[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 40 (Monday, March 14, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1336-H1341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS--THE WORK CONTINUES: WHY VOTING MATTERS IN 
                     THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be 
given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to add 
any extraneous materials relevant to the subject matter of this 
discussion.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening for tonight's 
Congressional Black Caucus Special Order Hour: The Work Continues--Why 
Voting Matters in the African American Community.
  I am so proud to join my classmate, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries from 
the Eighth District of New York. He is a member of the House Judiciary 
Committee. He continues to be a tireless advocate for social justice, 
working to reform our criminal justice system and to eliminate the 
overcriminalization of the African American community.
  Mr. Speaker, we are here to discuss the current state of voting 
rights in America, which, unfortunately, are under assault. The freedom 
to vote is one of America's most fundamentally, constitutionally 
guaranteed rights. It was 51 years ago this month, Mr. Speaker, that 
over 600 peaceful, orderly protesters set off to march from Selma, 
Alabama, to the State capitol in Montgomery to demonstrate the need for 
voting rights in the State.
  Last week, our Congressional Black Caucus chair, Chairman 
Butterfield, stated at the first in a series of CBC hearings about the 
current state of voting rights in America and that the Voting Rights 
Act of 1965 is probably one of the most significant pieces of 
legislation that was ever passed in the United States Congress.
  Certainly, Mr. Speaker, as we know, in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court 
struck down this crucial provision of the Voting Rights Act in the 
Shelby County v. Holder decision. Our work continues because by 
invalidating section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme 
Court opened the doors for ways to reduce the voting power of minority 
communities and it put in place new voting restrictions in an effort to 
make it harder for millions of Americans to vote.

  Our democracy has far too many missing voices, particularly those who 
are already at a disadvantage due to deep-rooted racial and class 
barriers in our society. By exercising our right, we can do great 
things. We can hold this country accountable. We can advocate for 
legislation that supports social and economic progress, equality and 
fairness for all Americans. We can champion policies that create and 
sustain jobs and that protect against cuts to social and economic 
programs that are vital to our most at-risk populations. We can move 
forward on efforts to address the school-to-prison pipeline and 
criminal justice reform. We know that the inequalities in access to 
quality health care still exist between races and that more and more 
Black children are victims of failing schools.
  Mr. Speaker, I am calling on all citizens, including on our community 
and national leaders, to join the Congressional Black Caucus to work to 
eliminate voter suppression and to restore what so many people fought 
for, marched, and died for--yes, the Voting Rights Act. It is up to all 
of us to protect the most at-risk among us and to expand opportunity 
for all people. That begins with passing a voting rights act. Our work 
still continues, Mr. Speaker.
  This week, we are celebrating Women's History Month, and I must note 
the powerful impact that African American women are having at the 
polls. In the past two Presidential elections, Black women led all 
demographic groups in voter turnout. That is why voting matters to 
African American communities. Black women make up the most dynamic 
segment of the rising American voters. A great civil rights leader said 
that women are among the greatest leaders of social reform, and they 
are fighting, literally fighting, for their political rights.
  This past Saturday I had the opportunity to be with the mothers of 
the movement. We know who they are. They are the mothers of Trayvon 
Martin, Eric Garner, Dontre Hamilton, Jordan Davis, Sandra Bland, and 
Hadiya Pendleton; and we have all heard what happened to their 
children.
  As a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, we are calling for 
action on gun control. We need to do more than just stand up on this 
floor for a moment of silence. We need to make sure that we are passing 
gun control legislation, commonsense legislation, that keeps the guns 
out of the hands of the most dangerous individuals. It is time for us 
to protect our children.
  Mr. Speaker, I am going to give you some examples of what we should 
include in our call for action.
  I go first to my good friend and colleague and classmate who brought 
it to my attention that we stand up for a moment, and then we sit down. 
Then we come back to this floor, and it is business as usual. We talk 
about wanting to keep our families safe, and we talk about the mental 
health issues. That is all we do, Mr. Speaker. We talk about it.
  Congresswoman Robin Kelly of Illinois' Second District has 
legislation, H.R. 224, which would require the Surgeon General of 
Public Health Services to submit to Congress an annual report on the 
effects of gun violence on public health. This bill has 140 Democrat 
cosponsors. I am asking my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to 
step up and do more than just stand up for 30 seconds.
  I am calling on Congress to act on Congressman James Clyburn of the 
Sixth District of South Carolina's legislation, H.R. 3051, the 
Background Check Completion Act, which would guarantee that no gun is 
sold by a licensed dealer until a background check is completed.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to say that I am a cosponsor of both of 
these bills.
  I will go on and tell you about Chairman Butterfield, the chair of 
our Congressional Black Caucus. He understands that our work continues, 
because he has focused his efforts on promoting anti-poverty programs 
and on expanding economic development and job creation. There are a 
number of things that have happened in his State.
  For example, the Moral Mondays are protests in North Carolina that 
are led by religious progressives. These protests are in response to 
several actions by the government of North Carolina, which was elected 
into office in 2013. These events, which spread throughout the South, 
helped bring attention to voting rights, criminal justice reform, and 
workers' rights. I think it is very important for us to note that.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight my coanchor and I will talk about a number of

