[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 194 (Thursday, December 5, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H9282]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THE RIGHT TO VOTE IS SACRED

  (Mr. ENGEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4, the Voting 
Rights Advancement Act.
  The right to vote is sacred and must not be infringed upon. Sadly, 
our Nation has a long and even bloody history of racial voter 
suppression, but lately that suppression has been supercharged by the 
terrible decision in Shelby County v. Holder. This case gutted key 
protections of the Voting Rights Act, allowing for States to prevent 
certain groups from accessing the ballot through voter ID laws, closing 
polling locations, and even purging voter rolls.
  I will be pleased to vote in favor of H.R. 4, as it represents a 
major step toward ensuring every citizen has the ability to vote. H.R. 
4 will create a new coverage formula for repeated voting rights 
violations in the last 25 years and establish practice-based 
preclearance to focus administrative or judiciary review narrowly on 
suspect voting practices.
  With the House approving H.R. 4, we take a major step forward, and I 
urge prompt action by the other body.

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