[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 127 (Thursday, August 6, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6431-S6432]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT

 Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I wish to commemorate the 50th 
anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which we will celebrate 
today, August 6. I want to spend a few minutes talking about Freedom 
Summer, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 
the civil rights challenges we still face today, and how Senators can 
work together to make this a more perfect union and guarantee equal 
justice under the law to all Americans, as promised by our 
Constitution.
  On January 23, 1964, the States ratified the 24th Amendment to the 
Constitution, which provides that ``the rights of citizens of the 
United States to vote in any primary or other [Federal] election . . . 
shall not be denied or abridged . . . by any State by reason of failure 
to pay any poll tax or other tax.''
  Freedom Summer was a campaign in Mississippi to register Black voters 
during the summer of 1964. In 1964, most Black voters were 
disenfranchised by law or practice in Mississippi, notwithstanding the 
15th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1870. The 
15th Amendment provides that ``the rights of citizens of the United 
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by . . . any State on 
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.''
  The national uproar in response to the deaths of three civil rights 
workers--James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael ``Mickey'' 
Schwerner--helped lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 
Southern States, however, continued to impose barriers on African-
American citizens' right to vote even after the enactment of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964.
  The following summer, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights 
leaders led a series of voter registration marches from Selma to 
Montgomery, AL. Ultimately, the marchers were met with force on March 
7, 1965, known as Bloody Sunday, at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 
Montgomery, AL. Television news reports shocked the conscience of 
Americans, who could not believe that their fellow citizens were 
ruthlessly beaten by the police while exercising their First Amendment 
right to peaceably assemble and petition their government for redress 
of grievances.
  A few days later, President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed a joint 
session of Congress and called for the enactment of the Voting Rights 
Act, ended his speech with the old refrain from the civil rights 
movement: we shall overcome. Congress did act and pass the Voting 
Rights Act, as this week we celebrate the 50th anniversary.
  So as we celebrate the anniversaries of these landmark pieces of 
civil rights legislation, we are reminded that there is more work to be 
done. Today I must urge my colleagues to address the recent pernicious 
efforts to restrict the franchise and limit access to the fundamental 
right to vote. This past weekend, The New York Times Magazine ran an 
article entitled ``Overcome,'' about a systematic effort by a small 
group of activists to dismantle the protections in the Voting Rights 
Act. I commend this article for review by my colleagues.
  Two summers ago, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Shelby 
County v. Holder, which struck down section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, 
invalidating the coverage formula that determines which jurisdictions 
are subject to the preclearance provisions of the act.
  Congress must act to reverse the decision by the Supreme Court which 
overturned several important precedents. As much as we wish it wasn't 
so, racism has not disappeared from America and there continue to be 
individuals and groups who would use our voting system to deliberately 
minimize the rights of minority voters. Congress overwhelmingly 
reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 2006 after building an extensive 
record that made a compelling case for the continued need to protect 
minority voters from discrimination.
  I strongly agree with Justice Ginsburg's dissent that ``in truth, the 
evolution of voting discrimination into more subtle second-generation 
barriers is powerful evidence that a remedy as effective as 
preclearance remains vital to protect minority voting rights and 
prevent backsliding.'' I am deeply disappointed that the Court put 
voting rights in jeopardy by ignoring reality and disregarding the 
power of Congress to enforce the 15th Amendment of the Constitution by 
appropriate legislation.
  I am a proud co-sponsor of Senator Leahy's legislation, S. 1659, the 
Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015. The Voting Rights Advancement 
Act of 2015 responds to current conditions in voting today by restoring 
the full protections of the original, bipartisan Voting Rights Act of 
1965, which was last reauthorized on a bipartisan vote by Congress in 
2006, but significantly weakened by the Supreme Court in 2013.
  Following the Shelby County decision 2 years ago, several States 
passed sweeping voter suppression laws that disproportionately prevent 
minorities, the elderly, and the youth from voting. The Leahy bill 
provides the tools to address these discriminatory practices and seeks 
to protect all Americans' right to vote.
  The Leahy bill establishes a targeted process for reviewing voting 
changes in jurisdictions nationwide, focused on measures that have 
historically been used to discriminate against voters. The process for 
reviewing changes in voting is limited to a set of measures, such as 
voter IDs, that have historically been found to have the greatest 
discriminatory impact.
  Congress should also take up and pass the Democracy Restoration Act, 
DRA, S. 772, which I have introduced. The Democracy Restoration Act 
would restore voting rights in Federal elections to approximately 5.8 
million citizens who have been released from prison and are back living 
in their communities.
  Notwithstanding the 15th Amendment, many States passed laws during 
the Jim Crow period after the Civil War to make it more difficult for 
newly-freed slaves to vote in elections. Such laws included poll taxes, 
literacy tests, and disenfranchisement measures.
  Some disenfranchisement measures applied to misdemeanor convictions 
and in practice could result in lifetime disenfranchisement, even for 
individuals that successfully reintegrated into their communities as 
law-abiding citizens.
  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 did sweep away numerous State laws and 
procedures that had denied African Americans and other minorities their 
constitutional right to vote. For example, the act outlawed the use of 
literacy or history tests that voters had to pass before registering to 
vote or casting their ballot.
  The act specifically prohibits States from imposing any ``voting 
qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or 
procedure . . . to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the 
United States to vote on account of race or color.''
  In 2015, I am concerned that there are still several areas where the 
legacy of Jim Crow laws and State disenfranchisement statutes lead to 
unfairness in Federal elections.
  First, State laws governing the restoration of voting rights vary 
widely throughout the country, such that persons in some States can 
easily regain their voting rights, while in other States persons 
effectively lose their right to vote permanently.
  Second, these State disenfranchisement laws have a disproportionate 
impact on racial and ethnic minorities.
  Third, this patchwork of State laws results in the lack of a uniform 
standard for eligibility to vote in Federal elections, and leads to an 
unfair disparity and unequal participation in Federal elections based 
solely on residence.
  Finally, studies indicate that former prisoners who have voting 
rights restored are less likely to reoffend, and disenfranchisement 
hinders their rehabilitation and reintegration into their community.
  The legislation would restore voting rights to prisoners after their 
release from incarceration. It requires that prisons receiving Federal 
funds notify

