[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 90 (Wednesday, July 12, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H5055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1045
                         THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, in 2001 one of the most 
shameful and shocking reminders of voting rights discrimination 
occurred in Kilmichael, Mississippi, my congressional district.
  An all-white city council cancelled city elections 3 weeks before 
they were to be held because it appeared that African Americans would 
control the majority of the council's seats. Section 5 of the Voting 
Rights Act, which requires covered jurisdiction, like my home State of 
Mississippi, to obtain preclearance from the Justice Department before 
they can change voting practices or procedures, protected the voting 
rights of the people of Kilmichael. When elections were finally held, 
three African Americans were elected to the board of aldermen and the 
town elected its first African American mayor.
  As elected leaders, it is our obligation to look beyond what is good 
for any one of us to what is good for the whole country and its future.
  Mr. Speaker, the Voting Rights Act is reverent, relevant, and must be 
renewed.

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