[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1297-S1298]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Black History Month

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, 54 years ago, 600 nonviolent protesters 
set off to march from Selma to Montgomery, AL, to protest the 
disenfranchisement of Black voters in the South.
  They got as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge when they saw police 
officers lined up on the other end, waiting with tear gas, clubs, and 
dogs. The iconic bridge stood between the police and protesters like a 
physical barrier between hope and violence, democracy and second-class 
citizenship.
  Although the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments--which cemented into law 
the freedom, citizenship, and voting rights of Black Americans--passed 
nearly 100 years earlier across the country, literacy tests, poll 
taxes, violence, and intimidation stood in the way of this 
constitutional promise. This was especially true in Alabama.
  According to the 1961 Civil Rights Commission report, at the time of 
the famous protests, fewer than 10 percent of the voting-age Black 
population was registered in Alabama's Montgomery County. This infamous 
march from Selma was intended to right the wrong and to shine light on 
the injustice of all the many laws that kept voting from being 
accessible to Black Americans.
  For months leading up to it, a community of activists--led by Martin 
Luther King, Jr., and of course our esteemed colleague Representative   
John Lewis--carried out voting registration drives and nonviolent 
demonstrations, all against the resistance of the local government and 
members of the Ku Klux Klan. These efforts laid the groundwork for the 
march from Selma, which ended with Alabama State troopers attacking the 
protesters.
  The images of the State-sponsored violence were shown across the 
country, galvanizing the American public in favor of voting rights in a 
day that has since become known as Bloody Sunday.
  Five months later, on August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act was 
signed into law. The bill is one of the crowing victories of the civil 
rights movement and for our American democracy.
  This monumental legislation outlawed the malicious barriers to the 
polls and held States accountable for the discriminatory obstacles 
imposed on citizens who sought to fulfill their constitutional right. 
It opened doors for Black citizens across the South to register, to 
cast a vote, or to run for office in higher numbers than ever before.
  As we celebrate this February as Black History Month, we must 
remember that Black history is American history. We must remember that 
too often in our Nation's past, the work to create a more perfect Union 
has fallen upon the shoulders of Americans whose full rights of 
citizenship were discounted simply because of the color of their skin. 
The right to vote is a fundamental American tenet. Yet it has 
historically been denied to men and women of color.
  We must remember that when we tell stories of those who fought and 
struggled to secure voting rights in our Nation's past, it is because 
their stories serve as a precursor to our own.
  Today voting rights are still under attack. Many who survived the 
brutal attack on Bloody Sunday and lived to see the passage of the 
Voting Rights Act have also lived to see the same monumental bill 
weakened by the 2013 Shelby County Supreme Court decision.
  They have watched our President and Republican legislators tout myths 
of voter fraud to justify strict voter ID laws, partisan 
gerrymandering, and limited access to voting information. These efforts 
undoubtedly disadvantage Black Americans more than most and put a 
scourge on the system that defines our democracy. It is an insult to 
those who were robbed of their freedom and oftentimes their lives to 
create a more equal future.
  One such example of modern voter disenfranchisement can be found in 
the fact that the United States denies voting rights to citizens with 
felony convictions. We are one of the exceedingly few Western 
democracies that permanently strip citizens of their right to vote as a 
punishment for their crimes.
  Let's be clear. We are not talking about voting rights for felons 
currently incarcerated; we are talking about voting rights for those 
who have served their time and have since been released, attained jobs, 
raised a family, paid taxes, and moved on with their lives. Under the 
current law in 34 States, these individuals are still denied the right 
to vote, and that is simply unfair and undemocratic.
  Black History Month demands that we bring this injustice to light 
because felony disenfranchisement disproportionately affects men and 
women of color. One out of thirteen Black Americans is currently unable 
to vote because of a prior conviction for which they have already 
served time--a rate that is more than four times greater than the non-
Black Americans.
  Right now, in total, more than 2 million Americans are unable to vote 
because of prior convictions, despite having already served their time 
and paying their debt to society. That is why this year I will again be 
introducing the Democracy Restoration Act, a bill that would restore 
voting rights to individuals after they have been released and returned 
to their community.
  I am committed to seeing this legislation passed. My hope is that 
Black History Month inspires all of my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to join me.
  We must also combat efforts to intimidate and disenfranchise voters. 
That is why last year I introduced legislation that would prohibit and 
penalize knowingly spreading misinformation, such as incorrect polling 
locations, times, or the necessary forms of identification. This 
Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Act will prohibit and 
penalize intentionally and knowingly spreading misinformation to voters 
that is intended to suppress the vote, including the time and place of 
an election and restrictions on voter eligibility.
  Reliably, these tactics always seem to target minority neighborhoods 
and are blatant attempts to reduce turnout. Such tactics undermine and 
corrode our very democracy and threaten the integrity of our electoral 
system.
  In Stacey Abrams' response to the State of the Union last week, she 
said that ``the foundation of our moral leadership around the globe is 
free and fair

[[Page S1298]]

elections, where voters pick their leaders--not where politicians pick 
their voters.'' This is precisely why I have chosen to speak out about 
voting rights this month--because this issue defines our moral and 
democratic character as a nation and because it is an area where we 
still have so much work left to do.
  Casting a vote is one of the most basic and fundamental freedoms in 
any democracy, and Congress has the responsibility to ensure the right 
is protected.
  Congress has the responsibility to remove barriers to voting and make 
it easier for people to register to vote, cast their vote, and make 
sure their votes are counted. No one can appreciate the need for us to 
meet this responsibility better than Black Americans whose collective 
story is one of triumph over racist laws and undemocratic norms.
  On Black History Month, Congress must vow to follow their example and 
work together across party lines to make voting easier, fairer, and 
more accessible to all.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Romney). The Senator from Minnesota.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.