[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 148 (Thursday, October 8, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        RESTORING VOTING RIGHTS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOYCE BEATTY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 8, 2015

  Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the bipartisan 
Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2015, H.R. 885, and urge Republican 
Leadership to bring it to the floor for consideration.
  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was born from the ``Bloody Sunday'' 
marches from Selma to Montgomery.
  With its enactment over fifty years ago, it protected the ability of 
every American to make their voice heard at the voting booth.
  In 2013, that changed. In the two years since the Supreme Court 
struck down one of the Voting Rights Act's most important provisions in 
Shelby County v. Holder,--the Justice Department's ability to prevent 
discriminatory rules--our democracy has been weakened.
  Mr. Speaker, every American deserves unfettered access to exercising 
one of our most basic rights--the right to vote.
  It is time for Congress to right the wrong created by the Shelby 
decision and pass H.R. 885, legislation that restores the full power of 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  I urge my colleagues to cosponsor H.R. 885, and I strongly urge 
Republican Leadership to bring it to the floor for a vote before 
October 31st.

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