[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 12, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H3379-H3385]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ANOTHER BLIGHT ON AMERICAN HISTORY
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Ms.
McClellan of Virginia was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of
the minority leader.)
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the Congressional
Black Caucus to anchor this Special Order hour.
General Leave
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the Congressional
Black Caucus to address another blight on American history.
Mr. Speaker, 250 years ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration
of Independence ``that all men were created equal and endowed by their
creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness.'' Yet, Mr. Jefferson did not include the nearly half a
million enslaved men, women, and children in the Thirteen Colonies,
including at his beloved Monticello.
Eleven years later, the Constitution of the United States created a
government by, of, and for we the people in order to form a more
perfect Union, yet it considered the enslaved people three-fifths of a
person for purposes of House of Representatives apportionment and
taxation and excluded indigenous people altogether.
Since 1789, the history of our country has been one of each
generation attempting to make true for all Americans the promise of
American democracy embedded in our founding documents by expanding
suffrage beyond White, landowning men. It is a story of cyclical
trauma.
As the Civil War tore this country apart, Reconstruction sought to
bind its wounds, and a violent backlash of white supremacy erased gains
made by formerly enslaved men.
In the wake of the Civil War, Congress passed the Reconstruction
amendments to end slavery, guarantee equal civil, legal, and voting
rights to formerly enslaved Americans, and all three granted Congress
the power to enforce their provisions.
Even with these amendments, southern States resisted, resorting to
organizations like the Ku Klux Klan to terrorize Black citizens for
seeking to vote, run for office, and serve on juries.
Congress passed the Enforcement Acts to allow the Federal Government
to intervene. As a result, Black men gained political power across the
South for the first time.
In 1870, Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi and Representative
Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the first Black Members of
Congress. A total of 22 Black men served in Congress between 1870 and
1901, including John Mercer Langston, who served in Virginia's Fourth
Congressional District, a seat that I now proudly serve as the first
Black woman elected from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
{time} 1940
The political, social, and economic power gained by Blacks across the
South during Reconstruction faced a violent backlash as the KKK and
other similar organizations began a reign of terror across the South.
The Compromise of 1877 ended a deadlock in the Presidential election of
1876 and brought Reconstruction to an end. As a result, widespread
violence, fraud, corruption, gerrymandering, malapportionment, and
legislation intended to disenfranchise Black voters went unchecked for
50 years.
Then the Supreme Court issued two decisions gutting the Enforcement
Acts, one which arose from the tense aftermath of a Louisiana
gubernatorial election and the Colfax massacre, one of the bloodiest
racial confrontations of the Reconstruction era. States wasted no time
adopting measures that technically applied to all voters but were
designed and enforced to disenfranchise Black voters: literacy tests
like the one my great-grandfather took in 1902 in Alabama to be able to
vote, poll taxes like the ones my father and my grandfather paid in
Tennessee, and more restrictive residency requirements. Yet, we marched
on.
Then in August of 1965, nearly 100 years after passage of the 15th
Amendment, Congress passed the most effective piece of legislation to
enforce its provisions: the Voting Rights Act.
As Justice Kagan wrote in her dissent in the Callais decision that
put the death knell in the coffin of the Voting Rights Act by gutting
what is left of it. She wrote that the Voting Rights Act was one of the
most consequential and amply justified exercises of Federal legislative
power in our Nation's history.
Born of the literal blood of the Union soldiers and civil rights
marchers, it ushered in awe-inspiring change bringing this Nation
closer to fulfilling its ideals of democracy and racial equality.
It has been repeatedly and overwhelmingly reauthorized by the
people's Representatives in Congress, and only we have the right to say
when it is no longer needed.
Yet just as the backlash came in response to Reconstruction beginning
with Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, the Roberts Court has
systematically, from its ivory tower in Washington, gutted the Voting
Rights Act.
[[Page H3380]]
Essentially the Court has said that the medicine for racism in our
political system has worked so let's end the treatment. However, the
cancer of racism has not gone away. It has been biding its time in
remission, waiting for a chance to spread. Now we see in these same
States that race to pass race-neutral poll taxes, literacy tests,
character tests, and gerrymander maps to pack or crack Black voters to
dilute their power are now moving with all deliberate speed to do the
same thing again in Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina.
The Congressional Black Caucus will not stand idly by. As our
colleague, John Lewis, said, democracy is not a state. It is an act
that requires each generation to do its part to build the beloved
community.