[[Page H1337]]

issues that explain why our work continues. We are going to talk about 
why in African American communities it is important for us to 
understand, if we don't diversify those who are going to vote, we don't 
represent the diversity of this great America that we are here to 
protect and to serve.

                              {time}  2030

  It is not just members of the Congressional Black Caucus who value 
and understand the importance of us coming together, the importance of 
us celebrating our rich history, all tied to the Voting Rights Act, all 
tied to the movements that we have had of the past.
  Let me give you a great example because I am so proud that I am going 
to have the privilege to yield time to my good friend, Congressman John 
Larson from the First District of Connecticut.
  He is here, Mr. Speaker, tonight to join with us as we talk about our 
rich history. He is going to share with us information about the 51st 
anniversary of President Johnson's ``We Shall Overcome'' speech, which 
was given on March 15, 1965.
  I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.
  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from 
Ohio and the gentleman from New York for this opportunity to join with 
them this evening.
  I am especially proud to associate myself with the gentlewoman's 
remarks and all that the Congressional Black Caucus has stood for as I 
would generally acknowledge that I think most of Americans stand for as 
well.
  I thank them as well for pointing out a historic event that is 
happening and, in fact, will happen tomorrow evening at the Library of 
Congress.
  Tomorrow is March 15. As the gentlewoman mentioned, it was 51 years 
ago that President Lyndon Baines Johnson gave his now famous ``We Shall 
Overcome'' speech.
  It was President Johnson that recognized 8 days after Bloody Sunday 
what the Nation needed to do. He did this at great political risk, but 
he did it because of the sacrifice that so many had made.
  Tomorrow evening at the Library of Congress we will celebrate two 
American heroes with the idea that it is far more important to come 
together as a Nation and understand that these issues that we face and 
struggle with aren't Democrat or Republican, but at their very core are 
American.
  I want to commend the Bipartisan Policy Center for establishing what 
will be the first Congressional Patriot Award that will be presented 
tomorrow evening to John Lewis from Georgia and Sam Johnson from Texas.
  This honor will be perpetuated forever. Not only will it be a medal 
in recognition of their patriotic service to the country, but of their 
service here in the United States Congress.
  One person was nearly beaten to death by the Alabama police, the 
other nearly beaten to death by the Vietcong and imprisoned for 8 
years, 42 months, in solitary confinement. It was a momentous time in 
our history in 1965.
  Both of these gentlemen serve in the United States Congress. Both of 
them had to overcome in their lives incredible obstacles. Both of them, 
after their experience in 1965 and beyond, came back to serve their 
country, to continue to organize, to continue, in the case of Sam 
Johnson, to be a flight commander.
  John Lewis, as we all know, is the conscience of the House of 
Representatives. Sam Johnson is the most admired Republican on the 
floor. They are both iconic and American heroes, and tomorrow evening 
at the Library of Congress they will be recognized.
  The Bipartisan Policy Center has been helped by the Library of 
Congress, the fortress of knowledge, an institution started by the 
United States Congress, and houses our great history.
  Tomorrow on display will be the documents of the civil rights 
movement and the direct participation of John Lewis and the documents 
about the Vietnam war and the captivity and imprisonment of Sam 
Johnson.
  Speaking tomorrow evening on behalf of Sam Johnson will be John 
McCain. Who better to speak about being imprisoned in the Hanoi Hilton? 
Who better to speak about the sacrifice that Sam Johnson made, that his 
family made, for people who put their country first?
  We will be honored tomorrow to have a former Member of this body, an 
ambassador of the United States, and the mayor of Atlanta in Andrew 
Young being here tomorrow evening.
  Who better to talk about all the issues that the gentlewoman from 
Ohio and the gentleman from New York are bringing to the forefront 
today than the person who was there by Martin Luther King's side, a 
colleague of John Lewis? John Lewis holds the seat that Andrew Young 
occupied in this body.
  Andrew Young continues to be an advocate for voting rights and is in 
the forefront of that continued and epic battle that goes on in this 
country. It will be an outstanding evening.
  But the point of it all is to understand that, as Members here in the 
United States Congress, in the House of Representatives, we must come 
together and, as President Johnson said 51 years ago tomorrow evening, 
to overcome, to overcome not only racial prejudices, but to overcome 
disease, poverty, and ignorance, which is the real plague on this 
Nation that keeps us confined.
  How fitting that this event takes place tomorrow evening and because 
of the benevolence of an outstanding person like David Rubenstein. Who 
better to interview John Lewis and Sam Johnson about their experience 
than David Rubenstein?
  I thank my colleagues from the bottom of my heart for allowing me the 
opportunity here to echo the sentiments of their purpose here this 
evening and to acknowledge this event taking place tomorrow evening at 
the Library of Congress of distinguished Americans, their history 
forever perpetuated.
  And as Webster says above us in the great quote here:

