President Joe Biden on Tuesday placed Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of his administrations efforts to pass voting rights legislation and promised to battle an unprecedented assault on our democracy from Republican-controlled state legislatures.

Were going to be ramping up our efforts to overcome again, Biden said in a speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the massacre of Black residents there. Im going to fight like heck with every tool at my disposal.

Bidens comments and his decision to hand Harris the high-profile task are likely to soothe but not totally satisfy voting rights activists, who have fretted about the administrations dedication to passing H.R. 1, an omnibus law aimed at reforming American democracy, and the more narrowly targeted John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which aims to block state-level voter suppression efforts.

Republicans across the country, embracing former President Donald Trump s escalation of long-standing GOP myths about voter fraud following the 2020 election, have introduced more than 300 bills aiming to restrict the right to vote. Democrats have argued that passage of H.R. 1 and the Voting Rights Act is essential to protecting the right to vote, but the legislations path forward in Congress remains murky at best.