[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S551-S552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           U.S. Supreme Court

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am sure that you, more than most Members 
of the Senate, remember our debate a few weeks ago on the Voting Rights 
Act. I remember your statement on the floor. It was powerful and really 
spoke to the truth of why we were meeting and debating this issue.
  We realize that, sadly, since the Civil War, when African Americans 
were finally given the right to vote, this has been a battle every year 
since. And yesterday, the Supreme Court decision tells us that we still 
have a battle to fight when it comes to voting rights in America.
  By a 5-to-4 vote yesterday, the Supreme Court's conservative majority 
allowed Alabama lawmakers to move forward with a congressional 
districting map that diminishes the power of Black voters in a State 
where Black Americans account for more than 25 percent of the 
population.
  You see, this case had been considered by a three-judge district 
court panel in Alabama, and they ruled in a unanimous decision that the 
map likely violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and they ruled that 
we should block that map because it would violate the right to vote of 
African Americans.

  I might say, for the record, this three-judge panel, two of the three 
judges were appointed by former President Trump, and yet they came to 
that conclusion. So the Supreme Court had a decision of whether to go 
along with this three-judge panel and stop the implementation of this 
map until they

[[Page S552]]

could have a full hearing on the subject or allow them to go forward. 
And, sadly, by a 5-to-4-vote, the Supreme Court's conservative majority 
stayed a lower court's decision, where they ruled unanimously that the 
district map was discriminatory.
  The Supreme Court did not issue a well-reasoned decision; they issued 
basically no reason. They did so on what is known as the shadow docket. 
We are seeing it more and more by this Court--no explanation, no full 
briefing, no signed opinion for the majority. What we have was a scant 
reaction by the Court.
  But I do want to note that Justice Kagan wrote that that decision by 
the Supreme Court in favor of allowing this Alabama map to go forward 
``does a disservice to the District Court, which meticulously applied 
this Court's longstanding voting-rights precedent.'' She went on to 
note that ``most of all, it does a disservice to the Black people of 
Alabama who under that precedent have had their electoral power 
diminished in violation of the law this Court once knew to buttress all 
of American democracy.''
  Yesterday's decision is the latest example of the Supreme Court 
hacking away the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of 
the most important civil rights laws in our history--a law singularly 
responsible for decades of progress in minority representation in 
public office.
  As a result of these decisions, legal protections for voters of color 
throughout the country are being systematically dismantled by the 
Republican Party through State legislatures and, sadly, by our Federal 
courts.
  So now what do we do? Well, Congress must act. We must restore the 
Voting Rights Act to its full power and potential, and we can do that 
by enacting the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
  This legislation would strengthen and modernize the Voting Rights 
Act's protections, including by requiring Supreme Court Justices to 
actually explain their reasoning behind their decisions when they 
overturn a lower court's decision on a voting rights case. Is that too 
much to ask, that the Supreme Court explain to the American people why 
they are overruling a lower court's decision which says Americans are 
being discriminated against when it comes to their right to vote? I 
don't think the Supreme Court is that busy that it can't tell the 
American people its logic behind these decisions.
  Every day, we are seeing the consequences of this Senate's failure 
just a few weeks ago to protect the right to vote. Mr. President, you 
and I agree; we cannot wait any longer.