       Let us all, in our time here, in our service to the 
     country, do something worthy of being remembered.

  Let us take to heart the example of John Lewis and Sam Johnson and 
note especially tomorrow that we shall overcome.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman John Larson.
  As I was listening to him reflect on the wonderful program that we 
are all going to be able to participate in at the Library of Congress--
as I listened to his words, 51 years ago the President of these United 
States could recognize what the Nation needed.

  It disappoints me, as I stand here on this House floor and I think 
about voting rights and I think about the condition of this Nation 
today and where we are when we talk about casting our votes and who we 
are going to cast our votes for. I say thank you for Congressman John 
Lewis and Congressman Sam Johnson.
  As I was listening to the gentleman, I thought about so many of the 
things that Congressman John Lewis has said to us not only on this 
floor, not only in private moments, but in our Congressional Black 
Caucus meetings.
  He represents that sense of history of why we come to continue our 
work, why we come to continue to stand up for the voting rights.
  Because he has said to us on numerous occasions, Mr. Speaker, that 
the vote is the most powerful and most nonviolent tool that we have in 
a democratic society. We must not allow the power of the vote to be 
neutralized. We must never go back.
  So I thank Congressman Larson for taking us forward, for taking us on 
March 15 on a journey that we will remember for a lifetime, because, 
you see, we stand on the shoulders of those individuals who came before 
us.
  Now our voters stand on our shoulders. Our voters, Mr. Speaker, are 
wanting us, are thirsty for us, to stand up for them so that their vote 
counts.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my coanchor to share some thoughts 
with us on why our work continues, why it is so important in the 
African American community for us to stand up for not only African 
Americans, but for our citizens who are discriminated against, those 
who, when we talk about social and economic programs, we see the 
disparities in what happens to them in education, in health care, in 
housing, the juvenile justice system, the criminal justice system.
  I could not think of any better coanchor or colleague, someone who is 
such a great orator, someone who, when he stands up, we listen.
  Please, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, share with us some of your 
thoughts.

[[Page H1338]]

  I yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman, 
Representative Beatty, from the great State of Ohio for her leadership 
and for moving us forward throughout the past several weeks as it 
relates to the Congressional Black Caucus' Special Order, this hour of 
power.
  It is 60 minutes where we have the opportunity to speak to the 
American people about issues of importance to our country, to our 
economy, to the integrity of our democracy as we are doing tonight. It 
is an honor to share with you today.