Our parents, our grandparents, our great-grandparents, and some of
our members themselves did their part to fight the obstacles put in our
way of participation in this government by, of, and for the people, and
we will fight tooth and nail to do the same so that our children and
our grandchildren don't have to fight these fights.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke).
Chairwoman Yvette Clarke is our fearless leader.
Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I am Representative Yvette D.
Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, proudly representing
New York's Ninth Congressional District in central and southwest
Brooklyn.
I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, for anchoring
this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour.
It has been 13 days since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights
Act of 1965, opening the door to a coordinated attack on Black
political power and fair representation across the South.
Since the Callais decision came down, Republicans across the country
have wasted no time in their zealous pursuit of power. They have moved
with lighting speed to enact new congressional maps in Florida,
Tennessee, and Missouri, and are taking aggressive action in Louisiana,
Alabama, and South Carolina.
Let's be clear: This is an outright power grab, downright theft,
snatching fair representation from Black voters across the South of the
United States. It is about silencing Black voices, dismantling majority
Black districts, and rigging the map in their favor as elections are
already underway.
For years, we have sounded the alarm as the Voting Rights Act was
chipped away piece by piece. Today, the consequences are here, and they
are dangerous. Not since Jim Crow have we witnessed such a sweeping and
deliberate effort to disenfranchise Black voters, but we are not
powerless, and we are not backing down. Every inch of progress in this
country has been fought for, won through struggle, through resistance,
and through the courage of people this Nation tried to leave behind.
The Voting Rights Act was not handed over freely. It was fought for,
organized for, litigated for, and ultimately won through the blood and
sacrifices of Black Americans and allies who demanded better from their
country. As a nation, we are being called to that same courageous fight
today. We owe that to the generations who came before us, the freedom
fighters who faced dogs, batons, firehoses, and jail cells so that we
could have a voice here in the Halls of Congress.
We owe it to the generations coming after us who deserve a country
where their vote is protected, their voice is heard, and their future
is not predetermined by those who fear their power.
This fight is for nothing short of the future of American democracy
itself, and the CBC will meet this challenge head-on, as we have time
and time again, on behalf of the communities we serve.
To anyone who thinks we will be discouraged, to anyone who believes
that we will be silenced, to anyone who hopes we will sit this moment
out, they are mistaken. A setback is just an opportunity for a
comeback, and we have no intention of allowing Republicans to drag us
backward. When November comes, we will show up in numbers too big to
ignore and too powerful to suppress. That is because our history has
taught us that progress is never given, it is won. It is won by
ordinary people with extraordinary courage and by communities that
refuse to be erased.
That is the legacy we have inherited, and that is the legacy we
intend to protect. We are still here. We are still fighting, and
together we will win.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia for yielding.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Alabama
(Ms. Sewell), who picked up the baton from John Lewis.
Ms. SEWELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight with my colleagues in the
Congressional Black Caucus to sound the alarm about the crisis
unfolding before our eyes: the systemic dismantling of the Voting
Rights Act of 1965.
Let me begin by thanking the gentlewoman from Virginia for leading
this Special Order hour and my colleagues of the CBC for their
steadfast leadership in this fight.
The Congressional Black Caucus has always stood on the front lines in
defense of democracy. Tonight's Special Order hour comes at a time when
that leadership is urgently needed.
For me this fight is personal. I grew up in Selma in the shadow of
the civil rights movement. I represent the historic cities of
Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Marion, and the Black belt. Our communities
carry the scars of Bloody Sunday, the Birmingham church bombings,
firehoses, police dogs, and violent resistance to the simple idea that
Black Americans deserve the full promise of citizenship.
People in my district bled for the right to vote. Some died for it.
Now, six decades later, extremists are trying to drag this country
backward. They are trying to erase our hard-fought progress and silence
the voices of the very communities that marched, that sacrificed, and
that organized to make American democracy real for everyone.
The Voting Rights Act is one of the greatest achievements in American
history. It transformed this Nation. It broke the back of Jim Crow
voter suppression, and it opened the doors of political participation
for millions of Americans who had been locked out of democracy because
of the color of their skin.
{time} 1950
Over the last decade, we have watched that landmark law be chipped
away, piece by piece by piece.
In 2013, the Supreme Court's disastrous decision in Shelby v. Holder
gutted the heart of the Voting Rights Act by striking down the
preclearance formula that protected communities with a long history of
racial discrimination in voting.
What happened next? Exactly what voting rights advocates warned would
happen. States across the South rushed to impose restrictive voting
laws. They closed polling stations, purged voter rolls, and redrew maps
designed to dilute Black political power.
