[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1058 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1058

    Expressing support for designation of the month of September as 
                   ``National Voting Rights Month''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 12, 2018

  Mr. Veasey (for himself, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. 
  Sewell of Alabama, Ms. Jayapal, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Payne, Mr. 
 Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Ms. Moore, Ms. Clarke of New 
York, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Takano, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. 
  Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. 
Bass, Mr. Pocan, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Mr. 
 Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kaptur, 
 Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Ms. 
 Wilson of Florida, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Ben 
  Ray Lujan of New Mexico, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Mr. 
 Price of North Carolina, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. 
Higgins of New York, Mr. Rush, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. 
McEachin, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Sires, Ms. 
Roybal-Allard, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Titus, 
 Mr. Gonzalez of Texas, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Ryan 
   of Ohio, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Brownley of California, Mr. Cummings, Mr. 
Costa, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Soto, Mr. Kildee, Mr. 
   Khanna, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Mr. 
Thompson of Mississippi, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Jackson Lee, 
  Ms. McCollum, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Vela, Mr. 
Crist, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. DelBene, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, 
 Mr. Nolan, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Welch, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. Sanchez, 
 Mr. Tonko, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Foster, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Gene Green of 
 Texas, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. 
  Lee, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Engel, Mr. Delaney, Mr. Kilmer, Mrs. 
Lowey, Mr. Polis, Mr. Loebsack, Mr. Gomez, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Adams, Mr. 
   Panetta, Mr. Ted Lieu of California, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. Fudge, Mr. 
     Kihuen, Mr. Gallego, and Ms. DeGette) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
 in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to 
      be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing support for designation of the month of September as 
                   ``National Voting Rights Month''.

Whereas voting is one of the single most important rights that can be exercised 
        in our democracy;
Whereas over the course of history, various voter suppression laws in the United 
        States have hindered, and even prohibited, certain individuals and 
        groups from exercising this right;
Whereas during the 19th and early 20th centuries, Native Americans and Americans 
        who were born abroad, spoke a language other than English, or were 
        formerly subjected to slavery, were denied full citizenship and 
        prevented from voting by English literacy tests;
Whereas from 1954 to 1968, minority groups such as African Americans in the 
        South suffered from the oppressive effects of Jim Crow laws designed to 
        prevent political, economic, and social mobility;
Whereas African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and other 
        underrepresented voters were subject to violence, poll taxes, literacy 
        tests, all White primaries, property ownership tests, grandfather 
        clauses, voter roll purges, and the prevention of former prisoners from 
        voting;
Whereas in 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to protect the 
        rights of African Americans and other traditionally disenfranchised 
        groups to vote;
Whereas in 2013, the Supreme Court invalidated section 4 of the Voting Rights 
        Act of 1965, dismantling the preclearance provision in the law that 
        protected voters in States that historically have suppressed the rights 
        of minorities to vote;
Whereas since the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 have 
        been vacated, many States gerrymandered districts have gone unchallenged 
        or have become less likely to be invalidated by the courts;
Whereas these gerrymandered districts have been found to have a discriminatory 
        impact on traditionally disenfranchised minorities through tactics that 
        include ``cracking'', diluting their voting power across many districts, 
        and ``packing'', concentrating minority voters' power in one district to 
        reduce their voting power in other districts;
Whereas the courts have found the congressional and, in some cases, State 
        legislative district maps in Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and 
        Wisconsin to be gerrymandered districts that were created with the 
        intent of interfering with the constitutional right to vote;
Whereas the Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court decision calls on Congress to 
        fix the formula in the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
Whereas in 33 States, some form of restrictive voting law has been instituted 
        since 2013;
Whereas these restrictive voting laws encompass cutbacks in early voting, voter 
        roll purges, placement of faulty equipment in minority communities, 
        requirement of photo identification--the procurement of which amounts to 
        a modern day poll tax, and elimination of same-day registration;
Whereas more than 80 million minority, elderly, poor, and disabled voters could 
        be disenfranchised by these changes in voting;
Whereas in 2016, discriminatory laws in North Carolina, Wisconsin, North Dakota, 
        and Texas have been ruled unconstitutional and overturned by the courts;
Whereas there are local elected officials who refuse to adhere to Federal court 
        decisions that have struck down suppressive voting laws instituted since 
        the Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder case;
Whereas there is much more work to be done to ensure all Americans have the 
        right to vote;
Whereas National Voter Registration Day is September 25; and
Whereas the month of September would be an appropriate month to designate as 
        ``National Voting Rights Month'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the designation of ``National Voting Rights 
        Month'';
            (2) encourages all people in the United States to uphold 
        the right of every American to exercise their sacred and 
        fundamental right to vote; and
            (3) endorses the following solutions to further the mission 
        of allowing all citizens to vote:
                    (A) Our Nation's public schools and universities 
                should develop an academic curriculum under which 
                students would learn about the importance of voting, 
                how to become registered to vote, where to vote, and 
                the different forms of voting. This curriculum would 
                include teaching the history of voter suppression in 
                America before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was 
                passed. It would also teach students about current 
                issues that are related to laws that have been passed 
                to restrict the vote since 1965 or any actions taken by 
                State and Federal Government officials since passage of 
                the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that have created 
                barriers to being able to vote.
                    (B) The Postal Service should issue a special 
                Fannie Lou Hamer stamp during the month of September, 
                to remind Americans about how ordinary citizens risked 
                their lives, marched, and participated in our great 
                democracy so all Americans would have the fundamental 
                right to vote.
                    (C) Congress should allocate the requisite funds 
                needed for public service announcements on television, 
                radio, newspapers, magazines, social media, billboards, 
                buses, and other forms of media to remind Americans 
                when elections are being held, and to urge people to 
                get out and vote.
                    (D) Congress should pass legislation that will 
                allow all citizens upon reaching the age of 18 to be 
                automatically registered to vote in Federal elections.
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