                              {time}  2045

  I also want to acknowledge and thank our colleague, John Larson from 
the great State of Connecticut, for his continuing leadership and for 
taking to the House floor today to highlight both the historic 
significance of the speech that President Johnson gave from this very 
Chamber 51 years ago, on March 15, 1965, about voting in America and 
ensuring that every single person, regardless of their race or their 
color or their background had an opportunity to exercise their 
franchise, and to point out to the American people that the Congress 
will pause tomorrow to honor two true American legends, Representative 
Lewis and Representative Johnson, who served the American people before 
they arrived in the people's House and through their service here in 
the House of Representatives.
  It is with great humility that I stand today to address a topic that 
I think is of particular significance at this moment in time that we 
face in America in terms of the turmoil that many may be feeling, 
watching, undergoing: the economic changes that have been experienced 
over the last few decades.
  We know that the middle class, in many ways, has been left behind. 
Wages have remained stagnant, notwithstanding the increased 
productivity of the American people over the last 40-plus years. When 
the economy collapsed, many high-income earners were able to rebound in 
no small part as a result of the bailout that occurred. There are a lot 
of Americans who are still hoping, looking out for their opportunity to 
be brought back into the economic mainstream by the people they have 
sent to Congress to represent them.
  Notwithstanding all of the challenges that we have to confront, 
whether that is our broken criminal justice system or the economy that 
has still not completely recovered, we have made substantial progress 
under the leadership of Barack Obama. But of course there is more that 
needs to be done, and we could welcome some cooperation from folks on 
the other side of the aisle because all of our constituents were hit 
hard in 2008, yet President Obama has largely been left to his own 
devices.
  Notwithstanding all of these issues, central to how our government 
works is the fact that it is designed to be a government of the people, 
by the people, and for the people. Abraham Lincoln, of course, famously 
uttered those words in his Gettysburg Address.
  If we are going to have that type of government, then everybody needs 
the opportunity to be able to participate in choosing their 
representatives in government without obstacle or obstruction.
  We understand this is a great country, but it is also a country that 
has had a stain on its history as it relates to denying some the 
opportunity to participate fully in American democracy. That is the 
reason, after all, that, in the aftermath of the Civil War that 
threatened to tear this country apart, we had a Reconstruction 
amendment related to slavery and then a Reconstruction amendment 
related to the equal protection under the law and due process for all 
Americans; and lastly, of course, with the 15th Amendment designed to 
make sure that, in the Constitution, racial discrimination, as it 
relates to the exercise of the franchise, would be prohibited.
  But, unfortunately, notwithstanding the 15th Amendment being ratified 
and put into our Constitution, more than 100 years would pass by until 
this country really confronted the denial of the right to vote in a 
meaningful way, particularly in the Deep South, and it happened because 
of the efforts and sacrifice of a great many people: Dr. Martin Luther 
King, John Lewis, Andrew Young, the Southern Christian Leadership 
Conference, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the NAACP, 
and those foot soldiers who were on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 
7, 1965, and almost lost their lives when they were attacked without 
provocation by Alabama State troopers as they endeavored to cross that 
bridge on the way from Selma to Montgomery. That, of course, then 
prompted President Johnson to deliver that address, where he so 
famously uttered the words upon his conclusion that ``we shall 
overcome.''
  The 1965 Voting Rights Act continues to be the most significant piece 
of civil rights legislation ever passed by this Congress, but 
unfortunately we know that it is currently under attack. It is under 
attack because the Supreme Court effectively, in the Shelby v. Holder 
case, eviscerated its impact by striking down section 4, so-called 
coverage clause, which effectively eliminated the Department of 
Justice's ability to require States with a history of voting rights 
discrimination to have to preclear any changes that it makes.
  Now, what I have been struggling to figure out during my brief time 
here in the Congress is why voting rights has become such a 
controversial thing when, it seems to me, it is so central to the 
integrity of our democracy. For decades, in the aftermath of the 
passage of the Voting Rights Act, it was actually pretty bipartisan, 
this notion that in order for our democracy to work there should be no 
artificial obstacles erected to prevent people--African Americans, 
Latinos, immigrant families, and others--from being able to participate 
in what basically makes America great, what makes us unique: the 
ability to elect our representatives and for there to be peaceful 
transitions of power regardless of ideology, regardless of your region, 
regardless of what State a President may come from in order to keep the 
Republic going.
  When you look at the history of the Voting Rights Act, as I 
indicated, it has largely been, until recently, a bipartisan endeavor. 
In fact, every time the Voting Rights Act was reauthorized--and it has 
happened four times--not only did it pass with bipartisan majorities in 
the Congress, but it was signed into law each and every time by a 
Republican President.
  In 1970, Richard Nixon signed into law the reauthorization of the 
Voting Rights Act. In 1975, Gerald Ford signed into law the 
reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. In 1982, President Ronald 
Reagan signed into law the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. 
Then in 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the 
reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. This significant piece of 
civil rights legislation was enacted into law and then reenacted on 
every single occasion with the signature of a Republican President, 
indicating that voting, participation in the franchise, having the 
American people in their full, gorgeous mosaic elect their 
representatives is an American thing. But all of a sudden, it has 
become controversial.