Now, with the Court's recent decision in Callais, we are witnessing
yet another dangerous step backward--another attack on the principle of
fair representation and equal justice under the law.
Within hours of that decision, Republican State lawmakers rushed to
eliminate majority Black districts across the South, including in my
home State of Alabama, where voters will now be forced to live under a
map that was previously struck down for intentional discrimination
against Black voters.
You guessed it: The Supreme Court just ruled that the State of
Alabama can go back to a map that intentionally discriminated against
Black voters.
These decisions send a dangerous message: that protections won during
the civil rights movement are somehow negotiable, that the rights
secured on the Edmund Pettus Bridge can be weakened, narrowed, or
ignored.
I reject that. The people I represent reject that. History rejects
that. We cannot allow a handful of extremists, whether on the bench or
in State legislatures, to rewrite history and reverse generations of
progress.
The right to vote is precious, John Lewis told us, almost sacred.
Without the vote, communities lose their voice. Without the vote, power
becomes concentrated in the hands of a few. Without the vote, democracy
itself is in danger.
That is why we must reform and reintroduce the John R. Lewis Voting
[[Page H3381]]
Rights Advancement Act to restore, reform, and modernize the
protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Our bill would rebuild the preclearance system that was destroyed by
Shelby. It would once again require jurisdictions with repeated voting
rights violations to prove that changes to election laws are not
discriminatory. It would be reformed to do away with partisan
gerrymandering that was unleashed in the Callais case.
Let us be clear: The legislation bears the name of John Lewis because
he understood better than anyone else that democracy is not self-
executing. It requires courage. Democracy requires vigilance. It
requires action.
Only Congress can rewrite the law so that partisan gerrymandering is
no longer the law of the land. Only Congress can act to overturn what
the Supreme Court did, and we must act now. If we fail to meet this
moment, future generations will ask how we allowed the gains of the
civil rights movement to be dismantled on our watch.
After all of this, I still believe in the promise of America. I
believe in the legacy of those foot soldiers in Selma. I believe in the
courage of ordinary people who refused to be pushed backward. I believe
that if we stand together, organize together, and fight together, we
can protect the sacred right to vote for generations to come.
I submit to you this: If your vote didn't matter, they wouldn't be
working so hard to take it away.
We have to vote like our lives depend upon it because they do. We are
not going back--not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
We don't want just some representation or no representation. We want
fair representation. In the State of Alabama, African Americans are 28
percent of the vote. There are seven seats, and we deserve two. We want
nothing less.
We will march. We will fight. We will organize. We will vote until
victory is won.
Join me in Montgomery, Alabama, for the All Roads Lead to the South
National Day of Action this Saturday, May 16, at 1 p.m. in Montgomery,
Alabama, at the foot of the State capitol. We will stand up, stand
tall, and we will fight back because, guess what. We are not--not--
going back.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Waters).
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, tonight, you see members of the
Congressional Black Caucus on the floor of the House of
Representatives. If you think what you see tonight is a strong voice
against an attempt to disrupt, undermine, and destroy the Voting Rights
Act, you ain't seen nothing yet.
This is just the beginning of what we must do, of what we have to do.
Donald Trump's war on democracy did not start with redistricting, and
it certainly will not end there.
From day one, he has worked to dismantle diversity, equity, and
inclusion and programs all across corporate America and throughout the
Federal Government, fueling layoffs, shrinking opportunity, and pushing
Black and Brown Americans further out of positions of power and
economic mobility.
After targeting diversity in jobs and opportunities and voices in the
workplace, with the help of Republicans, this administration is now
trying to eliminate representation in Congress itself.
Let's call this exactly what it is: a coordinated and deliberate
attempt to erase the political power of Black, Brown, low-income
communities, and every other underserved and underrepresented group in
America.
Throughout racist redistricting schemes, backed by Republican
legislatures and enabled by the Supreme Court, which recently voted to
gut the Voting Rights Act, they are attempting to eliminate or weaken
districts represented by Black lawmakers and potentially wipe out
nearly a third of the Congressional Black Caucus.
They know they cannot defend Donald Trump's failed economic agenda,
rising costs, or assaults on working families, so instead, they are
trying to rig the system and silence the very communities most harmed
by their reckless policies.
This is the same playbook we have seen over and over again from
Donald Trump and his destructive administration. First, they attack DEI
and celebrate the rollback of programs that helped open the doors for
Black and Brown Americans in business, banking, and government. Then,
they turn around and act surprised when unemployment skyrockets,
opportunities disappear, and entire communities are pushed further
behind.
