[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 93 (Tuesday, July 12, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RESTORING AN OBLIGATION OF CITIZENSHIP
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HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL
of new york
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw our attention to the
most important obligation of citizens in a democracy and to illuminate
the discomfort of many Americans to the elimination of that obligation.
I speak about the right to vote--the cornerstone of every democratic
system of government, particularly ours.
Democracies are based on the principle that their citizens
participate actively in the decision-making processes of the
government. Whether in small communities or throughout the vast expanse
of the Nation, citizens cast ballots to express their preferences and
choices for the direction of the country and to determine the policies
and leaders that will be implemented throughout the Nation. The voice
of each and every citizen is expressed equally through their ballot and
their ability to cast a ballot. Generations of Americans have fought
and died to guarantee that all Americans share in this right and
obligation.
Unfortunately, today we still face the predicament that millions of
American citizens are denied their right to vote. They are denied the
ability to influence policy, policymakers, political leaders, and the
direction of the country that they belong to. Millions of American
citizens who have been convicted of crimes in the past are denied the
ability to cast ballots in elections. Regardless of the nature of their
crime or any rehabilitation that may have occurred, these ex-felons
cannot participate in the decision-making process of this great Nation.
Though they have served their time, fulfilled their sentence, and
paid back their debt to society, millions of ex-felons continue to be
punished for their past criminal records. Those who turned a corner in
their life and fled the criminal path can never again fulfill the most
important obligation of citizenship--voting. They remain on the outside
looking in at our political system. They want, they deserve, the right
to be re-integrated as full citizens into our system. Yet, the system
stands firmly in their way, stripping them of their right to vote.
I bring this issue to the attention of the House of Representatives
with the hope that this Congress will take the important steps of
fulfilling the promises of democracy. I hope that the House of
Representatives would take action to restore the right to vote to
American ex-felons. They have paid their debts to society and we should
permit their participation in our democratic process. Too many
Americans fought and died for this right to vote and too many today are
denied the ability to exercise their rights.
I submit for the Record a Carib News article providing further
evidence and argument for our consideration. Progress is being made on
the restoration of rights to ex-felons, but immediate action is needed
by this Congress.
[July 5, 2005]
Progress in Restoring Felons' Right To Vote
Following victory in Iowa, where the Governor recently
announced that he would reverse his state's lifetime ban on
felon voting, advocates for restoring felons' right to vote
expressed optimism that progress was being made in rolling
back laws that disproportionately affect blacks and other
minorities.
According to Catherine Weiss, a lawyer with the Brennan
Center for Justice at New York University, felony
disenfranchisement laws represent the last vestiges of Jim
Crow that disenfranchise African Americans. As of 2000,
almost 5 million Americans couldn't vote because of laws that
restrict those convicted of a felony from casting ballots;
four in 10 of those disenfranchised were black.
The full 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York is
also expected to hear arguments in cases brought by two
prisoners who claim that the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which
removed barriers to black voters, should be used to argue
that the felony laws are unfair. Forty-eight states restrict
voting rights for felons while they are behind bars or
serving parole or probation. Four states--Alabama, Florida,
Kentucky, and Virginia--ban voting for life on the grounds
that such restrictions are justified. In 2001, New Mexico
lifted a lifetime ban, and Nebraska followed suit in March.
In several states, felons can now apply to have their voting
rights restored.
The issue of disenfranchisement escalated in Florida after
the 2000 presidential election, which was decided by fewer
than 600 votes there. With more than 820,000 felons who could
not vote as of 2000, Florida is said to have the largest
disenfranchised population of any state.
One driving force behind efforts to roll back
disenfranchisement laws is the nation's swelling prison
population. Though crime rates have fallen the prison
population soared to 2.1 million by June 2004, according to
figures compiled by the Justice Department. In 1970, that
number was about 200,000.
According to Theodore M. Shaw, president of the NAACP Legal
Defense and Education Fund, who will present arguments in the
New York cases, ``As the numbers of prisoners have grown,
more awareness of the injustice of it has also grown.''
With 13 percent of all black men barred from voting because
of disenfranchisement laws, advocates contend that many have
become disengaged since felons also face prohibitions in
other areas of life, such as living in public housing,
obtaining identification cards, and getting student loans.
On June 22, in the shadow of the U.S. Federal Courthouse in
Foley Square, standing before the African Burial Ground
Memorial Sculpture, New Yorkers representing persons who have
a felony conviction stood in silent protest to demand the
full restoration of voting rights to the formerly
incarcerated.
In recognition of a historic en banc hearing in the cases
of Hayden v. Pataki and Muntaqim v. Coombe, the silent
protest was conducted as the Nation recognized the 40th
anniversary of the passage and President Lyndon B. Johnson's
signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The landmark
legislation extended voting rights confirmed in the 15th
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to disenfranchised blacks
in southern states. The Act has since been reauthorized and
its protections extended to language minorities and northern
jurisdictions with a history of vote dilution, voter
intimidation, and discriminatory polling practices.
The silent protest was staged to symbolically represent
citizens, who for no other reason than having been
incarcerated for felony offenses have been denied their
voting rights while still being expected to fulfill all other
obligations of citizenship, including paying taxes.
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