  Now, I don't know if the timing of the election of our current 
President has anything to do with that. Historians will make that 
analysis as they move forward. It is above my pay grade. I just find it 
interesting that this notion of voter fraud, which was always a fiction 
put forth by the defenders of the race-based Southern hierarchy to deny 
African Americans the right to vote--and was not an issue when Richard 
Nixon was elected; it wasn't an issue when Reagan was elected; it 
wasn't an issue when George Herbert Walker Bush was elected; it wasn't 
an issue when George W. Bush was elected, notwithstanding the fact that 
I am still not convinced he won the State of Florida--all of a sudden, 
in the aftermath of the election of President Barack Obama, apparently 
there has been an outbreak of this fever that we have got to deal with 
so-called voter fraud.
  No evidence of the fraud, not a scintilla of evidence has been 
produced by a single proponent of this argument, but when people were 
elected in 2010, in the immediate aftermath of that election during 
President Barack Obama's first term, more than 180 different pieces of 
legislation in 41 States were introduced, all, in the opinion of many 
objective observers, designed to suppress the right to vote. And at the 
same time, this challenge was working

[[Page H1339]]

its way through the Supreme Court from, of all groups of people, 
Shelby, Alabama.
  Now, the irony of that, John Lewis almost lost his life, as 
Representative Larson indicated, on the Edmund Pettus Bridge down in 
Selma, Alabama; and yet the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, in a case 
brought by the folks from Shelby County, apparently thinking that they 
were victims because of the oppressive nature of the preclearance 
provision, the Supreme Court, at least for the time being, bought that 
argument.
  So we find ourselves now in a situation here in the Congress where 
the Court has said to us: Fix it; update the coverage formula. So 
bipartisan legislation has been introduced, championed by folks like 
Jim Sensenbrenner, the author of the 2006 reauthorization and a very 
distinguished and respected former Republican chairman of the House 
Committee on the Judiciary, and, of course, John Conyers, John Lewis, 
Joyce Beatty, and many others on the Democratic side of the aisle. Yet 
we can't get a single hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary on 
something seemingly so fundamental to the integrity of our democracy.
  We are not asking you to turn into progressive Democrats. Just act 
like Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, whom you hold up as 
someone who is the classic embodiment of conservative politics. Just 
act like Ronald Reagan did in 1982 or George W. Bush.
  Let's fix the Voting Rights Act in advance of the American people 
having to determine what comes next as it relates to both this Congress 
and the Presidency--not because it is a good thing for Republicans or 
because it is a good thing for Democrats; it is a good thing for the 
country: full and robust participation.
  I just want to add, as I close, that it seems to me that this would 
be a particularly significant time to deal with the Voting Rights Act 
and to make sure that everybody can participate fully in our democracy 
at a moment when many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
and the Senate have said: We want the American people to decide who 
fills the Supreme Court vacancy.