Now, they are taking the same dangerous agenda one step further by
trying to erase Black representation from the Halls of Congress.
Let me be very clear: This is bigger than politics. This is about
whether America will continue moving forward as a democracy where every
voice matters, or whether extremists will drag us backward into a time
when power was reserved for only a select few.
Generations of Americans marched, bled, and died for the right to
vote and the right to fair representation. Donald Trump and his allies
are dishonoring that sacrifice with one of the most aggressive attacks
on voting rights and Black political representation we have seen in
decades.
Rest assured, I will not be silent. The Black caucus will not be
silent. People of good will will not be silent while extremists attempt
to dismantle the hard-fought progress that Black Americans built in
this country. I will continue fighting to protect our democracy, defend
the Voting Rights Act, and ensure Black communities and all underserved
communities are heard, represented, and respected in the United States
Congress.
{time} 2000
Mr. Speaker, yes, as I started this presentation this evening, I
talked about the fact that the Black caucus is on the floor, but let me
make sure you understand. It is not only on the floor. We will be
everywhere. We will be in our churches. We will be in our universities.
We will be in the Halls of Congress. We will go to the White House. We
will do everything that we need to do to show not only Trump, but
America in general, that we are not about to be intimidated by someone
who disrespects our history and disrespects the sacrifices that have
been made by our forefathers and foremothers.
We know how to fight, and we are going to fight. We are going to
fight like you have never seen us fight before. We will be in the
hills. We will be on the streets. We will be in the hallways. We will
be in the suites everywhere. Get ready for the struggle. Get ready for
the fight.
I am not afraid of the Supreme Court, not afraid of the opposite side
of the aisle, not intimidated by anything or anybody. Black Americans
will fight for what is right. We have made this country stronger. We
have fought to make this democracy what it is today, and we are not
going back. Get that right.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Green) from Texas' Ninth District.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. And still I rise, Mr. Speaker. I must applaud the
gentlewoman from California and associate myself with her remarks.
As I do so, I will remind us that, yes, the Voting Rights Act was
signed by Lyndon Johnson. He did sign it in ink; but the truth be told,
it was written in blood. It was written in the blood of those who
crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, the blood of
Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney. It was signed in ink but written in
blood.
This is bigger than that. Yes, this is of paramount importance. It is
also about something else that is taking place at the very same time
that we are losing our voting rights and many of our Members of
Congress. That other thing is seniority. Seniority is under assault in
the Congress of the United States of America. It was the Congressional
Black Caucus that fought to maintain seniority. If we lose seniority on
our watch after the suffering that they went through and all that they
did to protect it, what can we say about ourselves?
Seniority, the means by which many of the people who hold committee
chairmanships right now who are members of the Congressional Black
Caucus, they had those chairpersonships because of seniority.
Seniority has made a difference because seniority has the power. This
is a power grab in the sense that it is a power grab to take seats
away, but it is also a power grab to take seniority away. When
seniority is no longer the means by which we have upward mobility--some
things bear repeating. When
[[Page H3382]]
seniority is no longer the means by which we will have upward mobility,
money will rule, and we will lose. We will lose.
Maxine Waters became chair, the only woman ever of any hue to chair
the Committee on Financial Services, because of seniority. Bennie
Thompson was the chair of the Committee on Homeland Security because of
seniority, and the list goes on and on.
My closing words are these: I want my record to show that when
seniority was at risk, I did everything that I could to protect it. I
am going to fight to protect the seniority system because that is the
system that allows us to deliver more goods and services to our
communities.
Yes, there are exceptions, Barbara Jordan being one; but exceptions
don't make the rule, they prove the rule. Seniority must stand, and I
stand with seniority.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin
(Ms. Moore) from Wisconsin's Fourth District.
Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from
Virginia for yielding. I do have to note that she comes from the heart
of the Confederacy originally, and I was really proud when Virginia
voters voted to redistrict to align their votes with the current
detriment of votes that the Republican Party seeks.
Ms. McClellan, I was just recently reading the book by Jim Clyburn,
our colleague. What that book tells us is this is just not new. People
have talked about it. It has been 13 days since the Supreme Court acted
in the Callais decision, but it is a long history since the 19th
century of trying to disenfranchise formerly enslaved people. This is
just another day. This is part of American history to try to deny
African Americans not only the vote, but their humanity.
Now, Ms. McClellan, you are from the heart of the Confederacy, but I
want you to know that this is not just a southern thing. I am from
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was called the Selma of
the North because of the discriminatory practices that our voters face.