[[Page S6432]]

people about their right to vote in Federal elections when they are 
leaving prison, sentenced to probation, or convicted of a misdemeanor.
  The legislation is crafted to apply to Federal elections, and retains 
the States' authorities to generally establish voting qualifications. 
This legislation is consistent with congressional authority under the 
Constitution and voting rights statutes.
  I am pleased that this legislation has been endorsed by a large 
coalition of public interest organizations, including: civil rights and 
reform organizations; religious and faith-based organizations; and law 
enforcement and criminal justice organizations. In particular I want to 
thank the Brennan Center for Justice, the ACLU, the Leadership 
Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the NAACP for their work 
here.
  I also urge Congress to take up legislation that I have introduced in 
the past with Senator Schumer, the Deceptive Practices and Voter 
Intimidation Prevention Act. Voter suppression and intimidation are 
still very much alive in our Nation.
  From misleading and fraudulent information about elections to voter 
intimidation and robocalls designed to suppress the vote, deceptive 
voting practices are often aimed at depriving minority communities of 
their voice in our democracy. The U.S. Constitution guarantees and 
protects the right of every American citizen to vote, and we have a 
duty to protect and ensure that right.
  Unfortunately, we have seen a resurgence of deceptive voter practices 
in recent years. In 2006, during my own election to the Senate, 
thousands of minority voters in Maryland were targeted for misleading 
information designed to suppress their vote. Nationwide, there have 
been numerous reports of efforts to suppress the minority vote by 
putting out wrong information about election dates and location of 
polling places, along with suggestions that voters who had outstanding 
parking tickets would be arrested if they tried to vote.
  This legislation is designed to protect voters across the Nation from 
election fraud and voter intimidation by creating criminal penalties 
for deceptive voting practices and by giving individual voters the 
right to take action. If deceptive practices are found to have occurred 
before election day, the U.S. Attorney General can take corrective 
action to halt distribution of such information and to set the record 
straight. After Federal elections, the Attorney General also would be 
required to report to Congress on the allegations of deceptive 
practices and the actions taken to correct such practices.
  Let me also mention another issue relating to civil rights, which is 
the right to serve on a Federal jury. My view is that after release 
from prison, ex-offenders should be given both rights and 
responsibilities. So in addition to restoring the right to vote as we 
seek to reduce recidivism and successfully integrate ex-offenders back 
into the community, I would also permit ex-offenders to perform the 
civic duty of serving on a jury of their peers.
  This legislative change is a part of my BALTIMORE Act, S. 1610, the 
Building and Lifting Trust In Order to Multiply Opportunities and 
Racial Equality. I introduced this legislation after the death of 
Freddie Gray in Baltimore while in police custody. It also includes my 
End Racial Profiling Act, ERPA.
  Next month the NAACP, which is headquartered in Baltimore, and other 
civil rights groups will conclude its Journey for Justice march at the 
U.S. Capitol as part of their Justice Summer campaign. This historic 
860-mile march from Selma, AL to Washington, DC, will mobilize 
activists and advance a focused national policy agenda.
  This policy agenda seeks to protect the right of every American to a 
fair criminal justice system and uncorrupted and unfettered access to 
the ballot box.
  In particular, the march will call for the enactment of the Voting 
Rights Advancement Act and the End Racial Profiling Act. Congress 
should take up and pass these two critically important pieces of 
legislation.
  It would be the appropriate way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

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