"The Takeout" with Congresswoman and Selma native Terri Sewell

For Selma native and Congressman Terri Sewell, the city's importance in the fight for equal voting rights is embedded in her family history.   Biden's speech in support of changing the filibuster: "I would have loved to for him to have given that speech three months ago, but the reality is I was honored to be there [Tuesday] when he did give the speech... I was looking to hear from the President directly about the rule change, the Senate rule change, that is necessary in order for the bill to come to the Senate floor for a vote."  Trump's role in Capitol attack on January 6, 2021: "I do believe that he incited those Americans. He encouraged them to come in and to try to make sure that the election was not certified. I think that it was definitely an action that was not becoming of a president, let alone a fellow American. And I believe that no one is above the law."  Growing up in Selma: "I'm a third generation Selmian, and my dad grew up in segregated Selma, my grandmother grew up in segregated Selma... You don't grow up in Selma without a real understanding of the intersection between history, both Confederate history and civil rights history. It converges in Selma, Alabama."  Voter ID laws: "An ID in and of itself is not what I'm saying is discriminatory. Frankly, you have to be able to prove who you are on that voter roll to get that ballot, that's fine. But when states are picking winners and losers based on the types of IDs that they are requiring, if you allow a hunting license but don't allow a university student ID, you're making a decision about which voters are more likely to vote, having an easier time getting to the ballot box than the other. And what I'm saying is we have to level the playing field."  Voting rights legislation: "What these two bills will do will provide federal oversight for those most egregious state actors, and also provide the mechanism by which we promote voting and allow people the opportunity to be able to access the ballot box." 

"I'm a third generation Selmian, and my dad grew up in segregated Selma, my grandmother grew up in segregated Selma," Sewell, the first Black woman to serve in the Alabama congressional delegation, told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett this week on "The Takeout" podcast. "You don't grow up in Selma without a real understanding of the intersection between history, both Confederate history and civil rights history. It converges in Selma, Alabama." 

Sewell is carrying on her family's legacy as House Democrats push for new voting rights legislation. She introduced the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would reinstate part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The measure, known as H.R. 4, passed in the House in 2021 but remains stalled in the Senate because it lacks the 60-vote super majority needed to overcome a filibuster.