As a matter of fact, when I was in the State legislature, I fought our
then-Governor over seemingly innocent requirements for voter ID because
I knew that that was the camel's nose under the tent to disenfranchise
people. In fact, when that law went into place in 2016, that is when
Donald Trump won the Presidency in Wisconsin.
You have heard from many speakers today, and I won't consume all the
time by talking and going on and on. I am just going to say this: I am
encouraged. And while I am heartbroken by what the Supreme Court did 13
days ago, this ain't new. We have been here before, and we have the
script of how to fix it because we have went through this. We saw the
rise of the Ku Klux Klan. We saw Supreme Court decisions. We saw
Presidencies. Guess what: Black people and Americans have always risen
to the occasion.
We stand on the shoulders of giants like Ezekiel Gillespie from
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who sued the State of Wisconsin in 1865 for the
right to vote. We stand on the shoulders of giants like John Lewis,
John Robert Lewis. We know, Mr. Speaker, that a new day will surface
again, and this will not be the end. Why? Because we are undeterred.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Georgia
(Mr. Johnson) from Georgia's Fourth District.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from
Virginia for yielding, and I thank her for anchoring this CBC Special
Order hour. I also shout out to the leadership of CBC's chair, Yvette
Clarke, for the work that she is doing.
Mr. Speaker, I can't breathe. I am not saying those words to talk
about what George Floyd said about 6 years ago before he was choked to
death. Those words are not from him. Those are the words that democracy
is uttering, is crying: I can't breathe. I can't breathe because MAGA
controls the Presidency. MAGA controls the House, the Senate, and MAGA
controls the United States Supreme Court. MAGA has a trifecta.
I can't breathe. Democracy can't breathe. For years, there has been a
steady effort by the United States Supreme Court to overrule and get
rid of the Voting Rights Act. They started with Shelby County, where
they paralyzed the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act.
Then they went to Brnovich several years later and made it more
difficult to sue for relief under the Voting Rights Act. Then April 29,
I think it was, of this year, they nailed the final nail in the coffin
of the Voting Rights Act by gutting section 2. They did it and said
that it was a denial of equal protection to White folks for racist
legislators and legislatures to have to draw districts that offered or
enabled Black people and communities of interest to have an opportunity
to elect a Representative of their choice.
{time} 2010
They said that that was the denial of equal protection to White
folks. In other words, political gerrymandering trumps the ability of
Black people to be able to elect the Representative of their choice.
And they did that premised on the conclusion--the false conclusion
that we are now living in a post-racial society, so there is no longer
a need for the Voting Rights Act. So it was a fit of judicial activism,
a predictable fit of judicial activism.
We have got to do something about this United States Supreme Court.
We have got to do something about this MAGA legislature. We have got to
do something about the head MAGA at the White House. We do that through
exercising our right to vote.
We shall do so in November. We shall do so in 2026, and we will be
prepared for 2030 redistricting. We will be prepared for what happens.
We are going to take your foot off of the neck of democracy, and it is
not going to be just us. It is going to be right-thinking people around
this country who are going to join us.
That is why I appreciate us leading the way, and I look forward to
better days ahead. We shall not stop. We won't slow down. You are not
going to drive us off. You are not going to kick us out. We are going
to be here. This is our country. And we are going to live in it
together, like it or not.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois
(Ms. Kelly), the Second District.
Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman McClellan
for organizing this Special Order hour.
Mr. Speaker, I rise because the Supreme Court gutted the Voting
Rights Act, dealing a devastating blow to our democracy. Their decision
will allow States, particularly in the South, to dilute and try to
silence Black voters.
For decades, Black Americans and activists fought and bled for our
right to vote. Once again, we have to organize, mobilize, and fight for
our right to vote. When I say we, I mean a collective we. Dems won't
win if all Dems don't participate to revert this very, very racist
action. We need everybody involved.
It doesn't matter what State you come from, what the color of your
skin is, or what your religion is. Now is the time to fight back. Make
no mistake, Republicans are trying to steal this election because they
know they cannot win it fair and square.
They have gutted our healthcare, raised prices for everyday
necessities, turned their backs on hardworking people, and now they
want to stay in power.
Democrats, now is not the time to grow weary, to shutter the windows,
to close the door. Now is the time to show up, to stand up, and to
speak up for democracy.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Georgia
(Mrs. McBath), the Seventh District.
Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the Supreme
Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais and what this moment means for
the future of our democracy.
For generations, Americans have fought to make this Nation live up to
its promise. Our democracy did not become more inclusive by accident.
