these
are complex processes that
require equipment changes or
upgrades that will take time.
Democrats are also drop-
ping a requirement that
local election offi ces provide
self-sealing envelopes with
mail ballots and cover the
costs of return postage. They
plan to require the U.S. Postal
Service to carry mail ballots
and ballot request forms free
of charge, with the federal
government picking up the
tab.
But Republicans fi red back
that the changes would do
little to limit what they view
as unwarranted federal intru-
sions into local elections.
“Giving states more time to
implement bad policy doesn’t
make the policy less bad,”
said Sen Roy Blunt, R-Mo.,
the ranking minority member
on the committee. “I think the
federal government taking
over elections is the wrong
thing to do.”
also said it prevents Idaho gun and ammuni-
tion manufacturers from being held respon-
Continued from Page 5A
sible if their products are used in crimes.
Idaho already has a law passed in 2014
Opponents said creating legislation that
stating that the state’s government cannot
confl icts with federal laws could mean the
enforce federal actions that infringe upon
state will lose federal funding. Backers have
Second Amendment rights.
acknowledged that possibility but said Idaho
Biden’s orders include a move to crack
lost no federal funding after the 2014 law was
down on “ghost guns” — homemade fi rearms approved.
put together from purchased gun parts that
Biden has said his priorities for Congress
lack serial numbers to trace them and are
include passing the Violence Against Women
often acquired without background checks.
Act that would prohibit people previously con-
Biden also moved to tighten regulations on victed of misdemeanor stalking from possess-
pistol-stabilizing braces like the one used in
ing fi rearms; eliminating lawsuit exemptions
the Boulder, Colorado, supermarket shoot-
for gun manufacturers; and banning assault
ing last month that left 10 dead, including a
weapons and high-capacity magazines. He’s
police offi cer. The braces for handguns allow
also called on the Senate to take up House-
them to be fi red from a shoulder, like a rifl e.
passed measures to close loopholes in back-
Biden is also seeking so-called “red fl ag
ground checks for gun purchases.
laws” allowing family members or law en-
But with an evenly divided Senate and any
forcement to seek court orders that temporar- gun control legislation requiring 60 votes to
ily bar people in crisis from accessing fi rearms pass, Democrats would have to keep every
if they pose a danger to themselves or others. member of their narrow majority while some-
Backers of the legislation signed by Little
how getting votes from 10 Republicans.
DALLAS — A federal judge on Tues-
day, May 11 dismissed the National Rifl e
Association’s bankruptcy case, leaving
the powerful gun-rights group to face a
New York state lawsuit that accuses it of
fi nancial abuses and aims to put it out of
business.
The case was over whether the NRA
should be allowed to incorporate in Texas
instead of New York, where the state is
suing in an effort to disband the group.
Though headquartered in Virginia, the
NRA was chartered as a nonprofi t in New
York in 1871 and is incorporated in the
state.
Judge Harlin Hale said in a written
order that he was dismissing the case
because he found the bankruptcy was not
fi led in good faith.
“The Court believes the NRA’s purpose
in fi ling bankruptcy is less like a tradi-
tional bankruptcy case in which a debtor
is faced with fi nancial diffi culties or a judg-
ment that it cannot satisfy and more like
cases in which courts have found bank-
ruptcy was fi led to gain an unfair advan-
tage in litigation or to avoid a regulatory
scheme,” Hale wrote.
His decision followed 11 days of testimo-
ny and arguments. Lawyers for New York
and the NRA’s former advertising agency
grilled the group’s embattled top executive,
Wayne LaPierre, who acknowledged put-
ting the NRA into Chapter 11 bankruptcy
without the knowledge or assent of most of
its board and other top offi cers.
“Excluding so many people from the
process of deciding to fi le for bankruptcy,
including the vast majority of the board
of directors, the chief fi nancial offi cer, and
the general counsel, is nothing less than
shocking,” the judge added.
Phillip Journey, an NRA board member
and Kansas judge who had sought to have
an examiner appointed to investigate
the group’s leadership, was concise about
Hale’s judgment: “1 word, disappointed,”
he wrote in a text message.
Lawyers for New York Attorney General
Letitia James argued that the case was an
attempt by NRA leadership to escape ac-
countability for using the group’s coffers as
their personal piggybank. But the NRA’s
attorneys said it was a legitimate effort to
avoid a political attack by James, who is a
Democrat.
LaPierre testifi ed that he kept the
bankruptcy largely secret to prevent leaks
from the group’s 76-member board, which
is divided in its support for him.
The NRA declared bankruptcy in Janu-
ary, fi ve months after James’ offi ce sued
seeking its dissolution following allega-
tions that executives illegally diverted tens
of millions of dollars for lavish personal
trips, no-show contracts and other ques-
tionable expenditures.
“The NRA does not get to dictate if and
where it will answer for its actions, and
our case will continue in New York court,”
James tweeted after the ruling was made.
“No one is above the law.”
James is New York’s chief law enforce-
ment offi cer and has regulatory power
over nonprofi t organizations incorporated
in the state. She sued the NRA last Au-
gust, saying at the time that the “breadth
and the depth of the corruption and the
illegality” at the NRA justifi ed its closure.
James took similar action to force the clo-
sure of former President Donald Trump’s
charitable foundation after alleging he
used it to advance business and political
interests.
Shannon Watts, who founded Moms
Demand Action for Gun Sense in
America, said in a serious of tweets that
the bankruptcy dismissal “comes at the
worst possible time for the NRA: right as
background checks are being debated in
the Senate.”
“It will be onerous if not impossible for
the NRA to effectively oppose gun safety
and lobby lawmakers while simultane-
ously fi ghting court battles and mounting
debt,” said Watts, whose organization is
part of the Michael Bloomberg-backed
Everytown for Gun Safety.
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