[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

                                 ______
                                 

                         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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