[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 90 (Wednesday, July 12, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H5052-H5053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         PASS VOTING RIGHTS ACT

  (Mr. WYNN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WYNN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call on my Republican colleagues to 
bring up and pass the renewal of the Voting Rights Act.
  On March 7, 1965, our colleague, John Lewis, and 500 civil rights 
activists marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. They paved the way 
for the Voting Rights Act.
  My grandmother, Bella Russell, lives in Warren County, North 
Carolina. She is 98 years old. She knows all about the need for the 
Voting Rights Act. She experienced literacy tests and intimidation and 
other barriers to voting.
  We needed the Voting Rights Act then and we need it today. We need it 
today because in my State of Maryland, people are still being told you 
have to pay all of your late fees on your rent in order to vote; you 
have to pay your parking tickets to vote.
  Don't forget to vote on Wednesday. People are still being 
intimidated. We need the Voting Rights Act as an effective check on 
those who would deter other Americans from exercising their important 
right to vote.

[[Page H5053]]

  There are those who would challenge the preclearance provision, but I 
maintain if you are not doing anything wrong, if you are not impeding 
the right to vote, then preclearance is not a burden. In America, we 
need to encourage more people to vote, not less.

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