                              {time}  2100

  Now, I am a little skeptical about that, but let's assume that that 
is really your view of the world. If, in fact, you don't want to do 
your constitutional job right now--once the President sends up a 
Supreme Court nominee and gives that person an opportunity to be heard 
before the Senate and the American people--because you claim you want 
the American people to decide who that nominee is through the vehicle 
of a Presidential election--then let's make sure that all of America 
can participate in that process. That means let's remove any obstacles 
to voting in every community.
  We haven't seen a hearing in the House, and we haven't seen a hearing 
in the Senate. I just don't understand. We have had no hearing on the 
Supreme Court nomination. We have had no hearing on the Voting Rights 
Act when the Supreme Court told us to fix it. What exactly is going on? 
The American people are wondering.
  We see a lot of frustration right now out there in America directed 
at Washington. That is because oftentimes there are so many critical 
issues that we simply fail to deal with.
  So I am just hopeful today that, as we mark this occasion tomorrow of 
these two American heroes being honored--Representative Johnson and 
Representative Lewis--we can get back to doing the business of the 
American people in the spirit of service that they themselves have 
displayed through their life's work and deal with something so central 
to our democracy such as the right to vote in an unfettered fashion.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Congressman Jeffries, you have given us a lot to reflect 
on tonight. You have given us the roll call of how President after 
President has reauthorized the Voting Rights Act.
  As I was listening to you, it appears that there is an uncommon 
denominator that we now have in this great America: a Black man as 
President of these United States.
  I want to stand here and say, Mr. Speaker, that I am very suspect 
when I listen to how eloquently my colleague walked us through the 
history and shared with us how 51 years ago our colleague, John Lewis, 
was putting his life at risk with other great leaders as a very young 
Black man, that it was because he understood what was at stake.
  He was probably ahead of his time. But when you think about that, 
everyone in this Chamber should want to have that experience.
  I can remember a year ago, almost to the date, that I took that 
journey to Selma, Alabama. I took that journey with Congressman John 
Lewis and some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, who 
stood there and locked and latched hands and talked about how we should 
overcome.
  For a moment, Congressman Jeffries, it gave me that hope that I came 
here for, that hope that one person can make a difference and change 
the lives of others.
  It wasn't 48 hours later that we came back to this institution, to 
this House floor, and all of that was washed away. It was back to 
business as usual.
  There were no hearings, whether it is a budget hearing for funds to 
fund things from our infrastructure, things to educate and take care of 
our infants and children, mental health that we have all come to an 
agreement on with all the things that have happened during the time you 
and I have been here, Congressman Jeffries, with the number of lives 
that have been lost.
  I think about the Emanuel Nine. We talked about that commonality of 
putting more money into mental health. Yet, the President puts dollars 
in the budget and we can't get a hearing.
  So why does our work continue? Our work continues because it is so 
important for us, as African Americans, to make sure we protect those 
who are most at risk.
  Mr. Speaker, we have a huge job to do. We are 46 members strong. 
While we focus on the lives of African Americans and the African 
American community, we stand here and fight for all children of all 
races, all ethnicities, because that is what we do because we care.
  But as I stand here today and reflect on Congressman Jeffries' 
outline of history, outline of the number of lives that have been lost, 
outline of the legal process and what we have gone through, it made me 
recall, Mr. Speaker, that a week ago I decided to write an editorial to 
my local newspaper, and it was published. Mr. Speaker, that editorial 
was titled: ``Work to improve voting rights.''

              [From The Columbus Dispatch, Feb. 29, 2016]

                     Work To Improve Voting Rights

                         (By Rep. Joyce Beatty)

       As Black History Month closes, I am reminded of Martin 
     Luther King Jr., who famously said, ``We are now faced with 
     the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the 
     fierce urgency of now.''
       We have come a long way since the era of Jim Crow. Indeed, 
     our nation has laws on the books protecting people from 
     discrimination based on sex, age, race, religion, national 
     origin and ethnicity. Moreover, each February, we 
     collectively reflect on the important contributions and 
     accomplishments African-Americans etched into the cornerstone 
     of America.
       Yet, the more things change, the more they stay the same. 
     What do I mean?
       Every year, without fail, we celebrate Black History Month 
     and honor the many leaders, heroes and ``sheroes'' of the 
     black community. However, we rarely discuss the systemic and 
     pervasive bathers still preventing African-Americans from 
     achieving the American Dream.
       Our nation is still plagued by the vestiges of segregation 
     and unequal laws and policies. Today, it is more difficult to 
     exercise one's constitutional right to vote, not easier. 
     Inequalities in access to quality health care still exist 
     between races, and more and more black children are victim to 
     failing schools.
       As opposed to getting bogged down in the numbers and 
     reciting a long list of statistics and historical grievances, 
     I am calling on all people, including our community and 
     national leaders, to join me in working to eliminate voter 
     suppression I and to restore what so many people fought, 
     marched and died for: the Voting Rights Act.
       It is up to all of us to protect the most at-risk among us, 
     to defend the foundation of our democracy and to expand 
     opportunity for all people. It begins with the Voting Rights 
     Act.
       In Congress, I am working tirelessly to rebuild the very 
     foundation of the Voting Rights Act undone by the Supreme 
     Court's Shelby County v. Holder decision. As an original 
     cosponsor of the Voting Rights Empowerment Act of 2015 (H.R. 
     12), I believe we must ensure every American has equal say 
     and the opportunity to vote. This legislation

[[Page H1340]]

     would do just that by expanding access and putting in place 
     common sense protections for our nation's electorate, no 
     matter the color of one's skin.
       It takes a village. So, let's work together in our 
     neighborhood, at work or with family and friends to make this 
     change possible and to help guarantee every American has fair 
     and equal access to the ballot box.
       Black History Month should be about the progress that has 
     been made and the journey that awaits us. Remember, the past 
     is our experience, the present is our accountability and the 
     future is our responsibility.

