[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 155 (Tuesday, September 18, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S6231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 631--RECOGNIZING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INDIAN 
   CIVIL RIGHTS ACT AND VOTING RIGHTS FOR AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA 
                 NATIVE COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. Udall) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 631

       Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives have 
     historically been denied the right to vote;
       Whereas, after serving in World War II and returning home, 
     many American Indian veterans were not able vote;
       Whereas, on July 15, 1946, in Harrison v. Laveen, Chief 
     Justice Levi S. Udall of the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that 
     Maricopa County, Arizona, must allow Mohave-Apache Indians to 
     register to vote, overruling decades of precedent in which 
     the State of Arizona prohibited American Indians from voting;
       Whereas, in holding that American Indians were entitled to 
     the franchise, Chief Justice Udall noted that, ``[i]n a 
     democracy suffrage is the most basic civil right, since its 
     exercise is the chief means whereby other rights may be 
     safeguarded. To deny the right to vote, where one is legally 
     entitled to do so, is to do violence to the principles of 
     freedom and equality.'';
       Whereas, in New Mexico in 1948, Miguel Trujillo, a Marine 
     Corps veteran and Isleta Pueblo tribal member, was turned 
     away from registering to vote because he was living on a 
     reservation;
       Whereas, in 1948, the United States District Court for the 
     District of New Mexico struck down limitations in the State 
     Constitution of New Mexico that prevented those who lived on 
     reservations from voting;
       Whereas, prior to 1968, American Indians were not provided 
     the same protections as other citizens under the United 
     States Constitution;
       Whereas, in 1968, Congress passed the Indian Civil Rights 
     Act ``to ensure that the American Indian is afforded the 
     broad constitutional rights secured to other Americans'';
       Whereas Alaska was the last state to enfranchise American 
     Indian voters in 1970;
       Whereas, even though American Indians and Alaska Natives 
     currently have the lawful right to vote across the United 
     States, they continue to face barriers and obstacles to 
     voting;
       Whereas some American Indians and Alaska Natives in Alaska, 
     Arizona, Nevada, Minnesota, South Dakota, and other states 
     may have to travel 50 to 400 miles to vote;
       Whereas the Native American vote continues to play a 
     significant role in local, State, and national elections;
       Whereas, in states such as Alaska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 
     and South Dakota, American Indians and Alaska Natives 
     comprise 10 percent or more of the voting-age population;
       Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives serve in the 
     United States military at a higher per capita rate than any 
     other ethnic group; and
       Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives are an 
     important part of the history of the United States, and 
     vibrant contributors to the social and political fabric of 
     the United States; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) honors the 50th anniversary of title II of the Civil 
     Rights Act of 1968 (25 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.; commonly known as 
     the ``Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968''); and
       (2) recognizes the important contributions of Native 
     Americans to expanding voting rights for all citizens of the 
     United States.

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