Biden taps Harris to lead administration's voting rights efforts

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he has tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the administration's efforts to protect voting rights, as he urged Congress to make June "a month of action on Capitol Hill." Speaking at an event in Tulsa to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the massacre that ravaged a Black neighborhood, the president also assailed recent laws restricting voting rights passed by Republican-led states.

In a statement released after Mr. Biden's announcement, Harris said the administration "will not stand by when confronted with any effort that keeps Americans from voting." "In the days and weeks ahead, I will engage the American people, and I will work with voting rights organizations, community organizations, and the private sector to help strengthen and uplift efforts on voting rights nationwide. And we will also work with members of Congress to help advance these bills," Harris said in the statement. "The work ahead of us is to make voting accessible to all American voters, and to make sure every vote is counted through a free, fair, and transparent process. This is the work of democracy."