It became stronger because people of color organized, marched,
sacrificed, and demanded equal access to the ballot box. The Voting
Rights Act of 1965 was one of the greatest achievements of that
struggle, opening doors that had been locked to so many people of color
for far too long.
This decision weakens protections that helped ensure Black voters and
communities of color could fully participate in our democracy and have
fair
[[Page H3383]]
representation in Congress. Let me be clear, this decision does not end
our fight, and it does not weaken our determination. The Congressional
Black Caucus has always understood their progress in this country is
never permanent unless we continue to defend it.
We have prepared for moments like this by rallying and building
coalitions all across this Nation, and we will continue doing exactly
that, because even in difficult moments, I still believe in the power
of the people and the power of my people. I still believe in the
strength of our communities, and I still believe that when Americans
come together to protect our democracy, we will prevail.
That is why we will keep pushing forward. We will continue expanding
access to the ballot box, protecting fair representation and ensuring
that every single voice in this country is heard.
When we reclaim the majority--and, yes, that is coming, too--we will
work to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and
continue the work of building a democracy that truly reflects all of
America.
This is not the moment to retreat. It is the moment to organize, to
vote, and to remind the American people that democracy is strongest
when everyone has a seat at the table. The fight for voting rights did
not begin with this court, and it will not end with this decision.
We have overcome far too much, sacrificed far too much, and achieved
far too much progress to turn back now.
I look forward to working alongside my CBC colleagues as we move
forward together. We will move forward together, united, and committed
to building a democracy that is more just and Representative for all of
our future generations.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms.
Brown), the 11th District.
Ms. BROWN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative McClellan for leading
tonight's Special Order hour.
Mr. Speaker, I am honored to stand with my CBC colleagues in this
fight as we stand up for the people we represent.
Mr. Speaker, for decades, the far right has sold this country a lie,
a lie that racism ended in 1965, a lie that discrimination is ancient
history. For years, that rhetoric lived in chat rooms in the ugliest
corners of American life. Well, today it lives in the highest courts in
the land, cloaked in robes.
This conservative Supreme Court has taken a wrecking ball to the
Voting Rights Act, one of the greatest achievements of the civil rights
movement. Now, after the Louisiana v. Callais ruling, there is barely
any of the law left.
Before this ruling, Black voters in the South had at least some
defense against intentional political extinction. Now that is gone. Mr.
Speaker, what happens next tells you everything you need to know. The
ink was barely dry before Republican States rushed to redraw maps and
move election dates--Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, South
Carolina, State after State after State.
Let's be honest about what this is. This is a coordinated effort to
engineer electorates so that Trump has all the White majority districts
he needs, and the tragedy, the disgrace is that this rush to redraw
proves exactly why the Voting Rights Act was needed in the first place.
If they are successful, some of the States with the largest Black
populations in the country will be represented by all-White delegations
and majority White districts.
{time} 2020
We cannot and will not take this sitting down. We will organize,
mobilize, and use our voices. We will fight this in Congress. We don't
have a voting rights majority in this body right now, but we soon will,
and we will restore the Voting Rights Act.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, we must confront the center of this crisis: an
unacceptable Supreme Court.
The Voting Rights Act was not some historical footnote. It was the
law of the land for decades. It was one of the crowning achievements of
American democracy, and this Court has systematically hollowed it out.
No institution in this country is above scrutiny, and no court should
have the power to erase protections won through blood, sacrifice, and
struggle without the American people demanding reform. Our
constitutional system was never designed to crown nine people as
permanent and untouchable rulers of our democracy.
Mr. Speaker, our brothers and sisters are being silenced across the
South, but this Congress will make sure that those voices are heard
loudly, clearly, and unapologetically.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North
Carolina (Mrs. Foushee), the Fourth District.
Mrs. FOUSHEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and
for anchoring this Special Order hour.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today alongside my colleagues in opposition to
the all-out assault on Black Americans' right to vote in the wake of
Trump's Supreme Court's choice to gut the Voting Rights Act.
The Voting Rights Act was a piece of legislation that was won in
blood. Though we can see the racism and hatred still present in our
Nation, the passage of the Voting Rights Act was a line in the sand:
that we would protect and include Black voices in our democracy.
In the nearly 200 years between the establishment of this country and
the passage of the Voting Rights Act, millions of Black Americans died
fighting for this right.
It wasn't a right that we achieved just through a protest in Selma,
where they attacked hundreds of our brothers and sisters. It wasn't a
right that we achieved just through a march to the Capitol alongside
hundreds of thousands of people across our communities. It was a right
that we achieved also through the struggle of the millions of Black
Americans whose stories were never told and whose voices were never
heard by our government.
