[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 15922]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    PASSAGE OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT

  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I wish to add my voice to the celebration 
of a significant event in this Senate: the renewal of the Voting Rights 
Act for 25 years. This legislation is part of our efforts in the Senate 
to come together to make sure the America of 2031 is a whole lot more 
successful at bridging racial divides than we are today.
  I grew up in a large Jewish family in New York City. One of my 
parent's favorite entertainers was a Jewish comedian named Georgie 
Jessel. I am sure some of my senior colleagues remember him. In the 
1950s he was a good friend of the stunning and talented African-
American singer and actress Lena Horne. From time to time they would go 
out to dinner. You should know that even in New York in those days, 
they had segregated clubs. Well, by chance or by accident, Mr. Jessel 
scheduled one of their dinner dates in one of those clubs. The maitre'd 
took one look at her skin color and said indignantly, ``Who made your 
reservation?'' Jessel shot back, ``Abraham Lincoln.''
  Lincoln made a reservation for us all. One hundred and forty years 
later, we are still struggling to keep it.
  One of my most vivid experiences since I came to the Senate was a 
civil rights delegation to Alabama sponsored by the Faith and Politics 
Institute a couple years ago. Representative John Lewis helped to lead 
the delegation, and shared with us his experiences. We stopped at the 
Rosa Parks Museum at Troy State University in Montgomery and reflected 
on the bus boycott. We visited the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist 
Church, where the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., used to preach, and 
the civil rights Memorial. I was struck with the fact that I visited 
these historic locations in peace and security. A generation ago, the 
visitors who came from outside the South to these locations endured 
threats, vilification, and violence.
  This visit reminded me of a simple truth: Individuals such as Parks, 
King and so many others, shape our society. As we look at the 
challenges and injustices of the world around us, we often ask the 
question, How can we change the world? I think we often look in the 
wrong place for change. We look to big government, big business, big 
entertainment, or big publishing to bring about change. It is 
comparatively easy to change a speech or a law or a budget. The real 
challenge is in changing hearts. And that job falls to all of us who 
are willing to speak out, willing to model understanding and willing to 
change. Our hope lies in the fact that in America, there are no 
``ordinary people.''
  I often like to say that a leader without followers is just a person 
taking a walk. The Dr. Kings and Rosa Parks are all around us, in need 
of the followers and workers who will inspire major change.
  Every person has the ability to shape our Nation with their vote. As 
a democracy, this Nation is built on the idea that we look to the 
people, and the way we do that is by the power of their vote. Voting is 
the recognition that each person, each individual, each vote, is 
important. We cannot afford to sustain any impediment to that process. 
If we do not defend the freedom to vote, the product of our democracy 
is dulled and diminished--it is not a true reflection of what is 
America.
  Legislation we passed in the Congress has been crucial: the Civil 
Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and a series of additional measures 
right into our own decade. Vigorous enforcement of those statutes is 
essential. The Voting Rights Act recognizes that one of the best things 
that government can do for their people is make them secure to cast 
their votes. The Voting Rights Act recognizes that in a free society, 
the people lead.
  The United States is unique in world history because we are a nation 
built upon rights rather than privileges. We believe we have been 
endowed by our Creator--not our government--with rights such as life, 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
  The American concept of rights is a large set. We have the freedom of 
religion. We have the freedom of speech and assembly. We have the right 
to be secure against government intrusion in our homes and private 
affairs. We have a free press. And to a greater degree than ever, we 
have the freedom to vote in this country and to have those votes count.
  If you pull any one of those freedoms out of the set, the whole thing 
collapses. Each of our rights protects and reinforces all the others. 
All the American rights get stronger with the passage of this bill and 
that's something to celebrate.
  But we shouldn't pat ourselves on the back for too long. We can deal 
with voting inequality by strictly and aggressively enforcing this law, 
but we have a long list of issues of economic inequality to deal with. 
We have achievement gaps in our schools. We have housing gaps in our 
home ownership markets. We have health gaps in access to quality care.
  Racial equality in America is race without a finish line. We have 
finished a lap today, but as Robert Frost wrote, ``We have promises to 
keep, and miles to go before we sleep.''

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