  Mrs. BEATTY. It is 2016. I am writing an article that sounds like I 
was sitting in 1955. That gives me great concern.
  So when I think about our topic tonight, our work continues. What 
matters in the African American community I think we have answered 
tonight.
  Whether it was from Congressman John Larson, who is not a member of 
the Congressional Black Caucus, whether it is from Congressman Sam 
Johnson or Congressman John Lewis, Mr. Speaker, I say to you that we 
stand here as members of the Congressional Black Caucus because we are 
the conscience of the Congress.
  Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman has 13 minutes remaining.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Jeffries, as I listen to you talk about the rich 
history and what we are dealing with today, I think about you serving 
on the Judiciary Committee.
  I think about how, as Members of Congress and members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, we often talk about our broken prison 
system.
  We often talk about what happens to young children who go to college 
and then find themselves in that pipeline of education to prison.
  I would like to ask you how you think the decrease in Black voters 
will affect that broken system.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Well, it is a great question. I look at it in two ways. 
First, when you think about mass incarceration as a phenomenon, one 
that, hopefully, in this Congress we will be able to do something 
about, in recognition of the fact that America imprisons more people 
than any other country in the world, increasingly, we have become a 
country that over-incarcerates and under-educates. As a result, we have 
lost generations of young people, disproportionately, African Americans 
and Latinos.
  In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared publicly that drug abuse 
was public enemy number one. At the time, there were less than 350,000 
people incarcerated in America. That was the starting point of the war 
on drugs.
  More than 40 years later we have now got 2.3 million people 
incarcerated in America. A significant number of those folks--
approximately 50 percent at the Federal level and similar numbers at 
the State level--are there for nonviolent drug offenses.
  Yet, every single one of those people who have been incarcerated in 
America has lost the right to vote, some permanently, some temporarily 
with an opportunity to perhaps recover it. More than a million people 
are currently incarcerated from the African American community. So our 
system is broken. Our democracy is in need of adjustment.
  If there is not an understanding that the absence of refraining from 
participating in that democracy through exercising the franchise yields 
consequences that public policymakers will choose either intentionally 
or through benign neglect to allow things like mass incarceration to 
overwhelm a community, then we are going to continue to see things 
happen that are not in the best interest of America. Certainly, 
electoral participation matters to the African American community.
  The other thing that we have got to look at in the context of the 
right to vote--and there is some bipartisan support because Senator 
Rand Paul on the other side of the Capitol has been very visionary in 
this regard--is that disenfranchising people who have been incarcerated 
in America, paid their debt to society, have moved on with their life--
but to permanently restrict them, even in some cases when the 
conviction is for a misdemeanor offense, is un-American.
  But some have used this type of disenfranchisement related to the 
prison industrial complex to overwhelm many communities because of mass 
incarceration to, again, set up obstacles to full participation in 
American democracy.
  So we have got to put everything on the table in terms of our effort 
to fix our broken criminal justice system, which I am pleased, to date, 
at least in the House on the Judiciary Committee, has been bipartisan 
in nature.
  But we have to take an expansive approach to repairing the damage 
that has been done over more than 40 years of a failed war on drugs, 
with millions upon millions upon millions of people stamped with a 
criminal record, I believe in excess of 65 million people during that 
time period, disproportionately African Americans and Latinos.
  It is one of many issues that is on the table that, hopefully, will 
result in folks understanding that the stakes are high as it relates to 
who represents you. And the vehicle is just to participate.
  That is the great majesty of our democracy as it was conceived by the 
Founders and those who came after: Government of the people, by the 
people, and for the people, through electoral participation.

