[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 104 (Tuesday, August 2, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
           THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT AND VOTING RIGHTS DISTRICTS

  (Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, on August 6, 1965--29 years ago 
this Saturday--the Voting Rights Act was signed into law. Congress 
boldly acted to include all Americans in the political process, and the 
Voting Rights Act is among the most meaningful acts this body has ever 
passed.
  Today, as a 31-year-old African-American, I address this body as a 
beneficiary of the Voting Rights Act and testify to its importance.
  Unfortunately, the Voting Rights Act is under attack, and there are 
those who seek to turn back the hands of time, returning our political 
bodies to the pre-civil rights day.
  Three judges in Louisiana have ruled against the Voting Rights Act, 
going behind closed doors to dismantle voting rights districts.
  Then last night, a court in North Carolina affirmed the validity of 
voting rights districts that allowed North Carolina to send to Congress 
its first black representatives since Reconstruction.
  At this crucial time of reexamination, I urge my colleagues to 
support the principles and intent of the Voting Rights Act, and to 
speak out vigorously against efforts to return this institution to the 
days before this body acted so bravely in 1965.

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