The millions of Black Americans throughout our history organized and
fought, without the recognition that they deserved, to lay the
groundwork for people like me to have the opportunity to represent the
very congressional districts where we once attended segregated
elementary schools.
The passage of the Voting Rights Act was that hope that, finally, we
would no longer go without our voices being heard and that none of us
would have to die for that right ever again.
Now, as if we needed any confirmation of the rationale behind the
senseless Supreme Court ruling, Republican statehouses nationwide are
now mobilizing in an effort to target Black Members of Congress and
Black majority districts.
In Tennessee, they ignored Black representatives locked in arms on
the floor of the State legislature as they dismantled the only Black
majority district in a State where the Clinton 12 once marched for
their right to attend integrated schools.
In Alabama, they stared on as my colleague, Congressman Figures,
pleaded with them to stop redrawing the court-mandated congressional
map that gave Alabama, the State at the epicenter of the modern civil
rights movement, two Black Members of Congress for the first time in
its history.
In Virginia, they overthrew a referendum that would help balance the
power in Congress, the same State that once approved a referendum by
white supremacists to rewrite the State constitution in order to
disenfranchise Black voters.
In my State, North Carolina, we have seen this playbook carried out
with the redrawing of congressional maps to eliminate the seats of
three Democrats and the redrawing of that congressional map just a few
years later in a concerted effort to attack Black lawmakers.
I consider myself incredibly lucky to still be here in the Halls of
Congress while many of our fellow Black lawmakers have not been as
fortunate.
As one of the few Members of Congress left who experienced the
systemic segregation put in place across the South firsthand as a young
girl in an all-Black elementary school, I stand here with this message:
We will not go back.
We deserve more than to have our government stomp on our voices, our
representation, and our votes. Just as I deserved access to the same
elementary school as the White boys and girls, our ancestors fought,
bled, and died for the right to vote and the right to have our voices
heard by Congress.
[[Page H3384]]
As we feel their pain with every step back that this government
forces upon us, rest assured that we will always come back stronger.
Your cheating of our electoral systems through gerrymandering and
voter disenfranchisement is an admission that your leadership has
failed the American people. We see through you. We will not rest, and
we will continue to honor the work of our ancestors with action.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is
remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Wied). The gentlewoman from Virginia has
10 minutes remaining.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland
(Mr. Ivey), representing the Fourth District.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Virginia for leading
this Special Order tonight and my colleagues who have spoken on the
floor in shock and dismay with respect to what the Supreme Court did in
the Voting Rights Act ruling just a few days ago, and also what the
Virginia Supreme Court did in the ruling that it passed down.
I will say this: Many of my neighbors, friends, and the students I
have had a chance to speak to recently were also surprised, shocked,
disappointed, and dismayed by what happened.
They have also been surprised by President Trump sending the FBI in
to seize ballots in Atlanta to try to prove that he won an election 4
years ago that he obviously lost.
They have been surprised, dismayed, and disheartened by what they saw
with respect to ICE in Minneapolis and the recognition that there is a
strong possibility that ICE and the National Guard may be showing up in
polling places in November.
They have also been shocked and surprised that icons like Jim
Clyburn and Emanuel Cleaver, who served this body and this Nation
honorably for decades, are at the risk of being forced out of office
based on these unfair rulings.
I will say this: I have been really heartened by what I saw from
those young people when I was speaking to them over the past 2 weeks.
They were concerned that they couldn't live up to the moment, that
there was nothing that they could do, and that they were too young to
have an impact.
Yet, I reminded them of people like John Lewis, who was 18 or 19 when
he began his work in the civil rights movement that culminated in the
Voting Rights Act, which was gutted just a few weeks ago. I reminded
them that Dr. Martin Luther King was only 25 when he led the Montgomery
bus boycott and was still working on his dissertation and raising a
family, all at the same time.
I reminded them that there were many leaders who came before us--
young people, men and women--who saw the need for service and a call to
have an impact, and they stepped into that void.
I reminded them that the Freedom Riders had people on at 18, 19, and
20 years old who they forced to write and sign wills before they got on
those buses because they knew that they would be violently attacked,
and they were.
We can meet this moment, just as those ancestors met those moments,
just as our predecessors met those moments. All we need to do is go to
the voting booth.
We have to make sure we get out there and do that work, push in the
streets, campaign, stand up, make sure we fight, speak, have our voices
heard, and bring everybody out who we can because it is critical for us
to win in November in order to turn this around and show them that,
despite all the efforts that they have made--the Trump Supreme Court,
the seizure of the ballots, all the things that they have been doing
with the executive orders and the like--we can defeat all of those in
November. But we have to show up, and we will.
