Washington, D.C. – Today, Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, released the following statement ahead of the 3rd anniversary of the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol: 

“It would be convenient to look back at the January 6 coup attempt as an isolated attack on democracy, but the truth is more chilling, more consequential. 

“In the years since that dark day, our democracy has remained under threat from powerful forces at both the national and the state levels who are seeking to gain power, and willing to hold onto that power, at any cost in order to force unpopular, minority policies onto the people. We saw it at the Supreme Court in the form of a majority—most of whom were nominated by Presidents who lost the popular vote—rolling back fundamental rights. We saw it in state legislatures in the form of drawing gerrymandered maps and passing voter suppression legislation. We saw it in the form of extreme MAGA Republican candidates running for state offices espousing the Big Lie. 

“Yet, in response, voters—our fellow citizens—have repeatedly rejected those who are tied to these anti-democracy efforts at the ballot box and demanded to have their rights protected in court. Time and again, from Alabama and Virginia to Wisconsin and Ohio, American citizens have participated in order to protect democracy and the rights that should come with it. And this year, we must maintain that momentum at the ballot box. Across the country, basic freedoms and liberties will be on the ballot, from reproductive rights, to voting rights, to LGBTQ rights, to climate protection, to bedrock economic freedoms for workers—and more.  

“The struggle for a truly representative democracy has existed since the beginning of our nation. Yet, throughout history, we have seen that when the people organize and do democracy—from the Seneca Falls Convention in New York to the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama to strikes on farmlands in California—they not only protect democracy, they also enhance it. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us—who sacrificed their lives and their well-being because they loved a country that did not always in full measure love them back. We must build on their legacy. The story of the years since January 6, 2021, is another chapter of American history that will determine whether our democracy is protected and strengthened or it is demolished. Every American generation has been called upon to defend democracy. And so it is again. This is our generation’s time to do its historical duty. We must not fail.”

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