[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S9541]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE RESOLUTION 232--CELEBRATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
    ENACTMENT OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 AND REAFFIRMING THE 
COMMITMENT OF THE SENATE TO ENSURING THE CONTINUED EFFECTIVENESS OF THE 
   ACT IN PROTECTING THE VOTING RIGHTS OF ALL CITIZENS OF THE UNITED 
                                 STATES

  Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Reid, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Feingold, Mr. 
Durbin, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Biden, Mr. Levin, 
Ms. Mikulski, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Obama, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Kerry, and Mr. 
Specter) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 232

       Whereas brave people in the United States, known and 
     unknown, of different races, ethnicities, and religions, 
     risked their lives to stand for political equality and 
     against racial discrimination in a quest culminating in the 
     passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
       Whereas numerous individuals paid the ultimate price in 
     pursuit of political equality, while demanding that the 
     United States enforce the guarantees enshrined in the 14th 
     and 15th amendments to the Constitution;
       Whereas, on March 7, 1965, a day that would come to be 
     known as ``Bloody Sunday'', the historic struggle for equal 
     voting rights led nonviolent civil rights marchers to gather 
     on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama where the 
     bravery of such individuals was tested by a brutal response 
     from State and local authorities, which in turn sent a 
     clarion call to the people of the United States that the 
     fulfillment of democratic ideals could no longer be denied;
       Whereas 8 days after Bloody Sunday, President Lyndon B. 
     Johnson called for a comprehensive and effective voting 
     rights bill as a necessary response by Congress and the 
     President to the interference and violence, in violation of 
     the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution, encountered 
     by African-American citizens when attempting to protect and 
     exercise 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 stands as a tribute 
     to the heroism of countless individuals and enactment of the 
     Act was one of the most important civil rights victories in 
     the history of the United States, enabling political 
     empowerment and voter enfranchisement for all citizens of the 
     United States;
       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 the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was amended in 1975 
     to facilitate equal political opportunity for language-
     minority citizens and was amended in 1982 to protect the 
     rights of voters with disabilities;
       Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has helped advance 
     the true spirit of democracy in the United States by 
     encouraging political participation by all citizens and 
     ensuring for voters the ability to elect representatives in 
     Federal, State, and local governments;
       Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has increased voter 
     registration among racial, ethnic, and language minorities, 
     as well as enhanced the ability of citizens in those minority 
     groups to participate in the political process and to elect 
     minority representatives to public office, resulting in 81 
     African-American, Latino, Asian, and Native American Members 
     of Congress and thousands of minority State and local 
     officials across the United States;
       Whereas despite the noteworthy progress from 40 years of 
     enforcement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, voter 
     inequities, disparities, and obstacles still remain for far 
     too many minority voters and serve to demonstrate the ongoing 
     importance of the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
       Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 provides extensive 
     voter protections, such as equipping voters with the means to 
     challenge election laws that result in a denial or 
     abridgement of voting rights on account of race, color, or 
     language minority status (in section 2 of such Act), 
     eliminating literacy tests nationwide (in section 201 of such 
     Act), requiring Federal approval before jurisdictions with a 
     history of practices that restrict minority voting rights may 
     implement changes in voting practices and procedures (in 
     section 5 of such Act), providing the Department of Justice 
     with the authority to appoint Federal election monitors and 
     observers to ensure that elections are conducted free from 
     discrimination and intimidation (in sections 6 through 9 of 
     such Act), and mandating language assistance and translated 
     voting materials in jurisdictions with substantial 
     concentrations of language minorities (in section 203 of such 
     Act);
       Whereas several of these provisions of the Voting Rights 
     Act of 1965 will expire in August 2007 unless Congress acts 
     to preserve and reauthorize them;
       Whereas it is vital to democracy in the United States, and 
     to the efforts of the United States to promote democracy 
     abroad, 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;
       Whereas, in 2005, the year marking the 40th anniversary of 
     the Voting Rights Act of 1965, people in the United States 
     must applaud the substantial progress that has been made in 
     protecting the right to vote, but also continue efforts to 
     ensure fairness and equal access to the political process in 
     order to protect the rights of every citizen of the United 
     States; 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) observes and celebrates the 40th 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; and
       (3) encourages the people of the United States to celebrate 
     the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, 40 years ago, after the Selma-Montgomery 
march, many of us in the Senate and House worked hard to pass the 
landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, to guarantee that racism and its 
bitter legacy would never again close the polls to any citizen. The 
failure to ensure voting rights regardless of race or national origin 
was a national shame, which was finally addressed in this long overdue 
bill. As we look toward August 6, the 40th anniversary of the Civil 
Rights Act, we must recall the sacrifices of those who worked 
tirelessly to ensure that all Americans have access to the ballot, 
regardless of race.
  All of us are grateful for those sacrifices, which forced America to 
live up to its highest ideals, the ideal of equality and justice for 
all. And when we say all, we mean all. I want to thank my friend and 
colleague Congressman John Lewis for his leadership and his courage in 
joining Dr. Martin Luther King and so many others on the march across 
Selma's Pettus Bridge to demonstrate the need for voting rights. Those 
who marched and endured hatred and violence provided the guiding light 
for Congress. As we celebrate the Voting Rights Act, we also celebrate 
their contributions.
  This celebration must also be a wake up call to remind us of the need 
to strengthen and reauthorize the provisions of the Voting Rights Act 
that are scheduled to expire in 2007. We must reauthorize section 5, 
which provides for Federal oversight of voting changes in--areas where 
a history of discrimination has limited the right to vote. We must also 
reauthorize Section 203, which provides for bi-lingual elections in 
areas where necessary, to ensure that American citizens can vote, even 
if they have limited English proficiency.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues in both the House and 
Senate, and on both sides of the aisle, on this important issue.

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