MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: Interview with Nikema Williams

Interview

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Joining us now is Democratic Congresswoman Nikema Williams of Georgia who sits in the seat once held by the great John Lewis and Texas State Representative Gina Hinojosa, I thank you both very much for coming to "The Last Word".

Congressman Williams, let me start with you. One do you have any - you have any scuttle on what`s happening in the Senate right now when it comes to voting rights?

REP. NIKEMA WILLIAMS (D-GA): Jonathan, I wish I knew exactly what was going on in the Senate. Unfortunately, the good people of Georgia elected me to represent the Fifth Congressional District right now I`m sitting in the office that was once held by John Lewis, working very late with my team here.

And we just had a conversation today with Ambassador Andrew Young; he came in to give my team a pep talk about what it means to serve this very special district. And we haven`t given up hope. We`re still calling on the Senate to do what they know needs to be done.

This should not be a partisan issue. This should be about democracy, about standardizing the right to vote and making sure that everyone in our country has access to the ballot. So I am still hopeful. But I know that I have to be resilient.

And with that hope and continue to do the work. Congressman Lewis taught us to dramatize the moment. And that`s what you`ve seen by the marches by the arrests that are happening on the Hill, and by the conversations that are continuing to happen.

And by my friends from Texas, who fled their homes to make sure that we could have the right to vote. We`re dramatizing the moment because that power doesn`t seem quite yet to be there. But we started with the election in Georgia and we`re going to continue giving power to the people until we get this done.

[22:50:00]

CAPEHART: Well, before I go to Representative Gina Hinojosa, I wanted to ask you my follow up question was going to be how impactful has it been to have the Texas Democratic Delegation with the Texas State Legislature in Washington all this time pushing on voting rights.

WILLIAMS: So I think when they initially fled, people saw it on the news and didn`t really think how long it will last? I flew back early in a week that I wasn`t even in Washington, just to host my friends in Texas, my co- conspirators for justice for dinner, to talk about what our next steps were what needed to be done.

You`ve seen them meet with the Vice President, and more people are paying attention. And I think people expected this to be just a moment on the map that was a social media hit, and then it was done, but they`re still they`re giving everything at home to make sure that we can press forward.

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