[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11749]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              EXTENSIONS OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask permission to speak out of 
order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from 
Illinois is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express strong support 
for extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The importance and 
necessity of the Voting Rights Act cannot be overemphasized. We have 
learned through experience what a difference the vote makes. In 1964, 
the year before President Johnson signed the act into law, there were 
only 300 African American elected officials in the entire country. 
Today there are more than 9,100 black elected officials, including 43 
Members of Congress.
  The most fundamental right of our democratic system of government is 
the right of citizens to participate in the political process. The 15th 
amendment ensures the right of every citizen, regardless of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude, to vote and participate in 
the electoral process. However, as we have seen in previous elections, 
some local governments have actively and, in some instances, have 
aggressively attempted to disenfranchise African American and other 
minority voters.
  This year, all who care about social justice and equal opportunity in 
America can share one overriding goal, and that is Congress needs to 
review the provisions of the Voting Rights Act which will ensure that 
our Nation's government has the opportunity to reflect the views, the 
values and, most importantly, the votes of the people it serves.
  Of all the civil rights legislation that the Nation has enacted over 
the past four decades, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is arguably the 
most important. Yes, every major piece of civil rights legislation has 
helped to eliminate injustices such as discrimination in education, 
employment and housing, but it is the Voting Rights Act that empowers 
Americans to take action against injustices by electing those who 
pledge to eliminate it and removing those who perpetuate it.
  African Americans in the South were prevented from voting by a 
battery of tactics, poll taxes, literacy tests that were for blacks 
only, and the crudest forms of intimidation. From the Southwest to some 
urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest, Latinos were discouraged from 
voting in more subtle but just as effective techniques that exploited 
the vulnerabilities of low-income newcomers for whom English was a 
second language. Both groups were also the targets of districting 
designed to dilute the ability to elect officials of their own 
choosing, a fundamental freedom that all too many Americans take for 
granted.
  And this is why it is so important that Congress renew all three 
provisions that are set to expire: section 5, which requires Federal 
approval for all proposed changes in voting or election procedures in 
areas with a history of discrimination; section 203, which requires 
some jurisdictions to provide assistance in other languages to voters 
who are not literate or fluent in English; and the portions of section 
6-9 of the act which authorizes the Federal Government to send Federal 
election examiners and observers to certain jurisdictions covered by 
section 5 where there is evidence of attempts to intimidate minority 
voters at the polls.
  Mr. Speaker, this act is scheduled to come before us in the next few 
days, and I am gratified to note that it has generated tremendous 
support on both sides of the aisle. And I am certain that American 
people all over the country look forward to its passage. I simply urge 
strong support.

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