"Right now, we're about to take ourselves off the map as a role model"

Harris, who has taken the lead on voting rights, said during a wide-ranging interview broadcast Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” that people around the world are watching the United States “because we have held ourselves out to be a model of … the ability of a democracy to coexist with an economic strength and power.”

But Harris warned that if lawmakers don’t pass legislation to preserve voting rights, the United States’ standing could be in jeopardy.

“We have been a role model saying, you can see this and aspire to this and reject autocracies and autocratic leadership,” Harris said. “Right now, we’re about to take ourselves off the map as a role model, if we let people destroy one of the most important pillars of a democracy, which is free and fair elections.”