                              {time}  2115

  Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Jeffries, I paused for a moment as I was listening 
to you, and you are so absolutely right; the vehicle, the power of 
casting that vote, the power of making a difference.
  Mr. Speaker, I think one of the things that is so significant about 
the Congressional Black Caucus, that is our history. It is our 
fortitude to have the courage to always continue to fight and never 
give up, because we actually have members of the Congressional Black 
Caucus who were there during that time.
  When you think about Members like Congressman John Lewis, when you 
think about Members like John Conyers, John Conyers, a Black man, will 
go down in history as the longest-serving man in this Congress. Just 
think about it. A man that shared an office for almost 2 decades with 
Rosa Parks, the modern civil rights leader who decided that she was 
going to sit down that day because she realized one person could make a 
difference.
  So, Mr. Speaker, we have gone through our whole history of the Voting 
Rights Act, we have gone through the sections of the Constitution, we 
have gone through what the Supreme Court has done, and yet we can't get 
the reauthorization of our Voting Rights Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I say this to you tonight. The Congressional Black 
Caucus will not give up. We are holding field hearings, as I speak, so 
we can collect the information to come back here and tell you that the 
vehicle for American people, that vehicle is the ballot box.
  Mr. Speaker, as I stand here today, we have resolved. Members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus don't come just to complain and put issues 
out there. We are scholars. We like hearing that we are the conscience 
of the Congress, but we are the scholars. We are Howard, and Morehouse, 
and Spelman, and Harvard, and Princeton, and Yale. We are the whole 
spectrum of this America that you and I serve.
  So I ask you today, Mr. Speaker, to consider that when we stand up 
the next time on this House floor, why Members are sitting down. We are 
sitting down because I think you and Congressman Jeffries and all the 
rest of my colleagues in this Chamber, we have an obligation to do 
more.
  Innocent lives are being taken, and there is something we can do 
about it. We could start with something that has been bipartisan. 
Congressman Jeffries mentioned it a number of times, and that is 
something as simple as passing a Voting Rights Act. That would make a 
difference.
  I guess my question is: What are we afraid of?
  Are we afraid if we increase the number of those who have been 
disenfranchised, those who have been discriminated against, that they 
will actually vote, they will actually have a voice to make a 
difference in the way they live in this wonderful America?
  I am asking you to go to your Republican colleagues and ask them to 
stand with us that we can leave a great legacy in history, because 
history will be written. When the first Black President leaves these 
United States, we will read of all the wonderful things that President 
Barack Obama did.
  But we will also have those who will write part of that history of us 
failing

[[Page H1341]]

to do our job. And I will reflect back on this day when Congressman 
Jeffries and I stood at this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order 
Hour and we said, the work continues, and why it matters in African 
American communities that we vote.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, nearly 51 years ago 
the Voting Rights Act (VRA) was signed into law to prohibit racial 
discrimination in voting. It was a defining moment in our nation's 
history that would send a clear message that all voters should have 
free and fair access to the polls in the United States. The Voting 
Rights Act became a powerful tool of our democracy that protected voter 
participation of individuals from all backgrounds. It has given a voice 
to previously disenfranchised voters, particularly that of minorities 
who would otherwise be left out of the political process.
  Since the passage of the VRA, various groups and individuals have 
endeavored to reverse those protections. In 2013 the U.S., Supreme 
Court ultimately struck down a key enforcement component of the VRA as 
unconstitutional. This decision has enabled a number of states across 
the country to move forward with discriminatory voter laws, the effects 
of which have not yet been fully realized.
  Texas is one of 21 states that have implemented new restrictions on 
voting since the 2010 midterm election. Texas first passed two harsh 
voter mandates in 2012, which were ultimately blocked under Section 5 
of the VRA. Texas re-implemented these laws requiring valid photo 
identification at the polls following the Supreme Court ruling--the 
first time a photo ID was required to vote in a federal election in 
2014. The consequences in Texas alone have been dire and 
disproportionately impact minority voters. The U.S. Department of 
Justice originally estimated that the Texas law could prevent as many 
as 600,000 voters from casting their votes at the polls.
  The African American community has faced many barriers to voting 
throughout our history. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, 
thousands of protesters marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from 
Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in order to protest the racial injustices 
in voting. The will of the people ultimately prevailed, resulting in 
the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 just five short months 
after the final march. It was an important struggle that still serves 
as a lesson for us today.
  Voter disenfranchisement poses an incredible threat to the electoral 
process. The nationwide efforts to create barriers to voting have 
highlighted the importance of the protections afforded under the VRA. 
Voting is the principle means through which Americans can have a voice 
in the political process. It allows us to elect candidates who share a 
common vision for bettering our nation and advancing our social and 
economic progress. These efforts to disenfranchise voters stand 
contrary to our democratic principles as a nation and it is imperative 
that we fight to reinstate voter protections for all, which have only 
served to strengthen our democracy and engage voters in the political 
process.

                          ____________________