WASHINGTON Texas Democrats who left the state to prevent Republicans from passing new voting restrictions continued a public campaign in Washington, D.C., this week to convince federal lawmakers to pass sweeping voting rights legislation. And they have a stark warning: National Democrats are fiddling while voters rights are in crisis.

I honestly dont believe that theyre on the same timeline as we are, Texas state Rep. Ron Reynolds (D), the vice chair of the state Legislatures Black Caucus, told HuffPost on Wednesday.

The Democratic lawmakers decamped to the nations capital in early July after fleeing Austin to break quorum as Republicans prepared to move their voting legislation in a special session. Their effort is unlikely to succeed : Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has pledged to keep calling special sessions in order to break the Democrats will and force through a package that will make it harder to vote in a state that already ranks among the nations most restrictive.

For us its do or die, because Gov. Abbott is going to call another special session as early as Aug. 9, Reynolds said. We hope the Senate realizes that were on borrowed time, so we really need federal intervention.

If passed, the Texas bill would join 30 other laws to create new voting restrictions that Republican-led states have approved this year. These represent the biggest threat to voting rights for Black people and other voters of color since Jim Crow, Texas Democrats and civil rights leaders have argued. Democrats priority voting rights bill, the For the People Act , would override many of those restrictions by implementing new voting rights standards, including requirements that states allow early voting and automatic voter registration, and by reducing other traditional barriers to voting that have disproportionately affected Black people, Native Americans, Latinos and other minority groups.

Theres so many Black and brown people who will be disenfranchised if we dont get this passed, Reynolds said.