[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 671 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 671
Recognizing, commemorating, and celebrating the 55th anniversary of the
enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and reaffirming the
Senate's commitment to ensuring the continued vitality of the Act and
the protection of the voting rights of all citizens of the United
States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 6, 2020
Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Bennet, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Carper,
Mr. Jones, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Stabenow,
Mr. Menendez, Ms. Rosen, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Casey, Mr. Van
Hollen, Ms. Smith, Mr. Warner, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Klobuchar,
Ms. Harris, Mr. Booker, Mrs. Shaheen, and Mr. Brown) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing, commemorating, and celebrating the 55th anniversary of the
enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and reaffirming the
Senate's commitment to ensuring the continued vitality of the Act and
the protection of the voting rights of all citizens of the United
States.
Whereas the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 marked a historic point in
the ongoing struggle to achieve political equality, end racial
discrimination, and enforce the voting rights guarantees enshrined in
the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States;
Whereas March 7, 1965, would become known as ``Bloody Sunday'', after nonviolent
civil rights activists--including the late Representative John Lewis--
marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, to the State
capital in Montgomery in support of voting rights were attacked and
savagely beaten by State troopers and local lawmen;
Whereas, on March 15, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed a joint
session of Congress concerning the violence in Selma and the denial of
voting rights, saying, ``At times, history and fate meet at a single
time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search
for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago
at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama. . . . There is no
cause for pride in what has happened in Selma. There is no cause for
self-satisfaction in the long denial of equal rights of millions of
Americans. But there is cause for hope and for faith in our democracy in
what is happening here tonight. . . . Experience has clearly shown that
the existing process of law cannot overcome systematic and ingenious
discrimination. No law that we now have on the books--and I have helped
to put 3 of them there--can ensure the right to vote when local
officials are determined to deny it. . . . Wednesday, I will send to
Congress a law designed to eliminate illegal barriers to the right to
vote. . . . This bill will strike down restrictions to voting in all
elections--Federal, State, and local--which have been used to deny
[Blacks] the right to vote.'';
Whereas a bipartisan Congress approved the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and on
August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed this landmark
legislation into law;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 effectuates the permanent guarantee of the
15th Amendment that ``the right of citizens of the United States to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude'';
Whereas, according to the Congressional Research Service, the Voting Rights Act
had ``an immediate and dramatic impact'', and within 4 years of its
passage, nearly 1,000,000 Black voters were registered, including over
50 percent of the Black voting age population in every southern State;
Whereas, after the 1966 elections, the number of Black elected officials in the
South more than doubled, from 72 to 159;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 stands as a landmark legislative
achievement and pays tribute to the heroism of all those who fought to
fulfill the promises guaranteed to them by the 14th and 15th Amendments,
especially those whose blood was spilled and whose lives were lost;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been extended and amended 5 times;
Whereas, despite progress from 55 years of enforcement of the Voting Rights Act
of 1965, voting rights are still under attack in the United States;
Whereas, in its decision in Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013), the
Supreme Court of the United States struck down section 4 of the Voting
Rights Act of 1965, which required covered States and jurisdictions with
a history of discriminatory voting practices to submit voting changes
for ``preclearance'' before they could take effect;
Whereas, since the decision in Shelby County, many States have passed
discriminatory voting laws that have made it more difficult for people
of color and low-income individuals to vote;
Whereas it is vital to democracy in the United States that the provisions of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 are fully effective to prevent discrimination
and dilution of the equal rights of minority voters; and
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been widely hailed as the single most
important civil rights law passed in the history of the United States:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes, commemorates, and celebrates the 55th
anniversary of the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
(2) reaffirms its commitment to advancing the legacy of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 to ensure the continued effectiveness
of the Act in protecting the voting rights of all citizens of
the United States;
(3) commits itself to fully restoring section 4 of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 and modernizing and strengthening the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 through further legislative efforts;
and
(4) encourages the people of the United States to celebrate
the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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