{time} 2030
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Kamlager-Dove).
Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia
(Ms. McClellan) for hosting this Special Order hour.
The House is on fire, and our democracy is under attack. This time,
instead of storming the Capitol, they are changing the maps to silence
the voices of millions of Americans.
The Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais has given States
a green light to weaken Black political power under the false cover of
race neutrality.
In Memphis, Tennessee, a historic, organic majority-Black district
has been carved up to dilute its voice.
In Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi, similar
efforts are under way.
It is ironic that the States where the power stealing is happening
right now are Confederate States where the tension of race remains
unresolved.
Let's be clear. This virus is contagious. Wake up, people. This is
not coincidence. This is coordination. The attacks are dangerous, but
so is the silence. Silence in this moment is complicity, and history
will document who spoke up and who stayed quiet.
Let's not forget, the Black vote has never just elected Black
leaders. It has been the backbone of coalitions that lifted others into
power.
In 2020, Black voters in Georgia not only elected Reverend Warnock to
the Senate, they also elected Jon Ossoff, flipping two red seats blue
and giving Democrats the tie-breaking vote in the Senate.
They have consistently shown up for and elected Presidents like Joe
Biden, proving once again that not only Black leaders benefit from
Black political engagement and trust.
Let me be clear about something else. Black Members of Congress do
not only represent Black communities. We represent everyone. Many of us
serve diverse, even majority White districts, delivering results for
all of our constituents.
When these maps are redrawn to eliminate Black representation, it is
not about fairness. It is about fear and real talk. If race is truly
not a factor, then why are Black districts always the ones being
dismantled?
Let's say it plainly. If some of our colleagues were not afraid of
Black voters, then they would not be working so hard to silence us.
We have to meet this moment with urgency. Pass the John Lewis Voting
Rights Advancement Act, organize, mobilize, turn out, and hold
receipts. This is bigger than any one district. It is about whether
democracy works for all of us.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Menefee).
Mr. MENEFEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because the right to vote is
under grave attack. The Supreme Court opened the door, and Republican
officials throughout the South are running straight through it.
Republican State legislatures are racing to redraw congressional maps
across the South, and they have one clear goal: to make sure that Black
communities cannot elect a candidate of their choice.
Look at Tennessee. Memphis is a majority-Black city, and instead of
keeping it whole in one district, Republicans sliced it into three
separate districts and imported White voters from hundreds of miles
away. That is not an accident. That is a blueprint.
In Texas, a Trump-appointed Federal judge found that Republicans used
race to dismantle minority districts, like in my hometown of Houston.
I have seen so many Republican officials argue that this is not about
race. But look at North Carolina where Republican legislators requested
data on voting patterns broken down by race. They then changed the
voting rules based on that data, and a Federal court said that they
targeted African Americans with ``almost surgical precision.''
This is about race. These maps are a pattern, and after Callais, it
is spreading like wildfire.
Cracking Black communities apart district by district is not
politics. It is a declaration that Black voices do not belong in this
democracy.
Our Nation is better than this. Racist cheating has no place in the
greatest democracy on Earth.
This Congress must fight back.
The right to choose our own Representatives is sacred and something
our ancestors have fought and bled for, and we will not let it be
stripped from us community by community or ZIP code by ZIP code.
[[Page H3385]]
Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I took my oath of office 3 years ago on
the Bible that my father kept his poll tax receipt in that he paid when
he turned old enough to vote in Tennessee.
In my office is a book written by my great-grandfather. He tells a
story. My great-grandfather was born on the plantation where his
parents were enslaved. He went to register to vote in 1902 in Alabama.
He was given a literacy test. He got all the questions right. The
registrar turned to his assistant and said: ``I need more questions
because this nigger got them all right.'' He was on a list of people
not to register to vote because he organized Blacks in the community.
Then he was told he had to find three White men to vouch for his
character, and he did it.
Today, just like my great-grandfather, just like my father, I and the
Congressional Black Caucus will fight any obstacle put in our way to
ensure that we participate in this government by, of, and for the
people.
We won't take this sitting down.
The Supreme Court may have dealt us a devastating blow, but we are
going to get up, just like John Lewis got up after he was beaten in the
head from marching across the bridge in Selma for the right to vote.
This is not the end of the war. This is only the beginning where we
will ensure that liberty and justice for all means all; that a
government by, of, and for the people includes all the people.
We will not be silenced.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________